2010 FOne Bandit 3

Look Im not trying to start a forum on what you can handle on your kite i am just giving you my opinion on what i have found but i may need to clarify some points.

Kite:Bandit 3 13m depowered 1 knot
Board:Nobile 50 fifty 140cm
Rider:95kgs/Experienced
Conditions:25/30kts ssw Dead flat water

Experience:Found the kite comfortable enougth to ride soaked the gusts up well, at no stage did i ever feel like i was overpowered could steel get a good edge and fly up wind. Steel felt comfortable to do hooked in tricks and some big jumps.

Recomendations: I really like to ride kites that are lit and the 13m in this session was definatly lit, so i had a blast. But i wouldnt recomend that people use the 13m in these conditions unless verry experienced. Some parts of the sesion i had the kite fully depowered which doesnt leave any room for mistakes, or increase in wind speed, which is a dangerous situation to be in. personally i would normally use a 9m but i do like to test the new gear out to see what its got just incase one day you get caught out. At least you will knnow what youre up fore.


Mattress, sorry to disapoint you but no unhooking in 30 kts you must have misread but did have it out today in 20-25kts testing the new nobile 50 fifty board with some ss PB floyd boots and was unhooking and i can tell you now the thing was out of controll unhooking in boots on a 13m in that wind was insane i liked it but wouldnt recomend it.


Spot1, Getting rid of the old 7.5m. Thats going to be one hard kite to replace. seriously the 7.5 bandit is one of those freak kites that have a great bottom end and i never found the top end. I would keep it, but if you want to change to a B3 try the 8 & 9m both would be fine to replace the old 7.5 but dont expect it to be like the old 7.5 because the B3 feels like a whole new kite. the recomended wind range for the 8m is 18-38kts 9m 15-30kts 7m 24kts+


Addikt,You are quit right the 13m wouldnt suit you for a one kit quiver unless you are over 110kgs. I would recomend you try the 10 or 11m, these kites are a lot smoother than the Dos and have a larger wind range. Just remember that you can adjust the centre line to get a higher top end it does make a hell of a differance and can change it from a willd ride to a mild ride.The recomended wind range for the 10m is 12-28kts and the 11m is 11-24kts based on a regular sized rider around 75kgs.

The 7.5m bandit 1 is the only exception. The b3 is still better than the rest of them.

The 11m would be fine on the second,or third knot in 28kts for your weight, the kite is still really smooth in the topend even when gusty you dont get the strong yanking like on the dos, you can just sheet out a bit and stomp the back foot and the kite races forward and slows down. The b3 actualy sits further forward in the window and is slightly higher aspect which gives it the higher top end and smoother ride.

diamond swaping? sounds more dangerous than 50+kts.[}:)]
Good news you can get the kite $50 cheaper without the pump.

Now now waxman no need to get upset. i think you will find the bandit 3 is the same kite no matter where you ride it, wind is still wind, whether it is in Australia, Europe or America.

I cant understand why you a so desparate to try and discredit my riding abilities and my opinion, because it doesn't agree with yours.....

In fact i ride a bandit dos, i love it its my favourite delta kite,i dont ride a switchblade, and yes i ride other brands as well as i am not a brand whore. However this forum is not about other brands, its about the bandit 3. That is why i posted what i posted.

Im not going to tell you that i am the best kiter out ther because im not, However i have been kiting for the last 7 years, and doing it all over the world. I took time out of my day to post something on this forum that people might find helpfull, if this is the kind of response people can expect from you or people like you on this forum i wonder why we bother.

I've had a few sessions now on my B3's and I can honestly say they handle gusts better than the Dos. The turning on the B3 is in no way delayed and erratic, and in fact they turn really smooth and fast if you hold the bar in when flying the kite.

Letting the bar out all the way will make the kite fly more eratic and delayed as you have less pressure on the rear lines.

I had my 10m out today in Moderate winds. Was trying a few new tricks and had many stacks. I was really impressed with the way the kite wanted to stay in the air. after a few hard crashes I was able to surface, grab my board and get my feet in the straps well before the kite hit the water. On a couple of occasions the kite just sat at 12 O'clock and waited.

Was wondering if there were any melbourne based people who could help me trace down a B3 for Sat 21/11/09 so i could have a look at it! Anyone?...pls? Coming all the way down from Mackay!

Check out the bandit 3 site!

www.bandit3.com/

Man these guys have some balls testing the 9m from 10-50kts just to get the best top end they could....but they dont recomend trying it.[}:)]

Was just wondering if anyone else has noticed any rust in the new style fone pully, They are a white pully with a fone stamped on them. They are not on every kite i have only seen 2 kites with these pullys on them. But i checked mine the other day and where the pins go through the plastic there was a lot of rust and the plastic is badly discoloured. Im a bit worried if it is rusting badly it will expand the pin and probably crack the plastic, which wouldnt be good as its part of the safety system.

They have the 11m b3 wind range from 11 to 24kts. I havent tryed a 11m yet but on all the other sizes i have flown i have found the top end a little conservative and have had my 13m out in more than that. Try this mob should be able to get them. www.surfsailaustralia.com.au/

There are some other distributors listed on the m8 website
www.m8kite.com/?c=2

Hope this helps

Unfortunatly not a team ridder for FONE not quit got the skills for that, but i am a team ridder for a shop but dont work for them, i dont get anything from offering advice on kites on seabreeze i just enjoy being helpfull and answering any questions asked about the product to try and help people out. The only bonus i get from being a team ridder is that i get to test a lot of different kites and boards in a lot of different sizes, and after testing them all, i still like the bandit the most it really suits my style of ridding. There are a lot of people that have ridden them and dont like them as much as there cabs,nemis or octanes as they are really smooth kites compared to the bandits.i have been ridding a combination of bandits and revs over the last 3 years but this year i am down to just the one rev 15m for those light wind skim board days and 2 bandits i would change over the 15m as well but cant aford it at the moment. And as far as next year who knows i may be ridding c kites again flexi foil or fuels just depends what i want from my ridding at the time. but fairly happy with the bandit 3 at the moment, they are a lot nicer kite than the bandit dos.