Freak Dog EZE 13m

[droffats]

After six sessions I can give an honest review.

I'm 160lbs
Nobile 666 132 X 41 board
and on 3 snow sessions a Cabrinha Empire snowboard
lowest wind was 5mph on snow
highest was 20+ on flat water
rode in hard pack snow
powder snow in a blizzard
melting snow/slush on a melting frozen lake
Pompano Beach chop
Miami flat water (Matteson park)
other kites ridden: all Cabrinhas except the Revolver, several Best, several RRD, bunch of foils, etc.
3 years year round kiting experience
my favorite color is green and my turns ons are honesty, kites, and long downwinders at sunset.

It is the real deal. I'm selling my 17m Contra 3. The EZE has huge jumps, huge hangtime, and is pretty quick through the sky and in turning.

There is no bar pressure, yet it still turns fast. If you really yank, it can turn almost inside it's own radius. Some of the power must come from how it flies deep in the wind window. You had better be good at edging because it flies so deep. I couldn't get it to the edge of the window without stupid edging. It flies totally off the front lines. Unlike Waroos and most Cabrinhas, I couldn't pump the kite with the bar, but I could with my harness. In a smaller size I could see it as a great wave kite so that edge input sends the kite.

The lines and bridal seem like thin lines but they are still 600 lb. test. (I asked cause I was freaked). This seems good to reduce parasitic drag. The bar has a middle hump, which I also liked for feedback since the pull was so light. It helped me orient without looking. The below the bar flagging line works as advertized. It spins just fine and can be unspun by hand while flying. The kite also came with a spare chicken line. Construction doesn't seem to be particularly burley, but it held up to a serious ditch.

I was kite looping, blew the landing, and dumped the kite in the surf. I stayed hooked in and the waves (some chest high) crashed on the kite. I let it drag me all the way in to shore and the kite was fine. I relaunched it on snow and ice too. No issues. It relaunches easily, but not the easiest on the market. What makes it tough is that when ridden in fully powered up trim, it won't depower fully.

An IKO instructor I lent the kite to said these things:
When he first launched it in only 15mph (at most) "I can hardly hold this thing down!"
Then when he came in: "This is not for beginners. It brought me back to C kite land!"
He was totally powered up in chop and blasting upwind in 12-15mph (his estimate) in chop off Ft. Launderdale.

I love the kite and am thinking of getting a 9m as my second personal kite. That means I get ride of my three current kites.

The only downsides I found are a matter of personal needs:
I don't like that the lines aren't Kook Proof. They have little tags that say "F" and "B", but I'd prefer complete Kook Proof Cabrinha style. On the other hand, as it isn't a beginner kite, maybe it doesn't matter. The black pull strap is maybe a an inch or two smaller than I like it. And overall, the bar and bag just seem not premium. They are more basic. The bar isn't finished top notch, and the bag is just a plain ol stuff sack style. The pump is the smaller kind. It doesn't quite match the intense performance of the kite. Lastely, if you want one pump, this isn't it. It doesn't 100% depower by letting go of the bar, but it can if you have the depower strap pulled in a bit.

The positives are:
performance, performance, performance. It flies and parks at zenith in less wind than ANY other kite of seen of flown. It rides me in snow at 5mph, I was going 10mph (Garmin GPS). On the water, I was the first out, the first to ride, and the first upwind. One day, I was the only one out for 2 hours, then a 9m Hypertype and a strapless surfboard showed up and did downwinder wave rides and walk backs. When the wind picked up, some 15m Hypertype on a tt showed, followed by some 16 and 13m Waroos. I am selling my 17m Contra 3 and replacing it with the EZE 13m.

It flies and turns fast.
It jumps HUGE. When a getting near overpowered I went bigger than I've ever gone and even got a little scared. I had to butt check the first jumps they were so high and freaky. In 15mph I was jumping well over 20ft. from chop (I jump way better on flat water, I don't know how to time chop well)
It hangs LONG. I could totally flat raley, then pull in hang and float, float, float.
It's built tough.
It packs small.
No bar pressure.
Under the bar flag out and spinning leash.
Removeable chicken finger. You can put it on the harness or loop.

I hope to get some pictures back from others who were there soon.

-Droffats

[BenWilder]

Nice review. Have you tried RRD HyperType 15? I own one and use it for low winds. I canuse this kite from 10-11 knots. Can you compare these two kites for light wind kiting. I'm thingking some kite to replace RRD but dont know what yet (i weight 190 lbs).

[droffats]

I have only ridden a HT 9m. Interestingly, there was a 15m HT flying after I got started on my EZE 13m. I didn't get to talk to the guy so I don't know if he couldn't get going earlier or if he wasn't at the beach etc. By the time I decided to do a downwinder to him, he was already back on land.

BTW, I wasn't doing a downwinder because I was underpowered, it was because my ridding partner was -- I just went with him.

- Droffats