Liquid Force kites, boards and kite surfing stuff

Liquid Force Havoc 5 Review

A picture says more than 1000 words. Does a video say more than 1000 pictures? I believe so. Some of you might not have a sound system in your computer, so everything that is spoken in this video is in text form below it. We are in North Carolina to talk about the Liquid […]

Liquid Force Havoc 5

It’s the fifth year that Liquid Force release a new version of their Havoc kite and version 5 is to sursprise the best so far. The 2011 edition has been upgraded in most areas and is today one of the most versatile kites in the kite business. By the look of the kite Havoc is […]

Liquid Force Nirvana 2012

August 23rd, 2011

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The 2012 kites are already about the enter the market, all kite manufactures want to be first out with their 2012 kites. Liquid Force is no exception. Nirvana is the name of their new kite which will be available in your local store in a near future.

So what can we expect of the Nirvana? First of, the Nirvana will replace the HiFi Comp, so the design is similar. But Liquid Force has decided to go back to the 5 strut construction instead of 4 struts which we saw in the 2011 HiFi Comp.

Rumours say that the Nirvana is super stable in the air which might not be to surprising if you take a look at the massive wing tips. Further it is also possible to attach light weight carbon “battens” to the wing tips. These battens prevent the wing tips from being bended by heavy riders. The LE on the wing tips are super thin so these battens support them.

Other new gadgets is a so called swivel. This little piece prevents the front line from being twisted. It´s not a new invention, but it might be the first swivel that actually works as intended.

MaxFlow Pump. A “Super Shaft” extender makes pumping a piece of cake. Question is now what we should do to get warmed up before our sessions… did LF totally forget we that don’t live where it´s always warm and sunny? 😉

The bar is also totally redesigned. I have unfortunately no pics to show you, not yet… but I can tell you it´s a one piece moulded EVA with moulded floats and winders for the lines, no more plastic. The design team might not had their best day when they come up with the shape and look of the bar, but the bar is at least comfy and safe…

Here´s also a little video for you. Stay tuned! 🙂

Liquid Force Envy 10m Review

June 23rd, 2011

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The following review is written by an anonymous writer, but still it’s a review and the more reviews you can read about a kite, the better perception you can get about a certain product. Nuff said, here comes the review over a 10m Liquid Force Envy!

Design
The Envy is a 3-strut kite and according to Liquid Force a Delta Hybrid. It keeps the diamond wing-tips as seen on the Havoc and it uses the same USB 2.0 bridle. The construction of the kite is impressive, like all Liquid Force gear. Liquid Force has got lots of attention for the great quality of their kites and the Envy is no exception. the envy has some really nice touches in the design and layout and you can tell that the Liquid Force team really have endeavored themself to create a great final product. Black on black print on the struts are there purely for your pleasure when you come close enough to see them, i.e. when you pump your kite or perhaps have the honour to catch someones kite that eh wants to land. One-pump system is standard nowadays and there are reinforced stitches at exposed areas.

The bar
Liquid Force has their roots in wakeboarding where their CPR control system was as simple as it could get. The Envy bar is still simple, but with all the stuff that comes to a kite-bar, such as o’shit handles, a centre line for extra safety and the new CPR chicken loop. The chicken loop is great, fully molded into one piece without any moving parts and it simply hooks you in and out. This is one of the best bar systems in my opinion and it inpires you with confidence. There is also a sliding stopper ball and the bar itself is color coded to make things easier for your brain.

In the air
The Envy is powerful, it has loads of low end power and the lower aspect ratio really helps to deliver some grunt. The bar pressure is very light, just enough to give the kiter a feeling of where the kite is positioned in the sky. Steering is fairly direct, but not as good as with back lines connected to one attachment point. The bridle system does however not impair the steering to any great extent. The instant depower you can achieve from the bridle is a big plus and the diamond wingtips obviously increases the kites wind range. The canopy felt solid even when the kite was fully depowered and the pull through out the wind window is smooth. The Envy has a tendency to sit a little back in the wind window, this means that it has lots of low-end power and it’s hard to get the kite cruise upwind at the bottom of its wind range. Once the wind picks up a bit this ceases to be a problem. The unhooked performance of the Envy is great and the kite is stable in the air when you perform tricks. Jumping is superb and the kite delivers lots of boost when you send it back in the wind window. In general a fun kite that is easy to handle and that will give joy to many different kite styles. If you’re a heavy rider like me then the Envy comes to its best use when the wind lays between middle to top of the wind range.

For
A well constructed kite that really comes alive when the wind picks up. Great for free-riding and jumps.

Against
While it has lots of low-end power it comes to the cost of the abilty to go upwind in light wind conditions.

Overall
A well made kite that appeal many styles, especially the low-end power will make wakestyle riders happy. It works great as a park and play kite while it at the same time can give you real blast if you want to ride more aggresively.

Liquid Force Havoc 5 Review

March 23rd, 2011

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A picture says more than 1000 words. Does a video say more than 1000 pictures? I believe so. Some of you might not have a sound system in your computer, so everything that is spoken in this video is in text form below it.

