Epic Judge 8m Review

Rider: Weight,Level (Crappy intermediate)
Style: Freeriding, New to Wake,
Weather: 16-26
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: No ties to Epic or any other brand. I stand around 6'1" and 200lbs.





My Comments:

Well I realize that this is my first post but I have been a lurker for the past couple years and have been a big fan of the excellent reviews that are on this forum! I have been bugging Dimitri for years to try the Judge kite as I am not a big boosting rider and want to have my jumps to be similar to what I know when I ride wake or on my snowboard (not that boosting isn't fun at times but not what I am looking for). Dimitri was nice enough to send me a Judge 8m to demo and I thought that I would post up some reviews as this kite has limited information available. Let me start off by stating that I am Canadian and we are up to our nuts here in snow so the reviews is base off my time riding on frozen lakes. The first thing that I would like to note is that this kite is built tough and the Epic bag can easily fit two kites in it. Nothing that I dislike more than trying to get a kite to fit into the backpack on the beach and having half of it sticking out as I can't fold it back to the compressed package that it arrived in. The downside to the bag is that it is big and bulky but I use the extra space to throw additional gear into it so all in all it has a purpose. The 8m that I have tested is light but has great reinforcements in all the critical areas.
The bar that I am using is the older black bar that I believe is a 2010... not the greatest bar but it is functional. I was hoping that Dimitri would have thrown in a new bar to use but I just used the one that I own. I absolutely love the Ozone bars that I have with my C4s and think that they have such a great setup. Would have really liked to compare the new 4g bar to it but maybe at some point I will
This kite is a lowend monster! I can ride this kite while others are on kites in the 9-10m range. The downside is that when they are on 8m kites I need to be on something smaller. It is rated up to 30kts and I think that you would be pushing it to its limits and would be happier on the 6m (maybe in the water I can ride in the dirty 30 but on the snow it is a beast). I am going to say that this is a kite that is similar in many aspects to the Ozone C4 in terms of its jumping abilities but with better performance in the lighter winds (comparing to my 9m). I need a lot more wind for the C4 to really come alive while the Judge seems ready to go so much sooner. The C4 is so smooth to fly that at times I almost forget that I have the kite in the sky. The Judge is a smooth flying kite but not in the same league as how Ozone kites are. Bar pressure on both are the same but I find that the judge needs a touch more imput and feels more rock solid. Both have that nimble steering but the slider on the Judge bridle does require the bit more imput.
The relaunch on the Judge is insane! Hands down one of the best hybrid C's that I have ever used. The bridle with the slider makes relaunch effortless but still has the option that you can remove it and have direct line attachment. Apparently it makes relaunch more traditional but I haven't used it so I won't comment.
All in all this is a solid, fun to fly wakestyle kite that anyone can jump onto and use. I have found it to inspire confidence to learn new things while not being worried that it is going to be hard to handle. My grips fall into the area that this kite can get overpowered much sooner than your average 8m'ish kites but it has good depower that will enable you to get back safely to rig that smaller kite.

Hey mate. Nice review with lots of good info there.
How does it handle gusty conditions?
What size would the 8m compare to your C4's.
Do they boost high if you want them to?
Anyone got info on the juge?
Cheers
Kitch

Hey Kitch,

I am currently riding 2011 Ozone C4's and I find that the 8m Judge has much better low end than my 9m C4 (probably safe to say that it would be similar to the 10m). My C4's need a lot of wind to really come alive and I find that the Judge needs far less (what I can start to ride the 8m Judge in there is no way that the C4 would even get me going). That being said, the C4 has a greater highend than the Judge as when I feel that I am starting to get overpowered on the Judge, the C4 has no issues (anything above 28kts and I want to be on the 6m). As for gusts I have to say that our Ontario winds are either one of two ways....light or extremely gusty! Lowend end is very important here so I find that the Judge is a much better kite for me than the C4. As for gusts, I have no issues with the Judge and find that it is a rock solid kite (handles the gusts without issues). I find that the jumping on both kites to be very similar but the judge gets me jumping sooner and as the wind picks up so does the height of the sent jumps. It is in by no means the boosting kite of my 3G screamer 10m LTD but it does get you up there.

James

If you are looking for a big boosting kite than the screamer/edge will be your better choice. If you are looking for a kite that has good lowend power, solid in the gusts, great wake capabilities but also good in the waves than the Judge/C4 are great choices. For my crappy conditions I would choose the Judge as it just has the better power delivery and jumps better than the C4.

