Airush Vapor 2

At kitestock i tried a few kites including the Vapor2, Ozone sport 2, Vegas 07 n 08.

Stats: Charl, 18, yrs kiting:1 n a bit, Level: intermediate/advanced, favourite style: wakestyle/newschool freestyle.

Kite Vapor 2

The bar:
nice set up, the standard Airush bar with the large bar throw for safety etc, the quick release hasnt changed from 07. The thing that has changed is the bunny ears on the centre line, looks like a very nice tidy system which also spaces out the lines a bit more which would stop the lines spinning up to a certain extent.

The kite: physically the kites havnt changed to much, still same AR, LE, one pump etc.. but there were alot more tuning options available on the kite itself. Bar pressure and feedback settings by changing the front lines position, turning settings on the Trailing edge, 5th line tension which changes the turning characteristics etc, this kite can basically be tuned up to suit any rider! I think this would of been a problem at kitestock as people like different things and the demo kites might not have been set up in the best way at kitestock.

I flew the 8.5 mostly in 20 - 24 knots for unhooking and i loved it. the kite is fairly slow compared to the previous year but once again i assume it is to do with the tuning. the speed helped though as it gave you more time to think about what your doing without accidently sending the kite. for wakestyle n newschool tricks i felt the kite was very easy to adapt to, it didnt take me long to get used to the unhooked feel of the kite at all! the only problem i found was when attempting pull up passes the kite just kept pulling and pulling so it was hard to get a feel of when to pass the bar but with mobe attempts i had no troubles. it had a fairly tight 5th line set up though which would make it fly forward in the window more...

Over all i liked the 8.5m for freestyle riding and even a bit in the waves. I suggest people should go out and try the vapor 2 range out, but just play around with the 5th line tension as it does make a huge difference on the kite's performance and could pretty much be the deciding factor of whether you liek the kites or not!

Tighter fith line makes the turning more pivotal like the flow but it does nto generate power in the turns, the turns were slightly quicker also, looser 5th line makes the turning more powered, but it doesnt go into the turn as quick but it will accellerate as soon as you throw it into the turn which personally i prefer as when you make tiny bar movements during tricks the kite wont move too much.

im sure playing with the front line position would also change a few things, next time i will move the front lines to the furthest front connection to see how it affects the kite and then to the closest setting to see what that does.

i give the kite a 7/10 overall for good freestyle performance, nice depower when you stuff up so you dont get lofted down the beach by a looping kite etc, nice clean bar set up, one pump and all the other little things that people like.

the only comments i have to make is that the bar throw imo should be smaller as you cant reach the stopper when its right at the top and the bar should be a little thicker but thats just me i like thicker bars as they dont give you caluses.

yer charls is spot on a really nice kite that is the most tunable kite of today! its also one of the easiest kites to relauch aswell. this years is a bit slower than last years aswell. overall a sik kite defiently grab the demos of airbourne!!!