What happened to the Slingshot Octane? they told us that there are only a select few serial numbers that fell out of the sky and that there was nothing wrong with ours, even though ours kept falling out of the sky, So why have Slingshot abandoned the Octane if there was nothing wrong with them why have they gone?

There is nothing wrong with the Octane, If yours is still falling out of the sky try changing bridal settings. Mine did the same thing when i first got it but we played with the settings to find the best one and it hasn't fallen since. Try changing your outside lines to maximum bar pressure and use the third not, put your centre lines on the first not. If it falls after that then it would have to be user error or there is no wind.

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jas73 said...

There is nothing wrong with the Octane, If yours is still falling out of the sky try changing bridal settings. Mine did the same thing when i first got it but we played with the settings to find the best one and it hasn't fallen since. Try changing your outside lines to maximum bar pressure and use the third not, put your centre lines on the first not. If it falls after that then it would have to be user error or there is no wind.

Or perhaps because the designer/producer of said kite delivered a lemon that had to be modified to get anywhere near the product blurbs claims. Octane = Link II?

Rubbing salt into a wound on an already irate punter who has shelled big $$ by suggesting they can't fly correctly is pretty dumb.

There goes the little bit of faith the buyer would have had left in the product/company. Nice work.

Dumping the kite after 1 season say a LOT.

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getfunky said...

jas73 said...

There is nothing wrong with the Octane, If yours is still falling out of the sky try changing bridal settings. Mine did the same thing when i first got it but we played with the settings to find the best one and it hasn't fallen since. Try changing your outside lines to maximum bar pressure and use the third not, put your centre lines on the first not. If it falls after that then it would have to be user error or there is no wind.

Or perhaps because the designer/producer of said kite delivered a lemon that had to be modified to get anywhere near the product blurbs claims. Octane = Link II?

Rubbing salt into a wound on an already irate punter who has shelled big $$ by suggesting they can't fly correctly is pretty dumb.

There goes the little bit of faith the buyer would have had left in the product/company. Nice work.

Dumping the kite after 1 season say a LOT.

What ever blows your hair back GF. I haved loved riding my Octane all year and have not had to modify it at all. All i was saying is with a bit of time spent with the settings it is an awesome kite Imo but im sure others think different as they do with all kites. I will put more enfaces on the no wind more than user error as these kites don't like lite wind

Declaration: I fly Griffin Argo kites, and soon Chimera

However I have friends that fly Octane and Revs while others have Cabs and Kahoona plus 2006 Waroos all are happy and they have a wide range of skills.

Most kites these days do what they are designed for and are only limited by the kiter skills and the occasional quality glitch

New kite performance is like politics ie based on hype with improvement left up to the individuals interpretation of the fantasy

A kite released as an all-rounder should fly well in all conditions straight out of the bag on factory settings. It should fly well for all riders beyond noob stage without requiring any special technique.

Plenty of kites meet these criteria, including some slingshot kites. Face it, whilst it has its fans, the octane failed as an all-rounder.

As some recent threads have discussed, the shift to a two year r+d cycle would hopefully allow enough testing that lemons don't get to the market.

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djdojo said...

A kite released as an all-rounder should fly well in all conditions straight out of the bag on factory settings. It should fly well for all riders beyond noob stage without requiring any special technique.

Plenty of kites meet these criteria, including some slingshot kites. Face it, whilst it has its fans, the octane failed as an all-rounder.

As some recent threads have discussed, the shift to a two year r+d cycle would hopefully allow enough testing that lemons don't get to the market.

That is so true djdojo. The Octane is not an all round kite, it is more at home in the surf but as Warwicki said allot of people seem to think that these kites should fly them selfs. Maybe if people took less notice of advertising hype when new products came out and just tried them to see if they are to there taste then there would be less disappointment. I don't buy anything until i have tried it.

Erhem. From the slingshot australia website:

"The Octane offers maximum versatility and range for surf and flat water riding making it the most complete all around kite on the market."

No further questions your honour.

How could you be so nieve as to think thats not just for marketing, Or are you just brand bashing, if so im moving on to another more positive subject, enjoy your conspiracy theories

more than 25 (octanes)for sale in the buy and sell section!looks like there is a "rally" to another model!! Interested to see what the BWS kites go like although my original rev still does the job....

Thanks Guys all valid commets I will stick with tryed and proven models and brands infuture. Have found a supplier that is willing to visit our waters in Tanum sands for us to demo

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JY77 said...

Thanks Guys all valid commets I will stick with tryed and proven models and brands infuture. Have found a supplier that is willing to visit our waters in Tanum sands for us to demo

Any brand has the ability to produce a dud. Slingshot is a well known brand and the Octane was an extension of the Rev 2 so it was an established model. If you look at the Bandit, you have a completely new model that was a complete winner so there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to these things. There are also other issues, for example, I heard the Octane issues were more prevalent in certain sizes so you could buy one size and have it work perfectly but another size was much more unstable.

What this does prove is that buying any brand or model before testing it yourself is dangerous irrespective of who the supplier is, and its probably best to test all sizes before buying because one size may work great but you may want to consider a different brand for a different size.

