2008 Core Combat

Found this new kite today - the Core Combat - site is in not in english - so waiting for the run down...

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Looks nice - I still like their bar principle but yet to see one in the flesh - and this kite looks a lot like the f-One Delta which gets some decent reviews...

Hey look it's a bandit with different colours and a different front bridle. Awesome innovation there guys.

No flagging system on the bar and a 6 pulley bridle is a bit of a worry tho (or was that 8 pulleys in total, I lost count). Alright it does seem to have a flagging system but it doesnt flag from 1 line, which I prefer.

I'd be keen to see the bridle in the flesh cos it does look pretty unique.

I see they stopped using the Riley pulleys and have gone to some SPRENGER pulley. I've never heard of them before.


Hey lance, go into google and click on the language translator. The grammar is shocking but atleast you can read it. The core website just has the regular kite hype. Looks like it has an optional 5th line if you want a good flagging system.

Love the look of that combat, cant wait to fly it !!

I'am happy with the Core Riot, its just easy to fly, plenty of grunt and heaps of glide.
I havent unhooked on many kites yet, but this baby behaves like a loyal puppi dog even if you stuff up, thumbs up.

anyone orderd wind for Brisie yet ?

I had the 9m Combat for about three weeks and only now can I truly say I get close to the most out of it.
Unlike the EVO and Bandit Delta Kites this kite needs a little getting dialed into for sure.
I definitly wouldn't say it is a beginners kite. It needs a good rider who knows what they are doing to really appreciate what this kite can deliver and then it does.
Bar pressure is not as light as on the Riot for sure.
All I can think of when discribing this kite, is that it seems to be fullfilling the expectations that excentric riders like Lou Wainman might want to see from their kites.
I might be totally wrong here but for me it looks like Core didn't want to target the masses with this kite and not jump on the Delta bandwagon just to launch another easy to ride and easy to relaunch Delta but instead use the Delta shape advantages to achieve different goals. It is certainly very different from other Deltas.
In waves this kite is hard to beat. I never had anything that would suit me better in waves and it is the first kite in ages that made me think of ditching depower alltogether, go for a fixed set-up and depower via edge control. Of course the windrange is massive on this kite when using the depower. A bit more top end maybe than low end on the 9m though.
Use it once and you might be unsure, use it twice and it starts to make you think. Third time out and you get a sniff of its potential.
I am sure that this kite will start a few discussions.
B.t.w. We are a shop that amongst other kite-brands sells Core-kites.

The short yellow line on the bar which is called the Microloop, is an excellent little gadget. The Combat has more bar pressure than kites like the Core Riot and when the wind is light you often ride with the bar totally sheeted in. This can get a little tiring if you are a weakling like myself. So I just hook into the microloop with the metal hook on the chickenloop and ride like this. The Combat can be pushed to the edge of the windwindow very easily just through edge-control and thus you can ride with this fixed solution quite happily in light to medium winds. For me it is an essential gadget on the Combat and I wouldn't want to miss it on this kite.
Regarding pulleys.
The Combat has three pulleys either side(2 on each side of the front-line-bridle and one on the backlines) but don't be worried as the bridling is so incredibly short that they don't ever tangle or cause any reasons for concern.
On kites like the Bandit the bridle is superlong and even though it only has one pulley on each side of the front-line-bridle it will potentially tangle a hell of a lot more and also show more wear more quickly as the load on this single pulley is way, way higher than on any of the pulleys on the Combat.
All I can say is and I probably repeat myself here, that the Combat is the most excellent of Wavekites.
If you have waves to ride then get this kite.
I haven't seen or ridden a better wavekite yet.

Nice vid John - I like the forward roll transitions - very cool - may have to go practice some today as the wind is starting to blow - whooo hooo

Kite looks great even though it looked like really light winds - what size were you riding and how strong was the wind in kts?

Got my hands on a demo last night. No wind to fly it (until after dark-aaarrgh!), but what I saw was impressive German design, attention to detail, and a kite with not a stitch out of place or a ragged edge anywhere. Wear points are all lightly reinforced which makes for a light but robust kite, and fittings such as the strut entry points on the 1-pump inflation system are all high quality. True to previous overseas reviews, the bar and line set-up is beatifully designed and finished. Comes with mesh bar bag and spare micro-loop.

