mickjones1600949551

so, the weekend was coming and the wind was forecast to be light...light like 5-8knots or so i was after a light wind kite to make the most of the light airs that can blight our balmy isles now and again. eveyone knows depower is not the way to go in these situations, which leads you back to the fixed bridle genre i have flown a decent amount of kites, plenty of LEIs, ARCs, bullets, blades, depower, race kites, other foils whatever, and it was earlier this year that i discovered the Rebble from Peter Lynn well now. here was a kite that went beyond expactations, beyond the call of duty if you like - super stable (hang a strop between the handles and you can literally peg it to the ground and it will stay at the zenith) thanks to the last few cells being close. super sweet through the air, light, looks good and great upwind...so i bought the 2.5, 3.5, and 5.0 surely then the 8m would be the go for the light winds? all of the above charms but in a bigger package? first off the kite is MASSIVE. spread it out on the sand and it looks like some sort of shimmering space blanket for mountaineerers. same build quality as the other Rebbles - spartan. no fancy logos, gimmicks, tags or tassles. just one thin, light, crispy but strong kite. in blue, with a grey stripe to add a bit of cheer, and the ineterior skin is just...white. this kite is like a Lotus car, or a middle weight boxing champ, or an AC/DC riff - no messing about - you wanted action, thats what you get... once in the air...Woah. super super stable - it sits in the sky like a...like a...rock. in the lightest of airs, it inflates and sits there, waiting, barely breathing. then you turn it the kite whips accross the window and drives you forward and forward and forward. its pull is relentless and once moving pulls very hard right to the edge of the window. jump in the buggy and with this leviathan and hold tight. super fast accross the wind, and points better upwind than ANY kite i have flow - better than blades, better than phantoms. in light winds you can get upwind so hard its tough to remember which way the wind is blowing this kite, as you may have gathered, i think truly rocks. not in the flavour of the month kind of way, but truly is AWESOME. it looks hot, flies hot, and delivers a sick sick ride once you engage its attention the first day i flew it, a guy using razors (a quiver of) was having trouble keeping them in the sky (light winds) and was not getting the speed the rebble created. it just turns air into speed. and then shoves you upwind. i cannot wait to try this kite on a board, in fact i want to hit the water with it, its so stable. the rebble has long remained to the many, something of an underdog. slowly, some are catching on to what these kites can do...the way they outperform others in their class... the 8m rebble (as the album title goes) is definaltely outnumbered...but never outgunned demo this kite the next day off work you get. By : mickjones

i've used my phantom only twice now, the first time I was a little underpowered - 15knots or so, the second time I was on the upper limit of the kites windrange, about 25knots plus gusts. both times i was on the water though, so the lower figure no way represents the minimum wind needed to get the kite flying! i'm sure I would have been absolutely ripping had i been in a buggy. starting from the beginning then... the bag - great rucksack, with webbing that extends so you can pack the phantom away with the wingtip spars still in place. clips as well for holding a kiteboard, and a couple of nice pockets to put sarnies and things in. very adequate, and looks good to - well done there. the bar - the zero4 carbon bar is a slinky little thing and looks quite dashing. its looks quite short and is very light. complete with neoprene peter lynn embossed line covers and floats, and colour coded lines. the lines are reassuringly thick, and at 275kg should be ok for most folks. they have a shiny sort of appearance, a little like the new Flexifoil lines, which i think is a good thing and may help against abrasion. depower is by a webbing strap and simple enough the safety - two safety systems, both easy to activate and reassemble. the leash works on a re-ride line with a stopper ball fitted on kite length away from the bar on one of the central lines. the leash itself comes with an attachment so you can fix it to your harness keeping it out of the way. there is a safety release on the leash, should you wish to free yourself from the kite. the chicken loop has a nice big red ball that you tug to open it up, which lets the kite out on the leash. it is easy to grab, and releases smoothly. i leashed out a the end of my windy sesh, and the kite fell easily to the ground with next to no pull whatsover - this does inspire confidence. the kite - looks nice enough, the 9m is green and black, i like the graphics and it seems sturdy too. central zipper on the inside skin for inflation, one on the outside skin to deflate. two folding spars are inserted to give rigidity to the wingtips. colour coded lines attachments. on the ground seems long and skinny, looks a bit out of its environment as it flaps and undulates in the wind, like