2010 FOne Bandit 3

Just get the 13m and hold on[}:)]

Depends what size you are im around the 95kg mark and have gone for the 9m and 13m, you do get a bit of overlap which isnt to hard in a kite that has such a large range. But with the 9/13m it will put the sweet spot of the kites just where i like it from around 18,23kts with the 13m and 23,30kts with the 9m. When i say sweet spot that is just where i like to ride them powered right up ridding freestyle,wakestyle un hooking lots,on a 134 666 board.

They still perform well in the lighter wind range i was using my nobile skim board in 10kts on my 9m and was holding ground. Fone think that the topend is that much higher you could ride a kite 2m bigger than what you normaly would. Cant confirm this yet as i have only had my 9m out in a max 32kts and only depowered around half on the strap, tryed dropping a not but that was way to much depower for the conditions.

If you are a lighter rider you would probably find the 13-8m quiver would be best to give you the best wind range depending on what style of ridding you are doing.

Hope this helps.

And what about for those of us who cant shell out for a multi-kite quiver? any recomendations on the size for a single? (80kg freestyler)

hey waxman,
i've been finding that at 75kg on my 9m2 dos I'm getting maxed out at 25knots. maybe some extra weight needed?

I'm thinkin of hardening up and strapping a pack of 20kg cement to my back to hold down some bigger numbers

none of this teaspoon of cement

Interesting read. As someome who has basic skills after kiting for some 4 years and who gets out maybe every 2 weeks in varied conditions, I have a few observations and questions for the experts.
Note -
I learned to kite on C kites
I fly an 11m / 2007 best waroo that helped me develop and now has come the time to upgrade - and yes I am just a hack who loves what we do ..............
My kite gets flown generally as a one kite quiver from 13to30knts (got smacked in 35)
I can do basic tricks ( big jumps 'and land smoothly - most of the time', backrolls, etc)
I have demoed 2009 Bandit DOS 10m
I have demoed 2010 Bandit III 10m and 13m
I have demoed a range of Ozones
I have demoed a Cabrina Swithblade
I have demoed a Core GT 10.5m
Did not like the Ozones and went back to my old kite (I tried, but fun was down)
NZ mate Reuben (way better than us - showed us that any kite he flies is a kite just the same - a kite is a kite when used by someone who knows what they are doing)
I loved the 2009 / 10m bandit when I rode it - because of the punch. I also rode the Cabrina on the same day in the same conditions and it was not comparable for me although people who ride them rave about them. I was told the core was similar to the DOS bandit but cheaper with a better bar so I tried it on another day. I found it seemed to have good upwing performance and hang and good bar and ther experience was certainly comparable (have not had the opportunity back to back though).
I demoed in ordinary conditions, the new Bandits and was not impressed relative to buying a rollover from 2009.
Questions
1. Is grunty kiting about primitive simplicity or will the bar be ever improved
2. Why does the new bandit have a rope trim (I have not broken a strap one yet) as strap is easier
3. Why is the bar primitive
4. As a 'beginner' I appreciate upwind abilitly. Why do people on these forums say deltas don't have this when I have flown and observed Core Deltas with substantially better upwind than others in the same pond (including mine..and yes I know how to adjust my speed, take an appropriate edge, etc). I'm still trying to work this out and think it is because tthe Cores are naturally flying further forward in the window. This is great for jumpig and getting home again really easily.
5. Is it just me but you now need more kites to cover your favourite spots wind range
I would appreciate some feedback on this rather than sales hype, particularly relative to upwind performance
I disclose, not affiliated to any, I am a kiting hack (but refuse to wear a helmet - stay away from them guys (Pete)), I love to kite rather than talk about it, have just bought a 10.5 GT Core based on my observations and testing.

Hop so many questions, ill try to answer some fore you. I have been ridding delta kites for the last 3 years and have never had any problems with not being able to go upwind(unless to light). Some people do strugle on them if they have chosen the wrong kite for the conditions or tune it wrong this can cause the kite to fly back in the window making it harder to make ground. But with the kite tuned correctly there is no problems if you think its sitting to far back in the window just sheet out a bit and it will race forward.

The new B3 naturally sits a bit further forward in the window making it verry easy to go upwind, this allso makes the kite feel a little les grunty than the dos but if you drift the kite back before you load and pop you still get that delta feel ripping you off of the watter, the other thing it achives is a lighter bar pressure while ridding.

One of the other delta kites i enjoyed ridding was the kahoona it seemed efortless to ride after getting off the dos unhooking was a lot easyer and the kite was predictable and had just enougth grunt to do all the tricks etc that i could throw at it the only downside was the slower turnning but after ridding for a couple of hours i started to start sending the kite earlyer etc for transitions, turns. but all up went up wind well and didnt have much bar presure.

All Bandits right from the start have come from the factory with a depower rope, but M8 have swaped a couple over for us in the past to straps at no extra cost, the straps are easyer, but i find the rope usefull as a visual aid on how much depower to pull on before unhooking, or kite looping.

