Name: Bryden
Post taken from: KITEFORUM.COM
OK, time to weigh in. I've been watching this thread for a while now and just last week decided to take the plunge and pick up a 12m Screamer. I was considering the Havoc and Rise as well in an attempt to nail that elusive one kite quiver, but Dimitri won me over.
First of all, I have no affiliation with Epic and have always ridden Liquid Force and have been 100% satisfied with my old Havocs. I sent Dimitri a message regarding the kites and was impressed enough to try one without a demo as there's no one local on these kites.
I've had a chance to ride it in 14-18 knots with sloppy, choppy wave action.
As far as construction, it's a solid, solid kite. I was even tempted to think it would be heavy feeling with all of the reinforcements and stitching. I like the clean, simple bridle the one pump works as advertised with clips to isolate the bladders should something go wrong.
The kite comes with line extensions and I haven't had a chance to fly it without them yet.
Once in the air it just pulls. It almost wanted to fly over my head a bit, but I knew this was a kite that flew forward in the window. Not a problem unless you're a beginner. I have to try shortening the front lines as they came set on the longest setting from the factory. Might change the position in the window a bit.
Once the kite starts moving it pulls like a V8. Maybe not the fastest or smoothest kite, but pulls more pull than my old 14m or 16m C kite. It rips through the power zone picking up steam and starts to 'breathe' once you pick up some board speed.
Jumps took a bit of dialing in as it's different from the 'send and pull' that I'm used to. More edging required. The height was good, but it was the float that stood out. Lots of hang time. Enough to throw your timing off on rotations.
I'm so stoked on the low end of this kite and the way it flies. Just what I wanted. I'm a bit nervous about the high end though. Not sure how I'll hold down 25 knots on this kite.
There are probably some skeptics reading this thinking that I'm on payroll or something like that, but I simply took the plunge and am 100% happy that I did. I haven't been this excited to get out in a long, long time. If we can get some more wind I'll write more... first impressions only...
