My review of Rebel 2012, 12M

[SupaEZ]

I totally HATE the look of the bar...why on earth can't they use some bright, big color to identify left-right???

Would it help you if your car steering wheel had left side red and right side green
Would you be less accident prone

[vannibombonato]

I totally HATE the look of the bar...why on earth can't they use some bright, big color to identify left-right???

Would it help you if your car steering wheel had left side red and right side green
Would you be less accident prone

Not sure if you've ever been on a kite...

You know, if you do big crash while looping/rotating, and you loose grip with the bar, take head out of the water and the kite is about to go through another loop and in a split second you got to hold on one side of the bar to avoid a loop crash, it's kind of tough to identify what's right and what's left on a bar...its not like left side is always on the left side in case you missed this slight point, and this is why every brand on earth identifies with color-match left and right side on the bar...its not about decorating the bar, you know?

[SupaEZ]

Not sure if you've ever been on a kite...

You know, if you do big crash while looping/rotating, and you loose grip with the bar

The North trust bar 2012 has enough red-orange color on the bar end to identify left side
As far as having been on a kite.....
Rebels exclusively 2010 model / 2011 model / 2012 model sizes 14/12/10/8/6/5
3 times a week nearly every week for the past 2.5 years at 1.5hr session avg

3 x 48wks x 2.5 x1.5 = about 540 hours on Rebels looping / rotating (but not losing my grip)
So how sure are you now ?

And before the Rebels i kept those same hours for 10 years on many brands of tube kites
.

[vannibombonato]

Not sure if you've ever been on a kite...

You know, if you do big crash while looping/rotating, and you loose grip with the bar

The North trust bar 2012 has enough red-orange color on the bar end to identify left side
As far as having been on a kite.....
Rebels exclusively 2010 model / 2011 model / 2012 model sizes 14/12/10/8/6/5
3 times a week nearly every week for the past 2.5 years at 1.5hr session avg

3 x 48wks x 2.5 x1.5 = about 540 hours on Rebels looping / rotating (but not losing my grip)
So how sure are you now ?

And before the Rebels i kept those same hours for 10 years on many brands of tube kites
.

Wow, dude, you are so cool. Zillion hours spent doing supertricks and yet you manage never to lose grip on the bar, wow, how cool you are.
Unfortunately for the rest of us human being who do happen to crash and lose grip on the bar there are bars out there which are way more user friendly than having a slight coloration over a dull gray. It's not something that obviously ever happened to you, but you know, for the rest of us which are not supermen, it happens indeed to crash and then have to instantly grab the bar one way ore the other to avoid the kite crashing on the water. And for us who don't have superpowers, it indeeds help to have some brilliant coloration.
By the way, why do you use a bar at all? You would be way more cool by holding the kite with your hands only, ever thought about that?

[davesails7]

I've got the 2011 bar and couldn't figure out what you were talking about. Coloring on the 2011 bar was good, you can tell the difference between the mostly white side and the mostly red side. Then I saw a picture of the 2012 bar, they made the whole thing dark grey. Seems like a step in the worng direction.

2011:


2012:


I had a 2010 Airush bar that was had no color difference, and it was annoying. You come up after a failed trick and see the kite slowly heading towards the water, you have to choose fast which side of the bar you're going to pull on. Really a pain when you are in really light wind and might not be able to relaunch if you choose the wrong side and the kite crashes.

[SupaEZ]

By the way, why do you use a bar at all? You would be way more cool by holding the kite with your hands only, ever thought about that?

Funny you should say that
It just happens that at one time i used to kite without a bar at all

Water foil controlled with handles
We called "Nordic track" kiting

Talk about lookin Supa cool then

So get a grip on yourself and on your bar
The Rebel is also 99.99% Anti-Hindenberg
I am not cool just seasoned and experienced

From your style on riding hooked in how do you manage to lose the bar anyway?
Do you have very small hands?
Do you have leftover slippery sunscreen on your hands?

Anyway keep on practicing
Things will get better
We have all heard golfers blaming their game because of their clubs
Well kiting is the same way

[El Torito]

I am not a seasoned kiter, as most of you, and still spend alot of time crashing and splashing, but I just dont get what the fuss is about.

The only time I actually look at the colors of the bar, is when I attach my lines, to make sure red = red.

I never look at which side is red when I crash. If the kite is going down, instinctively I just grab the highest point of the bar, and this normally steers the kite back up.

By the time I can see through all the water on my face again, I just spin the bar to align with the kite, and off I go.

I fly a 9m 2012 Rebel, and must say its the easiest kite to keep in the air. There really has to be no wind for it to just fall out of the sky. Next time your kite "zeppelin" hindenberg, just pull on all your lines together - reach up and grap them - then release and loop!

To avoid the 5th line snag, just let go of the bar. The kite will move accross the window, and start lifting as it falls back over. If you are still worried, just pull in about 4meters of your back line and twist the kite around. This has worked for me every time. Just do not get tempted to pull on the 5th line to flip it over, becos that will rip the kite in half.

[14ToeSide]

[cglazier]

I have a 2012 Rebel and it seems very nice. I am used to light bar pressure so I want to thank North for providing the adjustment setting allowing me to set the kite up this way.

A small point.. Why does North put the deflate valve near the tip of the kite. It is easier to have it in the middle and makes rolling up your kite twice as fast (fold it in half and then roll it).

Overall I am not sold on the 5th line.. it certainly can wrap around the kite. It has pros and cons. Perhaps the Fuse is another good choice (it is supposed to be a 4 line Rebel).

CG

[14ToeSide]

The north manual recs that you roll the kite up starting at the opposite end of the dump valve and roll all the way to the wingtip that has the Valve. If done this way it's easier and FASTER to pack up the Rebel. The Fuse is NOT a Rebel.

My 3 CENTS