F-one Bandit 4 2011 Problems with safety and relaunch

[wondamic]

by the way guys what your general opinion on alternatives to the FONE bandit ? I'm looking for really good quality stuff with a proper bar , with well engineered safaty releases, kites that relaunch and flag properly and with similiar characteristics - power / boost etc to the Bandit ?

I use to ride the Bandits and now I fly Waimans. They had their product going for 3 years now and nothing major has changed. The package is complete and well thought out. And the relaunch in light winds is spot on! I live in Santa Barbara CA and our winds typically hit from 10-18mph. I haven't had to swim in with the Wainmans yet.

Check us out www.airbornekiteboarding.com

Good luck on your search....

Mike

[eldadgold]

Rode my 9m B4 in 40 K. i am 75 kg.
The QR works great.

In light winds i just swim for 2 sec towards the kite and then relaunch it easy.

if you use a kite with the wrong bar then it can work but don't be surprised if it doesn't work perfectly...

[bonadio]

Hello Patrick

Did you found a solution to the relaunch problem?

I just bought a F-one Bandit 4 14m and I am having the same problem to relaunch in light wind.

I try to pull one of the back lines but the kite pull real hard, but it does not turn. I used to own a cabrinha switch blade whitch was really easy to relaunch.

I even sent sent some emails to f-one, asking for a few tips, but did not received any response.

Thanks

[URSS]

Bonadio,

In light wind, use the same technique as a c-kite.

1- flip the kite on it's back by: pulling front lines and swimming toward the kite
(very easy to flip on it's back, won't invert as some SLE)
2- pull on one of the back line till kite moves on the edge of the wind window
3- keep pulling, kite relaunch

With this technique I can relaunch in 6 knots. It took me 1 or 2 sessions to figure it out.

Here is what it looks like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhen8X5x8nY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxpqQ0T5 ... re=related

In stronger wind (>12 knots), just pull on a back line.

[bonadio]

Hi URSS

I will try that on my next session and I will post the results

Thanks

[]s

[sideonshore]

I m a bandit fans for 4 years. From 1 to now B4. Love the latest model kite's performance. But the problems you stay out is also what we observed so far. I share some of our local group views.

Relaunch problem. You should have extra difficulty on big size in lightwind. My 12m fly awesome in 11knot but relaunch suck (bow kite style relaunch) . We have no choice to do a c-kite style relaunch , swim to make kite rode on its back. For years local discussion (b3 & b4), we think this may because of the dacron frame lead the body too heavy & the canopy, tips can't twist enough for relaunch need. You can easy found b4 big size relaunch take more time than other 4line brands kite in same lightwind condition.

Safety system. The Y center system that is most of delta kite using in market. It's work well, instant if the kite in the air. But when leading edge face down to water , it's not work properly especially in lightwind. Surely the designer tested the system before put it to market. But maybe they are too expert to fall kite in water .

Vrelco release. This is what I don't understand for several years. Their kites performance & innovation can reach one of the top brand but the vrelco is outoutout-dated. Heard a myth said this is French safety law issue to make it can't change. Maybe just a joke?! I hope.

The solution of your problems , other post already help out. You can try.

Sorry to my english.

SideOnShore

[Sun&sea]

Re Safety: In order for the kite to depower after the safety has been pulled, the bar needs to slide up the centre power line. In this case it's travel is limited by a small yellow ball that stops the bar halfway up. This results in the kite not flagging out and depowering fully but parking on its side, with some residual pull.

What you need to do is move this stopper ball all the way to the end of the line to where the frontlines start to fork. You can do this by lifting the yellow ball and tapping the exposed knot softly on a hard surface. This will losen the knot, which you can then move further up towards the kite.

After having done this, you should find that the kite will now be able to turn onto its back when the saftey is activated. I have done this with all my F-one bars and it works for me, resulting in a depowered kite that does not keep pulling me downwind after the safety is pulled. Hope this helps.

[bonadio]

I could not try any method sugested here yet, but I emailed Julian Hosp, he is sponsored by f-one and he gave me two tips that I will share here. Maybe that can help others too.

Hey Cesar.

Especially on the big kites, the relaunch is a little tricky. You can try to do 2 things:

1. swim towards the kite, and give it a better angle for flipping out of the water.

2. negative relaunch the kite: pull both back lines, and the kite will fly backwards for a little bit.

If you need anything, let me know

Cheers

Jule

[eree]

it amazes me how after four years of production some successful kite brand still can not reach the expected level of performance. and i am not talking only about bandits. there are lot of frustrating examples from almost every brand in the market.
after countless reassurances that cost of making a kite shaped piece of polyester cloth is not 200$, but rather close to 2000$ because of relentless and exhausting rnd and never ending testing, we still see some unsolved problems and disappointing blunders.

first. do you really have so much confidence in a kite, totally new to you, to buy three sizes of it?
fresh out from factory? not much reviews yet? too much advertising, may be? or too little testing?

second. bars adjusted to each size of a kite? not a single bar for all sizes? i mean, i can live with the velcro QR, but adjusting stopper ball for each kite size? where are we, in the 1995!?

third. i know, there are kites with good high end and there are kites with good low end. it is the matter of choice. but even if your kite is best at high end it is still expected to relaunch good enough to make it possible to reach the beach when wind drops.

am i asking too much?

[FL Kiteboarder]

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