Im not 100% sure what you mean by primative bar. as bars have come a blody long way in the last 10years. The materials used in some bars are fit for space travel. A lot of R&D go in to bars each year mainly due to feedback of ridders. As you can see a lot of bars are getting simpler safteys are getting safer, bars and assosiated parts are being developed to better suit modern ridding styles. This years B3 bar ticks all the boxes in what i wanted in a bar its nice neat has a lock in chicken loop swing away donkydik and the chicken loop has a nice molded top section with metal hangers and is nicely shaped to grab on to to hook back in sometimes, has a way better safety attachment point and a verry simple QR(which some people dont like)that works every time.

I cant comment on the core kites ther is only one in whyalla and he said its not as good as a dos? but i would have to try one.

I think if you really liked the grunt of the dos and you can get them for the right price go for it but if you go a B3 get a size bigger as the top end is huge so you will get a lot more from your kite. I'll be sticking with the B3's for the season but will probably grab a dos every chance i get to get spanked by one mean kite

Thanks for the feedback on my late night ranting
I suppose (now I'm more focused) the most important question is about upwind performance given comments on a 12m Dos in another seabreeze forum
Does the new B3 or Dos II or the Core Gt have the best up wind performance and is it because they naturally fly further forward in the window as a delta?

Agree with Waxie, both kites charge up wind. No upwind issues, not even close to being an issue

If you had the 10 dos, which is a great kite, i would probaly go the 11m if you want the same grunty feel in the lighter conditions, but if your happy to just cruise when its light and fly the kite around a bit then grab the 10m as the topend will be a bit higher it should have a nice fast turning speed compared to last years 10. I havent tryed the 10 or 11m yet but have taken out 8,9,13m B3 and can say that, they are all great kites, there not an improvement over last years they feel like a whole new kite, you need to give one a go to see what i mean but all up i am verry impressed.

One last thing the last shipment of kites came with new safety leashes. If you picture the slingshot leash, but give it a nice soft covering and its a push release not pull so it wont catch on your harness and release verry nice.

Regarding question 3-4 i thik the B3 definatly sits further forward in the window.

Hi Waxman, thanks for the detailed review, I am 89Kg and currently on a 10 Dos and find myself favoring the second knot in 22+ winds but I do find that in anything below 15-18knots you really have to work it......

This got me thinking maybe the 11 Bandit 3 might be better suited for 10 to 28 knots and my fat belly

PS has anyone got any details or pics on the new colours I have heard mixed stories about colours arriving different to the catalogs....... is the black all black.....any pics of a full black would be great..........

I dont think you will pick up a lot of bottom end going from the dos 10 to the b3 11m. If i were you i would try the 13m it is simply awsome i could do 10-28kts on it easy and probably still have some depower left.

It does depend on your ridding style etc though and board size etc. If you just want to replace the 10 and ride the same conditions plus a bit more in the topend then the 11m will be fine if you want a little more grunt in the bottom end get the 13m. In around 14-15kts yesterday we had 3 different sized B3s on the water a 13,9,8 and all were staying upwind easily all ridding twin tip boards.

We got a all black 10m b3 in and it does look sick, has silver graphics and brown struts. There has been some variation with colours i have two allmost the same but one has the brown leading edge and the other has the black leading edge but both canopies are the same.

With regards to choosing a colour KiteNutt is wright, you dont get much choice as most of the shipments are pre sold and you just get what your given. Lucky no pink this year yet. If you are that picky than you can try to get your local kite shop to get M8 to save you a colour out of the next batch. Or if you get on the M8 Kiteboarding website they have a list of there distributors, you could try ringing all of them to see who has what colours in stock you may get lucky.

13/10/7. This is my quiver and its awesome. The 10m is so good. These kites have a very good top end. The 13m B3 will be a bit slower than the 12m Dos but its still a really nice kite to fly.

Thanks guys, quiver ordered

The B2 was a much better kite, the power was consistant, the turning was smooth, and the lift was great. I tried the new one in St Pierre la Mer in France, i will admit the wind there is off shore and a little gusty. The new one couldn't handle the gusts it would pull me off my edge in any more than a 5 knot gust, the turning was delayed and irratic and would backstall quite a bit if you didn't let the bar out all the way when turning. I think i will stick with my B2 10m and 14m until i find a better kite

Had a great day out on the 13m bandit 3 yesterday with various conditions from 18-30kts and the kite was great handled well and went upwind like it was on rails.

When the wind started to get up around the 30kts mark i had to depower it a knot, but after that i still had a little depower to play with so i could still make the kite comfortable enougth to do most hooked in tricks. In the top end the kite does feel a lot heavier on the bar but is still supper stable in the air, when fully depowered in some of the bigger gusts the canopoy did fold in just above the LE just a bit but the rest of the canopy was still looking good. But that said we were a bit out of the recomended wind range so you wouldnt expect the kite to be perfect.

There was two of us out on 13m's me at 95kgs and scotty at around 60kgs, scotty did struggle to hold the kite a bit in one big gust but most of the time he was just boosting huge and having a ball.

If your looking at upgrading your big kite try the new bandit 3 13m it is one unreal kite. It really looks like my new 9m b3 wont be getting to much use. But would be good to see what the top end of the 9m is 45kts maby?

you guys big numbers my biggest kite is a 7.5 B1 use it all the time(with surfboard)
then the wind blows and i get out the 5.5 B2
I will have to try the B3 but do i get the 8 or the 7 as i will not be changing 5.5 this year