Epic Kites

[scottman]

Anyone ever own one of these kites, how do they stand up to the rest of the kite companies?

[Matt V]

One of the local kiters here in Omaha had some Epic gear he picked up in Costa - total junk from back in the day (like '07). The bar was not even worth saving. (I think the lines were better than the loose braid we have now on anything but Slingshot or Naish). If Epic is still around, then they should have cleaned up their act just like every other kite company hoping to make it into 2015. Guessing that new Epic gear could be great if they do not have any "achilles heels" like have cropped up in even respectable brands with their ideas to improve upon what works the best already.

Rule of thumb is to stick to newer gear like from 1-3 years ago. Even if the older gear is still in working order, it could be junk just from poor storage and improper care.

Other than that, take my post as no help but I hope you do score some new gear and I hope it turns out to keep you safe and happy.

[nickfastswim]

Friend has a 12m epic screamer from 2012 that I have rode about half a dozen times. Great kite for jumping and hang time! Build quality is comparable to any other big brand name kite on the market. I can't comment on the Epic bar as he uses a North bar with it.
The only thing he complained about was availability of spare parts (bladders) when he punctured the leading edge on some thorns on the beach. He had to buy the entire set of bladders from epic as they didn't sell individual leading edge bladders.
My assumption is that Epic being a small company so you can't really expect the same level of customer support as with other bigger kiteboarding companies. But who knows things may have changed recently.....

[scottman]

Thanks everyone for the input.