Best still with no one pump?

I for one will never buy a kite without a 1 pump - I just don't have time to stuff around, I want to get on the water & go.

Looks good otherwise doesn't it!

Hey guys,

demos are starting to be sent out. Check in with you local Best dealer for further details.

some pics from Kitestock 2009

general_dude said...

Best still with no one pump?

I for one will never buy a kite without a 1 pump - I just don't have time to stuff around, I want to get on the water & go.

Looks good otherwise doesn't it!

If the Kahoona is anything like the Dos then Multi pump is probably unavoidable.
The Dos has 10 psi in the LE and 12-13 psi in the struts. This is one of the reasons it relaunches so well and maintains its rigidity. Can you have different pressures in parts of the kite without having to go back and top up each strut afterwards?

The Dos has 10 psi in the LE and 12-13 psi in the struts.

I think this is wrong. I havent heard of any kite yet ( i may be wrong) having to be pumped to 12-13psi in the struts. As Darren said, most pumps wont even make it to that pressure unless you have a super dooper hose etc.

After the demos we have had so far on the Kahoona, i can assure you that pressures like this are not needed. Simply, the EZ pump system from Best is not ready to add on our kites at the moment, you will however see this addition in 2010 on some of the models. To be honest, the feedback we have collated over the years, is that its about 50/50 when it comes to a one pump system. I much prefer standard inflate as it is simple and easy maintanance. I also don't believe it takes much longer to pump up and certainly wouldn't make your on the water session any shorter.

PRICE

The Kahoona will be slightly cheaper than the Waroo. No pricing has been released as yet. Still to come.

Thanks

Kitehard said...

Hi guys,

If a kite is well designed, It shouldn't need to have differing pressures between the struts and the Leading Edge.

Not many pumps even have the capacity after a month of normal beach use to pump much more than 10 psi (if you can believe the gauge).

How come Dos needs so much pressure? How does it behave if you only pump it up to say 6 or 7 psi all round? The Combat GT is similar in design but has one pump and you only need pump it to 6psi and it's rock solid.


Yes you have to pump it up to 10psi in the LE and 12 in the struts. Why? it is a verry simple kite limited bridle etc to hold the shape so if you dont pump it up they become destorted when you load up against it on a hard impact if its not correctly inflated the Le can become semi inverted folded back across the kite or fully inverted. I have never seen any problems pumping them up to recomended pressure but i have seen under inflated kites get bridles caught around wing tips kites folded in half flying off of the safety line only best bet just pump it up correctly.

Kitehard said...

Hi guys,

If a kite is well designed, It shouldn't need to have differing pressures between the struts and the Leading Edge.

Not many pumps even have the capacity after a month of normal beach use to pump much more than 10 psi (if you can believe the gauge).

How come Dos needs so much pressure? How does it behave if you only pump it up to say 6 or 7 psi all round? The Combat GT is similar in design but has one pump and you only need pump it to 6psi and it's rock solid.

Just interested.

Good winds,

the dos has two labels one on LE inlet and the other on the centre strut that give the desired inflation pressure. these are a use once label that you tear off at first use. also the inflation pressure are in manual. 10psi for LE 12psi for Struts.
So there you have it. a well designed kite that has those pressures.
In normal use there is no difference to how you pump it up, to other kites that like higher pressures.
in fact the Eclipse Thruster is way more critical.
but why get carried away talking about Bandits and Core kites on a Best thread?
I'm sure kitehard(KP Perth) can find a Core thread to peddle it's pro's and .......

this is some of the action from the test on the weekend.

sorry its only photos.

Nice kite from Best.

I'd rate it as the best learners to intermediate kite I've flown. But everyone will enjoy this kite.

I think waxy is right how its not as grunty as a bandit. It also isn't as fast across the window either. But I did enjoy it more than the bandit last night because of the gusty conditions.

The Kahoona just ate up the gusts nicely and didnt require as much bar input to keep the kite parked at 45 degrees while cruising. The Bandit was like someone smacking your ass with a wooden spoon when the gusts hit and didn't sit parked as nice.

Very nice kite.

If you are looking for your first kite or upgrading then have a look at this one. Its cheap and easy to fly, and wont hold you back while progressing.

We have a 9.5 on demo and others in stock now, in Sydney.
After an initial fly on the beach because a wind sucking storm, its not much like the 2 other delta style kites.
Its a kahoona.
Its a single colour, with a contrasting screenprint. The bridle is very compact and Best have used stainless rings in place of pulleys for two of the points of the bridle and on the third there is a pulley (incorrectly mounted, but easily fixed). It would be very easy to put pulleys in place of the rings, if an owner wanted to, however the rings most likely will work fine fo the life of the kite and would require no maintenance, other than the bridle line wear. The sections of bridle that the rings run on are easily replaced, they are plain grey 3mm amsteel (readily available from most kite shops).

The kite line connection points and the line ends are not kook proofed, no idea why not in this day and age????
Rear line connection points are fixed, with 2 knots on them, about 5cm apart. I used the one closest to the kite, and the kite was sensitive to stalling so I trimmed the front lines shorter and it flew nicely in the very light winds that were available one the storm switched off the wind for me and Kenny.

Self launched it easy, same as any bow/hybrid, tested the safety, seems to depower about 75% on the front lines, but hard to tell due to light and gusty winds. I then flagged the kite to one rear line and it sat down nose into the breeze.

Kite flies reasonably fast across the window and can be coaxed into tight spin like turns or with less rear line pressure it can do a more sweeping powered turn, shoul be a fun, easy kite for kite loops. In flight the canopy tilts around the pivot points, (as the bar is moved in and out) quite a lot for AOA and it should have a good wide wind range.

Construction is good, bar and lines excellent except for the omission of pigtails/kookproofing.
AND whats up with the hand killer leash??? Why is the metal T thing still on the release side, so that when you operate the leash great chunks of you hand get ripped up??? WTF, why have they not changed that?

Overall I think its going to be a popular, good value for money kite. Now we just need some more wind, maybe the Southerly will be enough?

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve