Customer Reviews

Excellent kites and frequently overlooked Review by Stueyboy

So, I wanted to wait until I had flown both my 7m and 10.5m Obsessions and after today, I can now say that they are both extremely good kites. More to come but first a bit about me.

I have been kitesurfing for over 5 years and have flown a wide range of kites from bow kites to full on old-school c-kites. I have flown Slingshot fuels for the past 2 years and really liked them but unfortunately my body didn't and I was getting serious tennis elbow that was preventing me from enjoying them fully.

I recently took posession of the Obsessions and while I have only had a few sessions on them, I have flown this type of kite before and the current MKIII is as good if not better then previous models.

RRD kites are VERY well made and you really need to see the attention to detail for yourself. Just little things like kevlar protection for the leading edge stitching, velcro pads to stop the one-pump valves form rubbing against the bladders and retaining velcro for the bridles when packed make you appreciate the quality of this product.

In the air, I was not dissapointed. The Obsessions feature a double pulley bridle system which enables a bigger depower range from a smaller bar throw, so you don't need monkey arms to ride out a gust. Also this enbles the bridle length to be shorter and therefore keeps the "jitter" from the kite to a minimum in gusty winds. Today, I flew the 7m in winds gusting from 25-35knts and I hardly had to trim the kite at all, just a little to ride the gusts and for someone my weight (88Kgs) it felt like the kite was near the bottom of its wind range.

Speaking of range, the 10.5 has a useable range of 15-28knts from personal experiance last weekend when the wind went mental at Brancaster over a 30 minute period. I did have to depower the kite at the bar but only one knot so it stayed stable in what became a gusty wind.

Both kites fly well on slack back lines and will respond quickly to bar input when powered up. From limited use, they would be good waveriding freestyle kites as they depower quickly and stay well behaved when drifting back into the window. Freestyle boost is excellent and you will not be complaining that you can't jump as high as other kite brands if you ride these kites.

One final observation on flying characteristics which I never thought I would be able to see on a non C-kite type of design is that you get a prettty consistent forward pull no matter what you are doing and where the kite is. All you need to do is keep the kite powered up with all the lines tight. I've rarely experienced that on a bridled kite.

Don't forget the bar, which is simple, functional and has even more nifty design features. Like a hollow plastic depower line which the safety is threaded down, so no chance of it being worn away by any bar snags. Also, the depower rope is elasticated, so even if you pull in 6-9 inches of depower, it will shrink up to 2 inches and stay put of the way while you fly. No more twisting round the main depower line in flight.

I hope this helps if you are considering testing and/or buying this kite. I'm impressed and happy. Oh, and no more tennis elbow.

Stu

(Posted on 22/05/2011)