soul19 wrote:Hey I am considering picking up some judge kites
Disclaimer: I work for Epic Kites.
Hi James,
I have ridden bridled kites since 2007. Started on C's 'back in the day' and was happy to see a bridled kite that could depower and relaunch. I have been riding the Renegades for two years now but, did pick up a Judge 8 this summer.
I was apprehensive about the Judge for one reason, relaunch. Memories of swimming like mad to get the kite flipped over kept me from thinking that I would ever purchase one of these. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they small V bridle that the Judge has was enough to make relaunch, while not as easy as a SLE, at least helped a great deal. I purposely put this kite down a few times and it always made it back into the air without swimming and in a short period of time.
The feeling of the kite is a bit different than the Renegades for sure. It surges forward in gusts giving you a lot of speed quickly. The Renegades ease you into it a bit more. The kite depowers well, about 70% when you drop the bar probably. Doing raleys is a little different. The kite sits more forward so, you don't have to depower it to make sure it does not backstall. It also gives you slack once you land. You can control this kite a lot more with your board. IE: stomp on the back of the board and the kite shoots forward with more depower.
All in all, I really like the feeling of it. I am not going to trade my Renegades for all Judges but, it is a very fun kite to have in the quiver.
kt