Postby jumptheshark » Sat Oct 13, 2018 5:27 pm
There was still a fair bit of development going on around 2008. Enough that you can't reliably just buy any old kite. By 2012 your odds are much better.
The bridle revolution was in those 06-08 years, and they didn't have it down across the board until closer to 2012. Those early years have some decent kites, but there are plenty of dogs that really, are just not worth flying compared to almost anything current. From 2012 on you can pretty much count on at least a decent kite, but once again, a little research goes a long way. The long running C kite models of fuel, torch, vegas are all great by 2012. Other long standing models like the rebel, the later years of the park, the rpm, they all hit relative maturity around 2012.
There are many more good kites out there, things like switchblades etc are all viable, but it helps to know what the traits of a long running model are. The switchblade was never a fast or responsive kite but more of a steady/stable kite. They are probably plenty fast now, but they grew into it much more recently than say 2012.
The rhino you mention is one I would call obsolete. They were a C kite before the vegas. Generally lacked any real depower but packed a lot of lift. Dangerous combo for anyone inexperienced.
Not every long standing model is a lock. The LF envy has been around a while, but they had a weird pulley at the wingtip that they eventually abandoned. Any of that kind of stuff (pulleys on bar ends or attached rear and front bridle, are all evolutionarily dead and I wouldn't bother with them.
Some kites worked great but had particular safety systems that are now pretty obsolete. Everything now is single from line flagging. Old F-ones were all pretty good kites but you hear about looping or failure to roll over properly from those. Put em on a newer bar and they are fine. Other stuff to consider is that between 2008 and say 2015, kites were all still gaining weight with more and more and more battens, reinforcements, and scuff protections. Some companies like SS made "bombproof" their motto and it all got a little extreme. Have never flown an SS that felt snappy and light.
Anyway, that's just a thumbnail sketch. I have no problem buying minty older stuff, but I'm choosy. As a rule of thumb, if you don't know exactly what your looking for, you might as well aim for the sweet spot on the depreciation curve. 3-4 model years old and your still looking at a 2014 kite.