Sad to see the Octanes go, I was happy with my 9m and 11m. Have upgraded every year and always found Slingy came up with a better wave kite, think Ill sit back and see what happens.
Only comment I have for knockers is: upgrade your kite fiying skills or get a kite for the unco rider, plenty out there.
The kite schools will get the last office dude on the water with the latest gear so dont give up hope

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Gayest avatar

i gotta argue the point here and say that i had the same problem with the octanes falling out of the sky and was derided on here say 'its not the kite its you dude' till slingshot replaced all 3 of my kites and then the biggest one again and since then neither me or my missus who also uses them and had massive problems has had a kite fall out of the sky since. slingshot made a manufacturing error with the front of the kite being too heavy and the wrong bladders in them, increasing weight again.
cheers and good luck replacing them.

I've got 13, 11, 9m all awsum kites except the 9 dosent like super gusty
All the sizes I have super quick turning great bottom end super fast relaunch great down the line riding
SS can only improve the good stuff

I've had my fair share of SS kites to fall out of the sky. Kites like the octane and link are fine examples of kites that were just rushed out to the market to soon. Despite the problems though SS spend time to repair and replace any faulty kites, bridles etc. The link wasn't to bad a kite after all the problems were fixed, but by the time they were the product name had been damaged and SS dropped it after the first year. It looks like the same has happened to the octane, after the initial faults they were a good kite. To bad SS can't see that, i would have liked them to stick with it listen to feedback and continue to make a better kite year after year, there is no reason why SS couldn't have a SLE kite as popular as cabs switchy.

Waxy you should actually try an octane before comparing them to your 15m link or 15 rev. Chalk and cheeze mate.

And I think you will find that everyone else who got the first batch of Octanes like myself had them fly perfect and have never faulted them.

They were a good improvement over the rev IMO, and they wont be upgraded this year (unless that Rally is as good as the hype).


Disclamer: I have not yet flown the 7m Octane. Aparently some people had issues with a few of them.

I havent had any problems with mine and yes the hype on the Rally is justified

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walshd said...

Waxy you should actually try an octane before comparing them to your 15m link or 15 rev. Chalk and cheeze mate.

And I think you will find that everyone else who got the first batch of Octanes like myself had them fly perfect and have never faulted them.

They were a good improvement over the rev IMO, and they wont be upgraded this year (unless that Rally is as good as the hype).


Disclamer: I have not yet flown the 7m Octane. Aparently some people had issues with a few of them.

****. I thought the octanes were well thought of , I loved my o7 14 octane(bought 2) and have worn them out . They were put away when I bought an 08 fuel 9/ 11 metre , and I struggled to enjoy them after that. with 2011 Kites I think that it is a wait and see as rally has not had enough exposure.
The fuels struggle with drift qualities in surf (my thoughts) but unless slingshot come up with a better option they seem to be the choice.

I went from the 09 North rebel to the 11 mtre Octane and havnt looked back. Spent all season last year on the kite and it never fell out of the sky once. One of the smoothest and easiest kites I have flown and Ive been kiting since 2002. Started back then on a 2 line cabrinha. Tell you what they where dangerous times. I think I will take the rally for a test ride before contemplating purchasing one because if you follow that simple rule you should never end buying a kite your not happy with. Only reason i would upgrade is to go from a 11mtre ocky to a 12 mtre rally to see if I can get the same turning speed with a bit more power.

Well thats my reason. Having the new kites in even numbers suits my size and wind conditions for my area. Good to read some positive thoughts on the Octane for a change.

People are more inclined to post negatively on a product more so than postiveley, unfortunately. On the Octane, I have the 9M & 13M, they have performed above my expectations in every condition I've kited in. Also like every other kite if you make a mistake you generally end up with the kite getting wet. So if there are 25 Octanes on the market, whoever buys one is in for a bargin and will end up with a great performing well made kite.
Constant winds,
Baz.

There are a few second hand for sale. My son just bought an 11m that had been used for one session by a newbee and was not to his expectations (whatever that was). He got it for a steal and loves it.

Ive had the octane 13 and 15 for the light part of last season and this season and have never experienced the boost and hangtime off any other kite ive tried. they launch great and land great and Ive never had a problem with them riding waves stalling but you do have to move them around a bit when riding the line to keep them powered up. Ive tried the rallys and you get no where near the boost of the octane, so if your looking for a big air kite id be goin with the occy

One of our local riders would agree with that, he would still be cleaning his jocks after one of the biggest jumps of his life on a 9m octane in 30-35kts. Walshy is the biggest jumpers i have ever seen and for him to go that high and be scared was amazing. It was a day for big jumps though, there were a few people that took out a 7.5m kahoona v2 demo and man did they get some hight on that kite, just not quite as much as Walshy.

DECLERATION: I'm a regional team rider for slingshot
Try taking the pigtail extensions off the bridle tips then the kites should fly awsum
The extensions were taken off my octains and Ive gota say the quickest fastest relaunch and gruntiest down the line surf kite Ive ever ridden.
Cheers T