If the performance of this kite matches its presentation (and the reviews), I am in for a treat!

Saturday looks the goods, but we have been caught out the last 2 weekends. Will post again after the wind delivers.

Cheers,
Hemi Tuwhaaka

Thanks to Scott in Brissy I got to see and touch one of these kites - cant wait to take one for a blast!!

The kite construction is very good like others have commented, and the Delta shape is certainly very striking, and it "looks" fast so fingers crossed. The fact that the rear bridle is seperate to the front bridle arrangement indicates that it should also be quick in turning.

The bar still has me sold, the self untwisting feature contained in the chicken loop is as the "Top Gear" presenters say - a piece of brilliant german engineering, although it would require a degree of care and maintenance, but so does all your kite equipment regardless.

Great kit out of the bag, now need to take a puppy for a test run!

Had my my first session on the 9 Combat at Scarbs last Sunday. Frontal SW weather, typically 10 mins of breeze followed by 15 mins of nothing. Smallish (1m) surf, Spleene Zone board and 95 kg of.....buoyancy. The windy periods averaged around 14 kts and gusted to 18 kts. The lulls were unsailable.

Keep in mind that I am comparing the Combat to my experience of late model flat SLEs with quick turning, great depower, long bar travel and very light bar pressure.

Previously I had flown the 12m in very light conditions and found it so different to my SLE that I was struggling to adapt to the kite's flying characteristics and keep it trimmed in the conditions. Not helped by being on a TT when I have been riding directionals exclusively for the past year.

This time I had a different experience. The 9m is such a fast turner. (I also rode an 8m SLE for comparison.) The 9 Combat turned just as fast as the 8 - maybe faster - and had way more grunt. More power through the turns too, which I am not used to.(I prefer to turn the kite "off" when turning onto a wave, then turn it back on to accelerate on the wave.

The biggest difference between this session and the previous one was that I was getting more familiar to the kite's flying characteristics. That made a huge difference to how well I kept the kite trimmed and "in the zone". As the session went on, I tuned in more and got much more performance out of the kite.

The Combat feels just so different to the flat SLE's. I don't think it's as easy or forgiving to fly because of higher bar pressure and what feels like a narrower "power band". Had a C-kite feel in the way it can power up and pull. Trimming the kite becomes more critical because there is not a lot of throw (travel) of the bar between powered up and depowered. Total depower is probably achievable only by adjusting the depower strap. I am used to a bar setup with no depower strap and all the depower in the travel of the bar. The Combat flies less off its front lines - hence more bar pressure than I'm used to, and a more sensitive power band.

Overall impressions:

I find myself echoing previous reports coming from overseas, where the Combat has been available for a few months.

Light weight.
Excellent construction & distribution of reinforced areas.
Very fast turning.
Powerful above its size. (the 9m would be my 80% kite, rather than a 12m).
Significant bar pressure.
Relaunch and unassisted launch/land is a no-brainer. The kite simply rolls around its swept back leading edge and takes off.
A great wave kite
There are friendlier kites around for novices

Looking forward to more time on this baby. Definitey a kite that requires some time 'getting to know'. An exciting kite to ride in the surf.

Cheers
Hemi Tuwhaaka

Got to ride the 9m Combat on a good reef break and favourable winds. First thoughts of the kite was for a 9m it seemed so much smaller - but once in the air the pull was as you would expect for a kite of this size - what wasnt expected was how fast this thing is in the air.

My first tack out and I thought I had picked up a trainer kite and was a bit anxious if I could keep it on a level - a few runs though and all was good and the speed is awesome to have on tap.

To a degree I was able to turn the power off and run further into the wind while on the wave - which was also very pleasing.

The only down side was the bar pressure - although the Tribal Elder had adjusted both centre and back lines - so Im pretty sure this isnt how it is out of the box, Im not a fan of the strap adjustment - I like the simplicity of the airush and north systems.

That said though a pretty damn good kite that with experience Im sure would make an awesome wave kite - not to mention a kiteloopers dream with the speed this thing had in the air!!

Mars,

Lets make it on the 3rd of August wind permitting.

An unreal kite for waves because they are so quick and reactive!
The more time I spend on them, the more I like them – roll on sea breezes.

Did you get a chance to use the mini hook? With the right settings you can make your up wind tack effortless.

Hey Scott any details on the GT?