Peter Lynn Escape 9m 2013
Reviews / Kites
7,166
At A Glance
Peter Lynn have been making kites since the dawn of time itself, their twin skinned Ram Air kites were always known for their stability. In an industry where the LEI is king though, something needed to change. Last year they launched their first inflatable kites and this year sees the second generation hit the market. The Escape is a medium aspect all round kite, based on a 4-strut platform with no centre strut. It utilises a simple bridle with direct connection for the rear lines. There are a multitude of tuning options on the kite, allowing you to adjust the bar pressure, turning speed and power that the kite delivers. It is of a medium build in terms of reinforcements, not heavy and not light it should withstand plenty of abuse over a busy season. Overall though it is very well built with lots of high-end materials and components.
The Bar
The Navigator SL Control bar has been developed over the years and started out as the control bar for the twin skin kites. When they launched the inflatable kites they simply further developed the bar they had been working on for many years. Safety is a key element of the bar and the SL version offers two options for the safety system, as standard the safety line is attached to the two front lines, but you can also set it so it just attaches to one front line. There are O’Shit handles on each of the rear lines, a very well designed clam cleat trim system and the safety leash is very good. The chicken loop release is a pull rather than push system, which you need to be aware of as so many systems now use a push away motion rather than a pull one. This can be tricky if you are unhooked and grabbing the chicken loop to hook back in, sometimes you can activate the system, so be careful.
In The Air
Having only flown the twin skin kites from Peter Lynn in the past, we were quite excited to get our teeth into something new from them. One thing they have always been very good at is making incredibly stable and easy to fly kites. We figured they might have worked hard to transfer this over to their inflatable line up and we were not wrong. In the air the Escape feels very well behaved and is happy to sit at the top of the window for a considerable amount of time without drifting from side to side. The bar pressure was moderate, not too heavy and not too light, this helped you to gauge where the kite was in the window at all times. As we flew the kite more we started to push it in terms of performance and it never let us down. The kite flies around with a certain predictability that makes it so easy to fly. Even in strong winds when it is depowered it is impeccable in its behaviour. The turning speed is pretty quick too when you engage the bar, allowing you to power it through the window for big jumps and generate plenty of power when the wind drops. The strutless mid section develops lots of power when you need it too, and the depower throw is pretty short, so it was easy to control in gusty conditions.
Overall
We were very impressed with the Escape; it offers a very stable and reliable platform to any rider that cares to jump underneath it. It’s fast when you want it to be and mellow when you need it to be and exceptionally easy to fly. An impressive all round freeride kite that beginners and intermediates will really enjoy.
Videos
This review was in Issue 39 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!