an eel stranded on a mud flat. however, in the air.... flying - the kite looks bloody awesome once it is sitting up at the zenith. the stark bold graphics and two tone colour instantly recognisable from a distance. the first thing that you notice is how light it is on the bar, even under power. the next thing is the turn rate, it is very quick and precise. pulling in the bar has a very positive response from the kite, but due to its high aspect requires no effort to fully power up. in the lighter winds, it sat and cruised well enough and supplied power when sined. the phantom goes much better when parked though with the back lines under no tension. i had a fun sesh and was impressed by the auto zenith feature - the kite wanders around between 10 and 2 oclock, but never drifts towards the ground - you can take your hands off the bar and run around hooked in making up your lost ground in light airs. the lift seemed okay, nothing spectacular but then i was underpowered. it was on the second outing that the phantom showed its true nature and its reasons for being. the huge depower on these kites and the way they handle the gusts soon became apparent. i was riding at a spot better suited to windsurfing, and only a couple of guys were out on LEI's but they didnt ride the whole time. powered up, the phantom goes upwind like a b@stard, and accelarates you to a very very fast speed in no time at all, whereas my LEI's seems to wind up to a top whack. sining the kite thorugh lulls kept me planing on my edge, and when the next gust came through, it was time to hold down the power and point upwind. the lift of the phantom is remarkable - a couple of times when i felt i would have been at the apex of a jump on other kites, it kept lifting higher, allowing lots of tie for tweaks and grabs etc...you don't seem to loose too much downwind after launching an air either water relaunch - i downed the kite once after a big wipeout, and it collapsed a they do tip to tip. just a little pull on the lower tip line and it took shape again and was in the air straight away. i have heard relaunch can be tricky with these kites, maybe more so on the bigger sizes in lighter winds, but i cannot fault the 9m relaunch when the wind is howling. conclusion the phantom feels different to an LEI, i cant put my finger on what it is, but it certainly does the trick on water. i was very impressed by the way it handled the gusty squally howling winds, riding in such conditions was not a chore and such a buzz. i much prefered it when it was maxed out rather than underpowered, which is when the criticisms that have been levelled against it become void - water relaunch issues and loss of power when edging too hard - definatley not the case when powered. i'm really looking forward to having a go with it on land in lighter winds, and of course will bust it out again for the water when it goes howling. i feel the phantom is a versatile, well made, high performance kite that would suit the quiver of anyone looking for an alternative to LEIs, or wants a kite that will be ok for land snow and water (LEIs and land are not a good mix) its not a cheap kite, but like the beer it is reassuringly expensive, and from a company as frugal as peter lynn, you can be certain you are getting quite a package By : mickjones

okay so these kites have been around a while, but it doesnt seem there is a lot of info about them, excepting the two great reviews already posted on here. advance kites are a swiss company, i'm not certain but i think they have a bigger following on the continent than they do here - which i feel is a real shame the advance offroad is essentially a depowerable kite, which can be flown in handles or a bar, mine is on a bar build quality of this kite is very satisfying, cool design and colours, with a decent bar with groovy neoprene line savers to keep your lines on the bar once you have packed up. the depower system is simple yet effective and easy to use, the quick release from the harness is seemingly faultless in the tests i made, and easily re-assembled the kite itself flies very smoothly through the air, and is very easy to position at various point around the wind window. it is rock solid at the zenith, and flies well to either side of the window and sits there without crumpling. to say i was impressed was an understatement - this kite far outshines anything else i have flown in its size range in terms of stability and smoothness - including bullets and blades the depower system on this kite is truly a feature to behold. i have read articles stating that the depower is not that effective, well i can tell you that is wrong. basically the depower works just the same as an LEI, and the kite responds in a similar way. with no power the kite flies lightly, slowly and with less pull. pull the bar in, the turn rate picks up, the power increases and the kite speeds up. let the depower strap out and hook into the harness loop and you have a kite that is significantly more powerfull and with a turn rate that would rival any kite on handles the bridle is set up like a cross over system, so one flap of the kite is sheeted in each time you turn. when powered up, the kite turns very