Blade Kiteboarding Mist 9m 2014
Reviews / Kites
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At A Glance
The Mist is a totally new kite in the Blade range for 2014. It is a C-Shaped kite aimed at the freestyler looking for the ultimate in performance. The Mist is a 5-strut design with a very small bridle that is designed purely to support the leading edge and the shape of the kite. Blade have worked hard to ensure the bridal won’t detract from the feeling of the kite and the way it handles. The wingtips are large and purposefully angular, helping to reduce the need for the bridle system completely and have enabled the designers to keep the bridle to an absolute minimum. A nod should definitely go to the construction and build quality on this year’s kites, which has been stepped up another notch again and the attention to detail is excellent.
The Bar
The Uni Control Bar was launched last year and is one of the best kite bars on the market right now. It features a quick release that is compact, neat and simple and, above all, very easy to release and reconnect. The trim for the kite is looked after by an above-the-bar cleat system. There is a swivel for the front lines and the set-up uses high quality Teufelberger FL series lines. These lines have a much better stretch resistance without being any thicker than normal lines. At the heart of the bar is a solid billet of aluminium to ensure stiffness, this is wrapped in a special nylon shell to give the bar its shape and finally wrapped in a soft EVA grip.
On The Water
We always get excited about new kites here at the magazine, and when it is a totally new kite with a whole new design brief we get even more animated. There definitely seems to be a trend at the moment of brands moving back to C-shaped designs, no doubt the recent resurgence amongst the masses for freestyle riding is ruling this. When you put the Mist in the air for the first time you’ll notice those singular wingtips straight away and you’ll feel the difference they make to the handling too. The Mist is a fast kite, it moves around the window with a precision that could be attributed to a doctors scalpel. It generates huge amounts of power too and riders that like to pop hard and get huge jumps with the kite low will really enjoy the energetic nature of the Mist. The pull once you are in the air is steady and smooth allowing you to go for handle pass tricks without suddenly getting pulled by the kite. It also packs quite a punch when you throw it around for some mega loops with plenty of sideways pull. It should be noted that this kite isn’t for the feint of heart.
For
Higher level kiters can take full advantage of the explosive pop, lots of constant power and performance. The Mist kiteloops like a dream, it is pure excitement.
Against
It is hard to find any negatives to this kite, It should be noted that this isn’t for entry level or nervous intermediate riders, it is aggressive and powerful.
Overall
I love the Blade Mist, it is so much fun to ride and packs loads of punch. Anyone wanting a high performance freestyle kite will no doubt share my view on it.
Videos
This review was in Issue 43 of IKSURFMAG.
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By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
