Blade Kiteboarding Trigger 9m 2012
Reviews / Kites
24,111
At A Glance
The Trigger has featured in the Blade line up for some time now, and no doubt a few of you reading this will already be devout fans of the kite. This year sees a change in the design of the wingtip; it is less curved than in previous years and altogether more angular. The strong profile curve is still there with the middle strut helping to give the canopy it’s deep shape. Construction has been improved over last year; we’re seeing new wear patches on the wing tips and high stress areas. There is also plenty of attention to detail, which leads us to think Blade have really pulled out all the stops in the manufacture on this kite. The simple three-strut canopy frame is still present and this makes pumping the Trigger up super quick, especially with the neat and tidy one pump system they utilise.
The Bar
The 2012 bar is very similar to the 2011 model, just some graphical changes and a slightly different grip. It is very simple and the whole set up is clean and functional. The primary safety is a total depower front line affair, which connects through the centre of the chicken loop. The chicken loop itself uses the same plastic moulded release system and the unit will spin to untwist your lines. There is also a stopper ball set up which allows you to go for old school manoeuvres.
In The Air
The Trigger is a freeride design; made to excel at anything you can throw at it. It’s a little more dynamic than the Vertigo, which is more of a wave kite and slightly less freestyle orientated than high performance Prime. Perhaps one thing you don’t expect from this kite though is just how simple and intuitive it is to fly. It’s a mellow beast that feels comfortable in your hands rather than scary. Perhaps it’s because we had been testing lots of C kites this issue but we instantly felt at home with the Trigger, like we were out having fun with an old friend! The bar pressure is fairly light, although there are two settings, in Freeride mode the pressure is a little less and the kite feels very responsive. Set it up in Wave mode and you get a little more feedback to the bar. Upwind the Trigger is excellent, the thin leading edge really cutting through the window. The 9m also has a very impressive range, in light airs the deep profile on the leading edge of the kite helps to give it extra power, and yet it is also very stable at the top of it’s wind range. Jumping is great fun, the kite doesn’t tear you off the water on take-off, but once up there it provides a good floaty platform on the way down. Kiteloops are also excellent, not too scary and a medium pull can be achieved if you slow the loop through the turn. You can also speed the kite up and get it to loop on it’s own axis which is even more tame for those of you looking to get into kite loops.
For
Well-built, great attention to detail with the bar and one pump system, very easy to fly with great upwind performance. Progressive kite loops mean you can learn with ease and get more radical as you improve, impressive low-end wind range.
Against
If you like an aggressive kite, look at the Prime, the Trigger is more chilled affair which may not appeal to the more radical rider.
Overall
Blade keep putting goodt kites onto the market and the 2012 Trigger is a great kite for the improving freeriders out there. Easy to fly and mellow, this kite won’t scare you but it will help to improve your riding by giving you lots of confidence to try new tricks.
Videos
This review was in Issue 30 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!
