Size tested: 7m Suggested retail: $999
Sizes available: 7, 9, 11, 13m
Test Team Report
The Mist is a new kite from Blade that is geared toward high-performance unhooked freestyle. Although we only had access to the 7m, it had key performance traits that make it a great choice for the advanced freestyle rider. The power was smooth, and it generated good pull everywhere in the wind window. The pop, control and slack on the lines was well-established. The small kite was well-tuned to not be twitchy and too fast turning, making it nicely controllable. The compact bridles and wide, angled wing tips provide nice direct feel, and it avoids any on-and-off power surges that can take away from loading up the kite for a big trick. If you’re looking for a new freestyle kite, the Mist is worth trying out.
The Trade-off:
Compared to the Blade Trigger, not as much depower for when the wind picks up.
Best For:
Intermediate to Advanced-level riders who want a high-performance freestlye kite for unhooking and throwing down technical moves.
Designer Notes:
We know most of the power in a kite is generated in the center, so having a high aspect ratio (AR) kite is an advantage in those respects, but at the same time we wanted to make sure it is not super high because this decreases the stability in gusty conditions. That’s why the wingtip becomes drastically narrower. This curve in the wingtip gives the illusion of a small AR, providing quality turning and control characteristics. Also, the drastic curve in the wingtip has enabled us to design a minimal bridle system, which gives outstanding directness.
The bridle system is always a challenge on C-kites. The bridle’s main purpose is to provide support for the leading edge (LE) and decrease the size of the LE, which translates to a better turning kite. But for C-kites, you would like to have a short bridle system to provide more directness and stability. This year we had a major breakthrough in the design of the unique wingtips, which enabled us to further shorten the bridle system. It’s probably one of the shortest on the market! This combination provides outstanding directness and superb turning characteristics.
The Mist’s main fundamentals are to make sure there is a lot of power and constant pull at all times, especially when unhooking. We were able to do this by implementing the new RPG profile that gives the constant pull in throughout the whole window. This helps the rider remain stable and in control throughout the whole trick.
