Best kiteloop kite of 2020-21

[SpyrosAKAgi]

Regarding the upcoming event of KOTA for 2021 and the last years obsession of everyone for kiteloops i would like to know your opinion of which do you consider the best kite for kiteloops.
Aloha!

[zloilyoha]

everything depends of what you need from a kiteloop : power , angle, extra height,
Core GTS5, from my point of view is a most reliable true looping kite

[luca]

North Orbit 2021

[Leon van Bergen]

Well, last days i tested my new set of 2021 Duotone Rebel and I was amazed how good the loops are. I had the 2019 version that were significantly less good at it. And with the known 5 strut boost and hangtime capabilities and the fine weight reduction i think its one of the best options out there, perhaps best compared to an Orbit or XR. But for loops only i think any open C like a Dice or a Dash is the one to go.

[stoked_sender]

Any open/bridled C kite that is Dice, Dash, GTS... They're fast with a direct feel so you can actually feel the kite looping

[BOEMIX]

Any open/bridled C kite that is Dice, Dash, GTS... They're fast with a direct feel so you can actually feel the kite looping

Specially the one you are used to ride

[galzohar]

It had been difficult to get to try all the kites for demo on a strong wind day, but I do have a 10m (2020) and 8m FX (2021), looping with the "more depower" setting, and also tried the 10m orbit in conditions I would normally loop my 10m FX (was ~25 knots). Compared to the FX, the orbit seems to loop slower, pull you forward a much shorter distance (significantly less power in the loop), and climb much faster at the end of the loop - I had to downloop much earlier than I'm used to, in order to avoid the lines slacking and kite falling after the landing. For regular jumps, the orbit had airtime typical for old school kites, much more than the FX, which is a low airtime kite. I also had a short session on a 9m dice in similar winds, but it's difficult to compare as it was different size and much easier to loop than a 10m, but overall seems much more similar to the FX than the Orbit, as one would expect - I could not notice any significant differences between dice and FX that aren't shadowed by the size differences.

I'm not sure what would actually be the best kites. Lots of guys are loving the more "gently looping" kites like North Orbit and even Core Nexus. I'm not doing any crazy tricks with my kiteloops yet, still just trying to get them as high and aggressive as possible while landing smoothly, but I'm afraid some of that "extreme" feeling of getting a hard yank will be lost going from FX/Dice to an Orbit, even though that seems to be the trend nowadays. Some friends are even looping rebels (recent models, not older ones), but I haven't seen anyone actually compare the latest rebels to the Orbit. Similar things were said about the Switchblade

So basically I would narrow down the research to 2 questions:
1. Do we really want an Open-C kite? Or go with one of the newer kites like Orbit, new Rebel, new Switchblade, Supermodel, Pivot or go with the Open-C like the Dice, FX, GTS?

2. Which one of the kites in the selected category is best at this task? For Open-C kites you will probably get a rather similar behavior, with minor differences. However, the non-C looping kites seem rather different in design (for example Supermodel and Pivot being 3 struts), I wonder what the actual differences are.

Seems like even though big air gets increasingly popular, there is little useful information on this topic online.

[Blackened]

1. If you want a more aggressive yank, then Dice/FX/other hybrid C.

2. D shaped Rebel/XR are slow in comparison to the others, but they still loop okay. If you're doing high loops or regularly loop over 8-9m, then they're pretty reliable in the catch. If you do lower loops, they have decent yank simply because the loop is long.

3. Pivot/SM/Orbit have similar category looping performance. They basically are the halfway house between the others. Not a lot of yank, super reliable, and fairly quick. They jump halfway between them as well. They are an awesome introduction to looping as it's hard to get into too much trouble with them. Easy to learn tricks as when you do punt it, it doesn't punish you as much as the other two can.

In summary:
1. The first category is for old school hardcore looping fans.
2. The second category is for height and hang to rotate/whatever.
3. The third is for ease of use / learning.

The trend has definitely moved away from the hardcore kites - even the old school guys like Liam and Aaron moved to the Rebel/Evo from the Dice. It's a bit of a shame as you don't see a lot of proper megaloops in comps anymore.

[kitemancan]

Love the looping on my ocean rodeo rises. Solid yank that hits just right. I almost don't even care about learning many tricks anymore without loops as they're so much fun!

[Blackened]

Love the looping on my ocean rodeo rises. Solid yank that hits just right. I almost don't even care about learning many tricks anymore without loops as they're so much fun!

Yeah, that's a problem isn't it? I can't get excited to go out unless it's over 30kn.

Unless a seabreeze pops in summer and I haven't been kiting in two months. My 15m looks very attractive then..