Agree, love my Strike v3 for its upwind performance and perfect flagging. It’s the trade off for giving up some of the low end grunt. Personally ok with that.
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Would a 3-4m strike v3 be viable for deflates? I want something (a kite ideally) that rockets upwind and then is easy to pack down. Mantis single inflation is garbage, there are loads of used v3s available, but I had ignored them because of the low end grunt when the wind dies, but I’ll always be on a DW board so maybe fine?
Fwiw I’ve been riding a 2.5m Strike v2 and it has terrible low end but I’ve managed to make it work in really light winds.
Would this make you assume that the v4 would have similar upwind performance?
I am nervous about purchasing a used air bladder anything…
It still packs up pretty small even with the diffuser, but it could be less forgiving I guess if you plan to stuff it in a bag while on the water.
I am lucky in having easy dw shuttle access so all this upwind dw talk just makes me grateful for my setup.
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I saw someone in the gorge riding swell with the Dakine wing flagged out and the leading edge handle ripped off.
From what I have seen Cabrina/Dakine wings are half the cost(on sale) and half the life. Good warranty support and decent performance wings but not worth it in my opinion.
A friend is a big fan of cabs but we have witnessed his wings falling apart numerous times. canopy off the strut tear, valve issue, little tears here and there. not from abuse or falling on the wing but from regular use. doesnt exactly inspire confidence in their quality. also, after one season, 6m v3 is already bagging out… the friend loves them though. not sure how common these quality issues are. Hopefully not so common.
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So far with the 5.5 at least, it seems to go upwind better than V3 when we had the head to head comparison with the 5.5 V3.
I presume it’s from that crazy continuous forward pull the V4 has
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Have you ever tried ocean rodeo’s glide A wing?
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Any idea what the wind range is for a 3m glide A in your experience?
I used it 20-22kts+ with a sinker. It’s a small 3 size-wise (compared to other 3m wings) and it’s so light that it just feels like nothing. Great wing but it’s so stiff that it can be a lot to handle when it’s overpowered. I used it up to high 30s.
I’m 2 years in on my mantis and it’s FINE. The handles are falling apart and it doesn’t win any races upwind but I can still flog it around my tacks, slash a wave, and boost to the moon better than any of the new wings at my local. The back half of the canopy is garbage but the front half is still tight and that matters more for flagging and handling so it still works for me!