Size Tested: 12 m
Synopsis
The Fone Bandit XVI continues to uphold the brand’s reputation for producing high-quality, high-performance kites. Renowned for its solid build and streamlined design, the Bandit XVI stands out in the air with its lightweight feel and exceptional maneuverability. This edition of the Bandit series excels in delivering quick and tight pivotal turns, setting a new standard within its class.

Likes
The Bandit XVI’s design and construction have received high praise for its simplicity, sharpness, and robustness. The kite’s performance is marked by its lightness in the air, facilitating smooth and snappy pivot turns that surpass other kites in responsiveness and agility. Fast and agile with quick loops and light bar feel, the Bandit XVI has quick handling for those that like an energetic kite. Legendary for its ability to adapt across disciplines the Bandit XVI has all the hallmarks of the true all terrain mastery. With a lightweight frame and balanced drift, the Bandit XVI can handle waves and foil riding without performance compromise. Its ability to kill the power and pull from the kite more completely when sheeting the bar out, is also feature that sets it apart from many of the high performance kites in the same category. The smooth pull, and absolute crisp almost flutter free loops of the Bandit XVI, prove how much time has gone into making sure the aerodynamics, profiling and panel layouts of this kite are completely dialed. The Bandit also has excellent relaunch capabilities so riders can get back into action quickly. The attention to detail in the kite’s fabric layout and stitching is exemplary, reflecting Fone’s commitment to quality.

Drawbacks
The Bandit has very light touch steering, and slightly less low end power than some of the three strut counterparts in this category. But with crisp steering and some smooth pull through the down loop you an always generate that bit of extra power when needed.
Users
The Bandit XVI is suited to any skill level, with great build quality, stability, and performance make that make it versatile choice for various disciplines, from freeride and kite foiling to big air and strapless. It’s an easy to use, three strut design that offers some of the smoothest and quickest pivotal steering of any kite on the market.