Saw John Geyer blasting on his new 5 line 12m RRD when only 16m+ could fly and then had a slide in high gusty winds. Incredible !
So I made the best kite investment yet on Wednesday and then emjoyed 20 knot plus E winds @ Pt.Walter on Thursday and then 8-12 knot winds there Friday. This is a truly awesome kite, fast moving, great wind range and so safe - the depower is 100%.
Besides this John, Dan, Luke, Adam, Andy, Amy and Toby at SOS are so cool - John and his team take service to new heights.
JS

Big 1st post for "Johhny".

Shouldnt this and similar "posts/advetisements" be on the buy and sell section or a paid banner our popup or spam our emails as they should be? Ahh no blooody wind and no surf and now Im reading bloody kite shop advertisments where the staff are so cool. Need a new hobby. HOw are those helicopters going?

maybe you should shut up.

I think John would come up with a better name than 'Johnny' if he was trying to post something under an alias. Also, if it were someone from SOS, wouldnt they remember to include all the staff (simon)??
Anyway its the RRD wave kite....a kite made specifically for the waves (although not entirely about frestyle stuff...may need a normal bar). It works on a pulley system where when you sheet out the 5th line is engaged and kills your power. When you want the power back you sheet in. So when on the wave, you can sheet out and let the energy of the wave take you and then power up in your bottom turn to get back up.
Oh and for the record...this is not daniel anderson (the one that works at the shop)...its amazing really how many people share the same name.
To Surgeon and BD...why make the crass comments about someone who is major contributing factor to why we even have kitesurfing here in WA?? And the guys who work there ARE top people...people who like kiting for what it is.

I agree with everything you say KD and can't wait to test one of these kites again, still no wind but what a beautiful day in Perth again.

A large wind range is not the object of desire for kitesurfers.
Nailing the sweet-spot is nirvana.
Being totally dialed-in to the correct knotage is the holy grail.

The only kites with genuinely large wind ranges are small kites, that's just the nature of the beast. That translates to kiting in serious wind, 25-35 knots probably.

West Oz 25-35 knots = Eastern States 30-40 knots (Conversion Scale)

i think anyone should be able give a review of equipment that they have used. why is everyone crying about people giving their opinion about a product or shop. it was reasonably obvious from the topic that it was a review of a rrd kite, so i cantunderstand why you would open it if you are offended by a plug for this kite. please stop crying its making me sad...

I don't see whats so hard to believe about 100% depower. What do you think a 5th line safety system does? The Rrd is the same except you control 5th line pressure with the bar, like normal depowering.
Anyone who doesn't believe me can come down and borrow one of johns kites.
Just to clear a few things up. We are as nice to a person with a wad of cash as we are to some one off the street asking for directions or casing the joint so they can rob us. Again if you don't believe me come down and try us out (don't rob us but!)

Luke (from SOS)

SOS is a kool kite shop.
Good vibes.

"Unpaid Testimonial by 'slave".

Thanks for all the reviews...keep em coming. Learning about the gear out there is very important and I've got to "try before I buy." However, there are not that many times when you can fly other gear, especially when there is so little wind and everyone just wants to fly when it does happen.

Thanks to SOS I have tried this RRD Wave kite and it was real fun to fly. I flew the 12m on the river 6 months ago and it flew almost as fast as my daughter's 6m Aero II. And then it happened...dropped the kite trying to show off, and couldn't figure out how to relaunch the sucker. That it why I need another go so that I can test this feature .
Since I am always in the market for gear, I am trying as much product as possible. Thanks to the good kite shops in Perth I get to fly more and more kites. Recently I flew a 13M PL Venom in gusty, but light PW spit conditions, and I must say after a few scarry starts and stops trying to launch the beast (I forgot to close the release air zipper, and the thing bowtied....funcky) I got it up and it was heaven!

The mattress gave me a wonderful and soft ride with plenty of power. Not buying one just yet because my immediate ambition is to be out in the ocean, and I do like the safty of having a little rubber life boat should something go wrong....as it does

I´ve had a few goes on the TW and TZH, but only had a ´real´ go on the 8m TW and it does exactly what the guys here say it does. I went out in super gusty conditions (~25-40 knots) and had so much fun. It did take a bit of getting used to, but in the end you can just go and enjoy yourself. The main reason the TW is so good IMO is that on those offshore days (or any day when your getting pulled out the front or back of the waves) you can just depower and drop straight back into the wave. And the depower is just crazy, but I think it´s more like 95%, you can feel it pulling, but on light days you can kiteloop without taking a step forward (don´t pull the power on halfway through trying this though, you get ****ing smashed). I could stand on the beach with that 8m with no worries at all.
One note, if you just want to do big jumps then the TW isn´t for you. I tried a few and it didn´t get anywhere near the height of the TZH or other boosty kites. Good for wakestyle though. See ya.

more reviews,
But what is an unbiased review.....yet to see one myself oh thats a lie Puppet posted a good one not so long ago on a sleeping bag or soething.

SOS is a great shop, been there a lot just to chat with John and torment myself. This guy is a "legend" in every sense of the word He has heaps and heaps of "surfie tales" great bloke and always willing to help you out regardless if you buy stuff there or not.

On the subject of RRD type Wave and Depowering when its "hairball"

I flew the wave type on the beach about 2 months ago when Simone Vannucci was over to do demos [but no wind\. Pushing the bar away really does the depower the kite. In fact you could launch and land it off the beach straight downwind [although it took a bit for him to convince me]. Unlike other 5th line systems it doesnt just kick in when you bale so it allows you to reflexly depower the kite when you get in trouble in the waves without the thing falling out of the sky.
Also an incorporated bridle prevents some of the problems seen when kites roll in the surf apparently

Now having recently experienced the soft caress of slack lines around my neck when tumbling in a Margaret river lip, I can only think that it would be nice to have something to kill that extra power when things get 'hairball' [to use that classic John Geyer phrase].

Other 'Hairball' situations I can think of are those winter storm squalls [winter starts again this weekend according to the graphs], When a pleasant 20kts on a 12 suddenly becomes a potentially fatal 45 and the only choice is to pull the safety, which on land will probably thrash your kite and in the water may mean a long cold swim. I think anything, which can improve safety is a plus.

Performance wise Simone was extolling the virtues of depower when riding 'One Eye' in Mauritius [which is really side off]as he was able to ride the final section without blowing out the back as had always happened whenever he rode it before. Similar side off set ups are probably most likely here at inside Gnaraloo or Margs.

We didnt talk about really onshore conditions [like all winter in Perth] but the thing that most prevents a satisfying smack off the lip in onshores is the pull of the kite towards the beach. With the depower potential it should be possible to overcome this and really surf in Onshores.