We are in North Carolina to talk about the Liquid Force 2011 Havoc. This is the fifth generation of Liquid Force Havoc. Last year they took a big step and took out the centre strut. This year the four strut Liquid Force Havoc is back for more action. Looking at the kite we see that we have a four strut, c-shaped bridle kite. Wing tip has really full wing tip, so called diamond wing tip. Simple bridle system with a pulley on the diamond wing tip. Overall performer can use this kite, it’s a great all round kite.

2011 Liquid Force target the Havoc a little more to the advanced end, so they made it a little more faster and a bit more stable than years past, really really sporty! Guys disliking Liquid Force, that havn’t rid it for years, you’re gonna freak, you’re gonna love this kite! It’s gonna go upwind really well and without that centre strut the kite goes blazing through the wind window. Really fast upwind and great smooth power out of the Havoc. People that aren’t riding a Havoc, they’re gonna be at their intermediate level or above, so someone already riding can really appreciate this kite. If it’s your first time kite and your first time kite experience go to the Liquid Force Envy cause you´re gonna get that super easy relaunch. They say that the Havoc is hard to relaunch, but by know me it’s not hard to relaunch, but compared to the envy, the envy is just the ultra easy relaunch. The Envy is little bit slower than the Havoc and little bit slower across the wind window, so that’s why the Havoc being a little faster settled that’s gonna make it better for the intermediate and advanced riders.
Also it’s a little skinnier kite, from leading edge to trailing edge, so when you boost it just punches up in the wind window and you get really high jumps on the Havoc.
Let’s get a little closer and check out some the features. Bumpers on the leading edge, really heavy bumpers, very impressive on these. We got the 4-strut diamond wing tip.
Back to the wing tip. The wing tip has multilayers which makes it very solid, great for the power transfer. The numbers on the wing tips are big and not hidden in some stylish design, so it’s clear to you and other people what size you are riding.
The bridle system is the same simple bridle system as on previous Havoc versions. Multiple attachment points on leading edge, so gives a lot of stability. Heavy duty line on the centre line takes a lot of the load, goes through the pulley. Loop on leading edge attachment point, knot on the trailing edge attachment point, you got your light wind set up or your standard set up.
The diamond wing tip allows you to still have steering when you depower as well when you pull the bar towards you, since the wind forces the wing tips to get filled with air which prevents them from being squeezed towards the centre of the kite, so you get that really smooth power output. Also, we can see that the wing tips are really big and reinforced which helps to give that great power output.
Looking at the inside of the kite, we see the four strut design, no centre strut, heavy duty leading edge, nice graphics on the inside of the leading edge. Really heavy duty reinforcements on exposed parts. Union inflation system, makes simple inflations. You got a nine millimeter inflate/deflate valve and then you got max valve system, insane for pumping! You will pump your kite in half the time with its own adapter, but you can of course use the nine millimeter valve for any kind of standard pump.
A new feature is that you can attach the bar on the inside of any wingtip, which not only is handy when you pack together your kite, but also in case of self rescue. Two loop handles on the leading edge also makes self rescue much easier, since you have something to hang on to.
For 2011 Liquid Force killed it with the Havoc. They made it a little bit more high perfomance than last year. Key features for 2011 compared to 2010 is that the Havoc now is a little bit more stable, there are a couple of new features to the bar.
With the Envy taking a lot that allround space, they could give the Havoc some more boosting, a little faster through the wind window, faster turnings. The Havoc is a great performing kite that is gonna work for wave riding, wake style, anything along the lines the Havoc is absolutely insane!
This kite can work for any ability level, but most people above intermediate will really get use of all the features that this kite has to offer.
2011 Liquid Force Havoc is a great kite. Anyone can get on it, get out in the water and enjoy this awesome kite!

Liquid Force Havoc 5

March 19th, 2011

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It’s the fifth year that Liquid Force release a new version of their Havoc kite and version 5 is to sursprise the best so far. The 2011 edition has been upgraded in most areas and is today one of the most versatile kites in the kite business.

By the look of the kite Havoc is build to fly through a hurricane. Everything, from the bag to the tiniest stitch is made with passion and precision. And the Havoc 5 sure flies like jet plane through the air!

What’s new then? The most significant change is that one strut is “missing”. Liquid Force did this to make the kite lighter and to make it faster in turning. You would think that the absence of one strut will make the kite softer and more instable, but fact is that the Havoc 5 is more stable than its predecessors.

The Havoc V5 has been compared to Liquid Force Envy 2011, Slingshot RPM 2010, Naish Park and Cabrinha Switchblade 2010. Havoc V5 and the RPM has a similar kite feeling, with the difference that the Havoc is slightly faster in turns and it also has a bit more boost. Naish Park is lighter than Havoc v5 and turns even quicker, but it´s more sensitive to gusty wind. The Cabrinha Switchblade is a killer when it comes to low end, but it also a bit slower than the Havoc. Compared to Envy, Havoc is faster, has more boost and more direct bar. The two diagrams below shows the performance for the Havoc (left) and the Envy (right)