Review BLADE Horn C kite 14m 2006

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Review for BLADE Horn C kite 2006 14m

Times tested: No Comment
Range: kn to kn

Good: Review: Blade 'Horn' (new Israelean brand) From a Kiteboarder magazine


Blade kite offers, next to the reviewed 'Horn', also a bow-kite, namely the 'Beast'.
I have seen a Blade-kite myself once and to me it looked very sturdy/well built as well at a very low price, didn't get a chance to fly it though.

The backpack in which the kite (Horn) arrives is very complete and it's big enough to store all your stuff, you can also
attach your board without a problem.
Even if you do not deflate your struts there won't be a problem fitting your kite in the bag.
The backpack is fairly large.

No user guide delivered and extensions or anything like that. The user guide can simply be downloaded from their site by the way.

The bar felt very comfy and has a good grip, nowadays all bars are similar (the bar-part anyways), so not much to tell there.
It has a medium-size chicken-loop which you (un)hook quite easily.
The safety looks a bit dated (primitive), but in reality still works perfectly, no complaints at all.
The de-power works pretty much the same as with any other kite.
The bar is equipped with a 5th line which finds its way to the kite via a Y junction.

The kite has been constructed for Israelic surroundings, bomb & grenade proof in my opinion!
The kite has a very clean and strong finishing and I'm sure it will be able to endure some serious beatings.
The material feels very thick and sturdy, and when I compared it with several other kites the material actually is quite a bit thicker.
The finishing is top notch!

The shape of the struts is very special and thin,
The struts had to be pumped up big time according to the dealer, so this is what I did. Every strut has a valve which prevents deflating while pumping, every valve also has a little pen to ensure easy deflating.

Inflating the LE works with a little ball, so no problem here either.
The wing-tips of this kite have been reinforced by using a wooden strip, the kite won't fly without it! The strip measures about 50 cm.

The kite has 3 fastening points for steering-speed: Slow, Fast & Extreme. The de-power of this kite is quite special, since it
works from two points. (one at the wing-tip and one at the LE).
The shape reminds one of C-kite, but when one is placed alongside there is quite a difference, mainly because it's a 14 and doesn't look like a 14, but smaller!

The TE is different as well, since it has a wavelike shape, no idea why this is!

Enough about the bar and kite, on to the flying properties.

These have been tested in 3 conditions: first time: light wind, 2nd time: alot of wind for a 14 and the 3rd time ideal conditions.

I've tried 2 steering positions with this kite: Fast & Extreme. I'm not really satisfied with tuning this kite, of course fine turning is the solution but i like kites which you hook up and don't have think about anymore.
Other people of course prefer kites that you have to/can tune exactly to your own needs.

The 'extreme' setting is the one I preferred, since the kite had the best position in the air and moved extremely fast for a 14!
Touch the bar lightly and wham! extremely direct reaction for a 14.

Looping with this kite is a breeze due to the small turning radius. The kite handles best when you keep it nicely in the corner, when it's at speed. the kite has reasonable pop and I felt like I was getting pretty high (not even that much downwind).

The kite was pretty stable, but didn't react too well with gusts, probably also due to the fact that the grand de-power you can get rid of alot of power in the kite but then its just up there like a hanky and will go searching for more wind.
It's more of a kite that you use very powered.
Most peculiar to me is how it builds power, this might be due to the 0.0 bar-pressure, but I assumed I couldn't ride, I steer it in and I'm simply riding, very strange!
While others are having problems riding their 16's I'm cruising with this 14 (while to me it looks like I'm riding a 12 shape-wise and speed-wise!).

Relaunching from the water is easy due to the fifth line. Keep tension on the lines or it will keep on rolling!

Conclusion:

To me it's a good kite, which is great to ride. Considering its price it's definitely worth a try.

Bad:

Review:


Rider Profile

Weight (kg): 71-80
Ability: Intermediate
Style: All
Preferred Water: All
Preferred Power: All
Preferred Kite Size: 10.0
Most Used Kite Size: 10.0
Preferred Board Style:
Preferred Board Size: 131-140
Brand Affiliation: Distributor
Similar gear used:




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