Postby pwnd550 » Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:44 am
Yesterday I saw on windfinder that there was some wind (about 11 knots, gusting 14 knots) at Belmont Shore in LA, so I packed everything and drove 30 miles to be able to test the Hadlow ID 12m on a wide beach (before going right away in the water, of course), and maybe hit the water. In the end, I talked to two kiters there (there were only 3, all sitting on the beach) who said they had heard the same thing, but that apparently it was wrong since there was about 6 knots.
I still pumped it today in my backyard to see how it looks, and it was amazing. The quality of the kite seems really good, with a thick material (although it is quite thin) and protection pads on the leading edge. There are three dump valves, one at each tip, and one at the center next to the inflate valve.
I also unrolled the lines of the bar, and they are great and of good quality! One thing that bugs me a bit is that it is really hard to put everything back in its original place in the secondary release (on the handlepass leash) (you have to pass a knot between another, then pass a pick in those two knots, something which seems really hard to do in the water if it is pulled accidentally). The grip on the bar might seem a bit too hard, but I did not try it yet so I don't know).
Another small thing that bugs me is that I cannot find a instruction manual for the bar or the kite (I saw on some brochure that an instruction manual is supposed to be in the bag). There is no manual for the ID on the Flexifoil website or for the ID bar, but their bars are pretty similar to each other, so it should be mostly the same.
I'm writing this reviews (even though, again, I did not try the kite yet) because I found it really hard to obtain information about this kite and what came along with it in the bag, and many reviews seem biased or not honest (meaning that the guys who wrote it had a relation with the brand).
Please guys, if you have any information you can add or share about this kite in the air or on the ground, please comment, since it would be really helpful!