Rrd Kites

Select to expand quote

jezzofski said..
Does anybody know anything about the Rrd kites?
Are they great for freestyle or waveriding,
Would like to know if its worth buying one as a beginner,

thanks.

yes

Select to expand quote

dusta said..
as a beginner no

double line flag out is ****house and kites don't 100% depower which can cause some scary moments for a beginner when they have to punch out in high winds thinking it will flag out but it stays powered up

this is not true. i own rrd obsession mkvii it will flag out fine, like a older bandit or any other kite that flags out to front lines.

does it flag perfectly like 5 like kite or single line kite? no. but it flags out just fine to punch it in any moment, any wind. there is also video on youtube where guy recorded this because people was talking that it does not flag out and it's dangerous. he also restarted it after flagging



key thing is that it can flag out badly somehow like this. sometime in med wind, bar does not slide out fully so bar can stuck at half way or anywhere between. then kite somehow roles and tumbles around with some pull. all that you have to do in that situation is that you need to pull hard on safety line so bar slide fully. then kite just tumbles le down or le upwards with no pull at all. i self rescued few times in strange wind conditions just fine, swimming, med to high winds, once overpowered etc...

bag to carry kite is ****. newest bar is nice. simple and durable, as it looks like. great lines, really great lines, maybe one of best lines on the market. big bar also, no soft pussy core ****, just bare metal with some grips and some hard plastic dynema made in france lines.

about kite, hmm i'm beginner (landing some jumps) and i found that bar pressure is quite med, if not hard. it can tire you. but kite(obsession) is really fast, great low end. i learned with it, and meanwhile tried some other kites, bandit an switchblade. switch blade - that's a good kite :) really

but i like obsession, i learned on it, price was good, quality is not best but not bad at all. colours, sometime i hate it, sometime like. 9m, usually riding on full power setting, but then some guys struggling with 11, and i can work out temporary wind outage.. :) few times got bar punched out from my hands. kite is stable and predictable but really like 'you make mistake, i kill you' feeling before load & pop. did not felt that with switchblade, it was smooth power delivery.

that power surge, low en and generally good overall feel of kite in med/high winds still makes me happy to ride it but i would not buy it again or buy newer model. i think there are more refined kites for general free ride/all around type of riding. obsession could be or it is, i'm not sure when you know what you precisely want.

hope this helps, btw this text is probably crap but english is not my mother language. :) cheers

Have had both Griffin and RRD kites. Would say the RRD is the better build by far. Wife has learnt on the RRD vision kite. Great kite to learn on and good all rounder. I'm on religions. Great wave kite.

Select to expand quote

1950 said..


this is not true. i own rrd obsession mkvii it will flag out fine, like a older bandit or any other kite that flags out to front lines.

it is actually . They aren't the most friendly kites for beginners. A beginner isn't going to know how to overcome the shortfalls of RRD's flag out . I had 2009/2010 obsessions and they were unpredictable on how they would flag out .

thanks for the replies, although what does flag out mean?

Select to expand quote

jezzofski said..
thanks for the replies, although what does flag out mean?

Just another word for safety line.
kite flags out when safety deployed.

To be more clear, a full flagging kite will pull only from one line only, and will behave much like a flag flapping in the wind and the kite loses shape. Two line flag out is like a mini fifth, pulleys will come more to the center of the kite and the kite should roll on it's back where you can then pull yourself to your kite. I find that this method is as mentioned by Dusta can be unpredictable and if you are not experienced to know what to do it can cause issues and fly off for brief periods. Single line flag outs are always the best option in my opinion.

Select to expand quote

jezzofski said..

1950 said..
jezzofski, can you demo some kites, are there any distributors/schools near you?

No unfortunately the only Kitesurfing demo shop I know of is in hobart, and I live up north Deloraine

He doesn't know where it is, he lives on the other side of the planet :P
"Flagging" is making the kite spill the power from wind (or safety). So it flaps like a flag without pull :)