quick, (just like an LEI) but unlike foils on handles, doesnt crumple or stall, it keeps on flying. the bridle has the advantage if pulling the leading edge and the trailing edge in at the same time, giving you a big power boost although i have yet to test the advance offroad in a variety of wind speeds, i am confident that the depower will handle many conditions, meaning that in the Advance Offroad you have a kite that would do the job of two or more fixed bridal kites it is such an engaging and interesting kite to fly, with all the different power options to play with. my friend and I regularly use LEI's, and were very stoked with the way this little kite behaves, it is one hell of a machine. it inspired confidence - even fully powered up it sits at the zenith, rock solid - how many LEIs will do that in light winds? as for beginners, under supervision the kite would be very rewarding to fly, it is light on the bar, forgiving to errors and with the depower you can introduce more speed and grunt as they progress. earlier that day, i flew a 3.5m bullet. it wouldnt sit at the zenith, was unresponsive at the edges of the window, and you couldnt walk downwind without it collapsing. by contrast, the Offroad flew far more positively and transformed what could of been a dull frustrating day into a truly good session the kites are more expensive than others on the market, but in terms of performance i feel that a cheaper, less performing kite would be a bigger waste of money. the advance offroad is i think a masterstroke, and once you get to know it, is very very hard to put down. By : mickjones

having flown the BladeIII series extensivley for the last year, i have now chosen a favourite - the 6.6m basically put, it is floatier than the 4.9m thus safer for getting airs, yet turns quicker than the 8.5m allowing you to generate more power in lighter winds indeed, in lighter winds the largest Blades will collapse and under fly due to their massive bulk, whereas the 6.6m is easier to keep in the air build quality and packaging are well established Flexi qualities, no need to dwell on them here. however, often overlooked i feel is the safety release system on the bar. its very simple, with the brake lines anchoring on a neoprene wrist leash to kill the kite when released. once you release the kite, it will collapse and flutter to the ground. unlike some (even some smaller!) kites, the BladeIII totally depowers on the wrist leash - great news if you have just had a big stack and dont want to continue getting dragged up the beach you can infact remove your wrist leash and bury it in the sand to secure the kite while you walk up to it and put sand on the foil itself, thats how small the pull is the secon great thing about the wrist leash is the ease of reverse launching when the kite has landed upside down just keep hold of the bar, reach in front and tension the brake lines by pulling in the grey leash line. the kite starts to take shape, then all you have to do is turn the bar hard to either side, it will pop the right way up. release the leash and fly the kite to the zenith as for flying, good in the buggy in light airs, anything more and it is hard to hold an edge in the buggy! or maybe that is just my (lack of) technique? it is a great landboard kite, giving you loads of speed and very very high floaty jumps. unlike the larger, slower Baldes, the 6.6m moves faster in the air so you are less likely to pendulum underneath it if you wish to get air and ride out in the same direction. the lift when powered up is truly insane, with the slowest of speeds and most marginal movements of the kite able to send you a very long way up followed by a soft decent the lift on the Blade is like a rocket launcher, very quick, where as the decent is more gentle i found it to be a great kite on the sea, with plenty of power even to the edges of the window allowing for good upwind performance, even when getting out through surf. if you wipe out at sea, just hold the bar horizontal and the BLade will be up in the sky waiting for you. if you are unlucky enough to ditch it, it wont relaunch but it wont sink swim towards the kite, wind in the lines as you go and once you reach the kite lock your lines off on the bar. grab the trailing edge and the water tips out. lay your kite on dry sand, and uwnind your lines. you can expect to be back on the water withing 20mins, maximum (tangles permitting!). so unless you are planning kiting out further than you can swim, the Blade 6.6m is a good kite for the sea one criticism would be the harness loop. i prefer to fly my 6.6 unhooked, because the harness line is very restrictive, and compared to an LEI, where you still have a lot of bar travel, it didnt feel too great. Unhooked riding does look cool though! The simplicity of this kite is its genius. Very easy to set up and maintain, very predictable in all aspects but the real deal when it comes to going high! If you are thinking of a fast, lofty, ballst machine that will do it all, and aren't looking for the 'power assisted steering' of depower kite, then the BladeIII may just be for you. It must truly be the last word in fixed power kites, where do you go from here? By : mickjones