Bandit 3 - any reviews yet ???

[eldadgold]

So has anyone riden it yet ?
really interested in upgrading my 9m Dos.

[mick_auf]

http://www.kiteboardingreview.com/fone/ ... t-iii-2010

[eldadgold]

Thank you, but i've seen that one allready.
anyone?

[bru]

Hi There

We have had our samples here in South Africa for the last 10 days - the 6m bandit 3 is in Cape Town I have the 7m here and here are my initial views ...

The main attribute to this kite which stood out to me was just how smooth it felt. The first time I rode the B3 was in very gust conditions and it handled the gusts very well. The bar pressure is also slightly less than the DO.

I rode it back to back to the 7m Bandit DOS - there is a lot more top-end to the 7m B3 - I had the 7m DOS half de-powered in 25 - 35 knots and the 7m B3 I did not de-power at all. The bottom end - I would say the DOS has more bottom end but only 2-3 knots. The Dos turns faster than the B3. The feel of the B3 is very different to the DOS - very nice. The kite falls back in the window much better than the DOS for waveriding -

All who have ridden the B3 have been impressed - on Friday we demoed the B3 7m in strong 35 knot plus winds - recorded gusts over 40 knots and the kite came out with a thumbs up !

Build quality - as per the last Bandits, this is top drawer - one of the boys dropped the B3 in a mother shore break - breaking onto the dry beach - I was a bit concerned but the kite came out 100% ...

On the bar - new de-power / chicken loop with the connection to the 5th line under the top of the chicken loop. All 4 lines are the same length which really makes the bar simple ... The kite shape - the profile is a lot deeper and looks almost compact. One-pump - great system works well and looks pretty impressive for the first release. The skid pads on the top of the struts have been lengthened so they go a lot higher up the strut and don't catch your bridles. Biggest change on the kite is that the bridle has been shortened a lot - at least half the length of the bridle on the DOS.

I don't think this kite will dissapoint !

[plandkiter]

I was fortunate to ride a bandit 3 recently and I diffidently was happy with this year improvements. The front bridal has been shortened and all four lines are now even. The Bandit 3 was also a little quicker than the bandit dos and was stable in the gusts. I had a great time and the bandit 3 gats my approval especially for wave riding because it was quick, stable and smooth. For more info on the bandit 3 check out http://www.f-onebandit3.com/

[eldadgold]

so is the B3 faster or slower than the Dos ?
maybe it's different per size? bcause bru sais the B3 is slower...

[bru]

I found the 7m B3 slower to turn or respond - the DOS is faster - it reacts quicker - this I believe is due to the bridle - but the kite is by no means slow !!

[Lost]

Bru, did you try to loop it? How is it versus Dos?

[steph34]

What about the top-end of the 6-7-8- and 9m?

[bru]

Hey Lost - did a few loops - they seem a bit smoother and it loops a bit wider than the DOS ...

Top end - I have only ridden the 7m and there is definitely a lot more top-end to the B3 - I am sure the other sizes will be the same ... lots more top-end / more stable and oh so smooth - thats the Bandit 3