Slingshot Rev 9m 2009
Reviews / Kites
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At a Glance
Last year the Slingshot Rev was without a doubt the saviour of the Slingshot hybrid kite program. After a few shaky starts the Rev came along and quite literally blew our minds and that of many other people out there too. It was by far and away one of the highest performers on the market, if you wanted a kite that was extreme in all aspects of its performance then the Rev was it.
This year the kite is very similar to last years model and once again Slingshot have used the old adage that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” The main new features are the extra attachment points on the wing tip that allow you to tune the kite a little more to your own style of riding. Add to that a bar that has been pimped with a totally new grip and also the 800lb front lines which are just about the most serious set of lines on the market.
The struts are quite thin, as is the leading edge and the one-pump system is here once again. The struts are stitched to the canopy rather than being integral to it; it seems Slingshot have moved away from their Split Strut technology. This alteration makes the kite lighter and will also make the canopy easier to repair should you ever need to!
The bridle is very similar, but this year Slingshot have incorporated easy to change sections on the points most prone to wear. Once again the bridle is very short, compact and extremely simple. A pulley on the kite integrates the new attachment points for the rear lines, but other than that it is very similar to the previous model.
In The Air
When we first flew the Rev in 2007 we were electrified by its performance capabilities. This year we were just caught out! The new Rev is a very, very fast kite.
The bar pressure is reasonably light. As kitesurfers we usually fly kites using muscle memory and sadly ours wasn’t tuned into the insane performance of the Rev. After being dealt a serious hauling through the air we finally got dialled in and remembered instantly why we love this kite so much.
If you are a good rider who is looking for something that can handle serious unhooked freestyle, but offers the advantages of a Bow style kite then the Rev really is for you. The power and pull through the turns is intense and used with force this kite is, quite simply, blistering.
Jumping and hangtime is really impressive and the kite rips you from the water. The kite loops are killer and definitely not for the faint hearted. BUT, of course, we know all this; this is the kite we loved last year. What we really wanted to see was whether the new settings could tame the beast and make the kite a more versatile user-friendly animal.
The kite has three settings, the outer most one for the insane kind of performance we experienced above, an inner most setting which offers more bar pressure and slower turning, and a middle setting for something in between. On the middle, in between setting, the kite immediately calms down. It feels super stable and solid and actually sits where you want it to, even if you make a few mistakes with the bar. Mistakes are not normally in the Rev’s vocabulary so this will be a welcome addition to the less adventurous kiters out there.
On the tamest setting the kite feels almost like a Turbo Diesel in its handling, which we rate highly as a beginner kite. The great thing about the Rev now though is that it will grow as you grow, if you are learning, start off on the easy settings and then as you want more performance you can unlock it by changing the settings. It really does make a remarkable difference to the way the kite flies.
For
Awesome build quality, extreme performance that now comes in a tameable package and an impressive wind range.
Against
Last year we said the kite wasn’t for beginners, this year an adventurous learner could certainly get away with using the kite, so it is hard to find fault. One thing we will say is that the graphics are very minimal, black logos on a black canopy left the kite definitely lacking in the looks department, unless you like black of course!
Overall
Last year the Rev was one of the best kites of the season and this year the early prognosis would be that it is very well poised to keep that crown. Not only has it retained all that insane performance but it comes with a few options to make it more appealing to the masses.
This review was in Issue 11 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit SlingshotRelated
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!
