Fone Bandit III 9m Staff Review
Today i had the opportunity to ride the 9m Bandit III 2010. I read a ton of reviews first and wanted to really make my own opinion about the kite. well here it is. Out of the bag the kite looks awesome. great new graphics and the bag is just like last year except it has an enclosed bar pocket (neither good nor bad) but does help keep your wet bar somewhat sand free when you put it in the bag. the one pump is awesome. i got the 9m pumped up in very short time. the bridles are the first major change you will notice on the kite. the bridles are much shorter this year so you don’t get that tangled mess that some people experienced last year. the rear lines on the kite are also longer. they did this so they could allow for all 4 lines from the bar to be the same length. great feature for those that don’t want to purchase another bar and plan on using a bar from another kite they already have. however, this years bar is really nice. the rear lines have knots off the bar ends so you can easily adjust rear line length, and the CL locks nicely into the bar and stays sturdy and upright for unhooking. i self launched and realized i actually did not do anything, the kite did all the work, literally. the kite went up in seconds and so smooth. it flys on the front lines as opposed to last year when it flew more off the back lines, this should be really nice for unhooking (i did not fly unhooked). The Fone Bandit III (3) flew super smooth and VERY fast. i was surprised about the low end power of this kite. today the wind was only about 10-15 on the gusts and it had so much power i was able to drag very far and fast on the beach. yesterday i took the kite out in 30-40 mph side shore winds and it handled the gusts VERY well. at one point i dropped the kite due to rider error and a set wave was about to destroy it and thankfully to “auto” relaunch the kite got up very quickly and out of harms way. i have to fly it a few more times to really dial in my jumps as i am so used to the bandit dos where i could really hit major air on that kite. the sweet spot moved a little with this kite and it fly’s more forward in the window. i like when kites fly like this because it allows for easy upwind performance and allows the kite to sit in a comfortable spot of the window while wave riding. i am far from an expert in wave riding; however, this kite affords me the confidence to work on that aspect of kiting: the kite literally just sits there in the air when you approach it and it does not fall out of the sky. This kite wants to fly. that is all for now. i will report more as i ride it more.
- Fone Bandit III 2010
