I Finally Got To Ride The Slingshot REV

[Twin-Fin]

I finally got to ride the Slingshot Rev and several people have asked my what my thoughs were of the Rev, this is my personal impression of the Rev. Im not a team rider, and I am not a top level kiter, and no one is paying me to write this review.

A little background first: This is my second year kiting; I get out to ride approximately 2 to 3 times per week. I currently fly the North Rebel kites 7m 9m, 12m.

My thoughts on the Rebel. The Rebel has been a fairly good kite once you figure out how to fly it. The only thing that I don’t like about the Rebel is 1) the Y bridal for the 5th line splits about 50ft up the line set, which means if you f*#k up and your kite inverts then you have to come into shore to get your lines figured out. Thus, making it more difficult to progress in your kiteboarding skills. 2) I though that the Rebel was a fairy fast turning kite until I rode the Rev. 3) The Rebel does not have much low end, but has excellent high end.

Now for the Rev. The Rev is a simple four line kite, no 5 line issues, and NO BATTENS . I hate battens; they break and make it much harder to pack especially for a trip.

I flew the Rev at Vento because there was no wind anywhere. There were two mufflersurfers out sloggen it, and it was barely white cappen. I went out with two other guys on Cabrina 12m kites (Kramer and ? some other guy), and I went out the 11m Rev. I had to depower the Rev so that it was comfortable for me to ride. As soon as I got it dialed in I started to enjoy the truly high performance of the kite. It is a very fast flying kite, with just the right amount of bar pressure so that you can feel where the kite is. The kite has very little back line pressure and is easily flown with one had, it is so easy to steer. It takes barely any pressure on the back lines to get this kite to turn. This kite brought out all of my bad habits. As I found my self looping the kite inadvertently. The SLE /C kite characteristics that everybody is talking about means always having power in your turns no on-off-on pull through your turns, just a nice smooth pull throughout your turns.

And Holly SHIT this mother has got some HANG time
I swear, I though I was Jessie Richman a couple of times without the long hair and way older. Seriously this kite is a phenomenal jumper. I actually feel that I have enough time in the air to pull off some styley moves (still need to work on the style end of things). Back/front rolls are much easier as a result of the extra lift that this kite provides.

The only down side (or not) is that if you rotate in only one direction then your center lines/ kite leash will get all twisted up in one direction. All you really need to do is start throwing tricks in the other direction or unhook and let it spin out.

I came off the water with a huge Rev SMILE

I have been watching the local talent fly the Rev's beating the living shit out of these kites, slamming on the water after a failed kite loop handle pass to blind. They seem to be no worse for the ware, no rips, no busted bladders, no nipples torn off (ouch!)

I can truly say that the Rev will make you a better kiter and that’s NO SHIT!

The only reason not to by a Rev is if, 1) you have not flown the kite. 2) hate Slingshot products. 3) are getting a serous hook up from some other kite manufacture/shop. 4) This kite will spoil you and will make flying other kites not so much fun anymore

If you are truly into kiting then don’t waste you time with any other product out there. Get down to Gorge Performance right now and GET IN LINE to buy a quiver of these kites. My only question now is what size’s do I need? Everyone that I have talked to say 7m, 9m, 13m are the size they are going after. I had so much fun on the 11m depowered in light wind that I don’t know that I would use the 13m much other than at the coast.

Rev stoke factor……..MEGA-HUGE.

I am going to sell my Rebels and buy Rev's, my only concern is that I hope Slingshot does not run out of them before I can get my hands on them.

Thanks to the Slingshot crew for developing an awesome kite. I’m sure the Rev will become the bench mark for other kite manufacturing company’s to compare their kites too, much like the legacy of the Fuel.

[kitegrommet]

Great, a 3 kite quiver.

New "direct drive" bar? One pump? Depower below the bar? Gorge Perf is slinging these now, not Pepi at 2nd Wind?

"I hope Slingshot does not run out of them before I can get my hands on them."

Yea, they aren't even out yet, I guess since you've been kiting for 2 years, you didn't get in line for a Hellfish. The Octane was "the kite", now on sale super cheap.

[Twin-Fin]

Ya I have only been kiting for two years.
I may not have all of your experience that you may have but, as I said this is MY IMPRESSION of the Rev. Love it or leave it.

I do not know what the new 4 line bar is called but I did not bother me, it was simple and very user friendly.

It is a one pump kite.

I may not of experienced the Hellfish, but I did buy a quiver of the Slingshot links last year and realized that my kiting skills were not up to par with the link. The Link is a high preformance kite that also has all of the high performance drawbacks or bad habits. As a result, I was too green to fly the Link properly.

I think that says a lot about the Rev. It is MY IMPRESSION that the Rev is a high performance kite that is user friendly and will work excellent for the Pro rider to the newby kook.

I guess Im just a newbie kook-want to be Pro rider.

Trust me I am not the only one jumping on this band wagon.

And yes Gorge Performance is selling Slingshot gear and they rock!

[kjo]

alot of ppl werent up to linkd+ks and td2,,,

will wait for real reviews...

[kjo]

alot of ppl werent up to linkd+ks and td2,,,

will wait for real reviews...

[slingslut]

Whats not real...seems real to me. Check out DAX's REV-iew is he biased, I don't think so.
I could post a REV REV REV-iew too but it would only echo what Twin Fin and Dax have already said.
Its Good

[slingslut]

Whats not real...seems real to me. Check out DAX's REV-iew is he biased, I don't think so.
I could post a REV REV REV-iew too but it would only echo what Twin Fin and Dax have already said.
Its Good

[Twin-Fin]

The kite speaks for itself
If you get a chance to fly one then you will know how great it really is.
I am just providing my thoughts on the Rev to riders that don't have the opportunity to demo one.

[The Jess-Man]

How long do you think it's going to be before these things go on sale, after the Best and batten haters try the Rev back to back with the OR Rise?

There is nothing that SS offers with Rev that's not already offered with the Rise.

SS has a rep to rebuild after 2 years of crap. Maybe they should consider lowering there prices.

Rev 11m $1500
Rise 12m $1195

[johnong]

How long do you think it's going to be before these things go on sale, after the Best and batten haters try the Rev back to back with the OR Rise?

There is nothing that SS offers with Rev that's not already offered with the Rise.

SS has a rep to rebuild after 2 years of crap. Maybe they should consider lowering there prices.

Rev 11m $1500
Rise 12m $1195

I really like the look of the REV, and the RISE looks good too. One thing though is that they looked like they had similar bridles in the pictures and OR have changed that the new RISE... Has slingshot got round whatever the problem was without having to change?
After flying a link for a season I am a bit scared that the nice tight new bridle will end up a massive long red one with pulleys everywhere!

But if this not the case the REV could be the one. The bar setup and safety looks great.