Yea, me too. Add Bandit / dos to list. Thanks in advance for first hand experience accounts.

Just got my 14m 09. The build quality is good. The struts have full length reinforcing, the bridle is made of better diameter rope and the pulleys are ronson graphite with bearings and a stainless swivel. I dumped mine into bushes during a wind shift the second time I used it. It went leading edge down hard enough to snap 3/4 in branches off the bush. The leading edge hit but didn't even mark, the canopy got a 4-5 inch tear in it and a couple of smaller ones. It actually held up very well given the circumstances. I would say the quality is as good as you'll get and almost as good as a Flexifoil. The thing flies very well, turns nice and feels good at the bar. I'm 100kg and ride a 136 Aboard, a 129 Thorn and a 6'8 surfboard and it gets me going in about 10 - 12 knots on the surfboard but needs about 15 plus for the Aboard and a little more for the Thorn. Its a great kite, good quality and you get a free board. PM me for more info if you want.

I've got a 9 and a 12 on the way. Build quality looks great and I have been told the 09 helix is so different from the 08 it should have been renamed.

I highly doubt they'll have the snapping bridle problems the earlier naish kites had as the pulleys (only two on the kite not 6 like my 07 boxer) are heaps bigger and the line they run though is the same stuff used for pigtails.

not sure about the 09 models, but the year before the bars were falling apart. when you pull the bar in for power the red plastic thing near the chicken loop hits the bar destroying the grip. it costs my mate $50 every six months to replace the cleat rope for the hole in bar destroys rope. laying a cab bar next to a helix bar of the same age is a funny thing to see for the cab rider, cause the cab bar is like new still and the helix bar is a mess. maybe they fixed the bar this year or they might be following suit with slingshot, making bars that fall apart after a short time year after year after year.
all kites are made well these days, its the bar that sets kites apart from each other when it comes to quality

pfr said...

not sure about the 09 models, but the year before the bars were falling apart. when you pull the bar in for power the red plastic thing near the chicken loop hits the bar destroying the grip. it costs my mate $50 every six months to replace the cleat rope for the hole in bar destroys rope. laying a cab bar next to a helix bar of the same age is a funny thing to see for the cab rider, cause the cab bar is like new still and the helix bar is a mess. maybe they fixed the bar this year or they might be following suit with slingshot, making bars that fall apart after a short time year after year after year.
all kites are made well these days, its the bar that sets kites apart from each other when it comes to quality

your cab bar still looks like new 'cause you kite once a month for twenty minutes. twenty minute man

Ah oops my bad.

You have 6 pulleys on your Boxer? Not counting the bar ones? I only have 4, I feel short changed! ;-)

09 models quality has improved, espescially the struts construction and reinforcing.

The point is that, every kite can be F'cked up - if handled inproperly, but Naish may hold on a little longer than others - thanks to all those reinforcements and upgrades.