This kite just seems to get better with more time spent on it! I wish my Ozone C4s had a better low end as this kite lets me hit that sweet spot so much sooner! Our fickle Ontario winds need that grunt and it puts a smile on my face when I am on a smaller kite than the guys I ride with ( I carry 20-50lbs on them and at least 4-5 inches)! Everyone wants to take it for a spin and the same comments are said....great kite and tons of power! Still would like to see the next generation judge improve its top end a bit as I have to jump on my C4 when the wind hits beyond 26 knots.

James

iv had ago on the 11m judge and it was a fun kite, light bar pressure is an understatement, it was quite gusty this day and was surging hard. turns quickly. although I took a few crashes nothing major and every time i crashed it the deflate came undone, that annoyed me, but these things happen sometimes. simple fix for this is to just no crash it lol.

other then the deflate it was a really fun kite.

The lads at ECC have been good enough to send an 11m down for me to demo.
Should be here by the weekend

Thanks guys.

Hey Kitchi207,

Hey I would love to hear what you think of the judge 11m as I haven't tried the bigger size yet! Let me know if it is a powerful kite and how it compares to the other kites you ride. Have fun man as it is always a blast to demo new kites.

James

I absolutely love the 8m and look forward to getting a quiver of these kites. I know that Dimitri is still testing the v2 and won't release the kite till he is a 100% happy with it.

Hey Kemp90,

That would be annoying but I haven't had that issue at all. I haven't tomahawked the kite at all but it has been crashed a few times with no deflating. I had a north rebel that would leak sporadic from the inflate valve but not all the time. North makes great kites but my issue was just an inflate valve that wouldn't always seal correctly... like yours, it was a easy fix!

James

Out of curiosity how did you fine the power of that kite? Have you ever used the 8m, and if so, are they comparable?

Haven't been on it yet.

Hopefully it blows on Thursday so i can have a go

hi soul19

i can only compare the judge to an airush razor, cause that's the only other c kite i have flown. the judge needs more wind to get going then the razor but just like the razor it lots of settings you try out. on the razor i like the freeride setting and on the judge i like the wake setting. the judge has softer bar pressure so i think that's why i like the wake setting. the best thing bout the judge is the relaunch, was awesome.

try a demo, Nigel will hit you up for a demo if ask nicely :) haha

Hey Kemp, what size razor did you go for? Have you nailed the relaunch yet, saw you asking on another thread about it. The mini v bridle on the judge makes the relaunch easy

No need to ask nicely, I'll send it anyway.

Hope you're still getting a good run of wind up that way.

Hey Nigel I went with 11 and 9 razor but thinking bout getting rid of the 9 for a 7. Relaunch is no where near as good at the judge.
wind has been cranking in the last few weeks, we may have some northly winds this weekend hopfully.

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soul19 said..

Hey Kitchi207,

Hey I would love to hear what you think of the judge 11m as I haven't tried the bigger size yet! Let me know if it is a powerful kite and how it compares to the other kites you ride. Have fun man as it is always a blast to demo new kites.

James

I absolutely love the 8m and look forward to getting a quiver of these kites. I know that Dimitri is still testing the v2 and won't release the kite till he is a 100% happy with it.

Hey Soul19
I had the 11m out fo a few hours today. While its not quite what I'm looking for, I really liked how it performed in some areas.
Relaunch was much easier than the C4
Im new to looping and within the first minute on the water I landed a butter smooth backroll kiteloop. Then 3 more... then bit it hard the next 3 times by over rotating.
was a good laugh for some onlookers. i saw one guy on the beach put his hands to his head after I hit the water hard, and I could see him thinking {ouch that hurt}
So I found it nice and smooth through the loop and confidence inspiring.
Load and pop was good too.

Hey kitchi207,

The judge is one of my favorite kites. Glad to see that you enjoyed it but you mentioned that it was good in some areas.... What didn't you like about the kite? I am curious to know what it is your are looking for in a kite.

James

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soul19 said..

Hey kitchi207,

The judge is one of my favorite kites. Glad to see that you enjoyed it but you mentioned that it was good in some areas.... What didn't you like about the kite? I am curious to know what it is your are looking for in a kite.

James

Hey mate,
My quiver consisted of 9m (just sold) & 13m edges and 11m C4 (and Core LW17). i was finding it a little hard adjusting to the turning speed and different rates of lift when switching between my kites. So im looking to clean it up with the same model kite. (the 9m edge and 11m C4 had about the same power)
and
I wasn't really a fan of the 9m edge in gusty conditions either. I need to cover our winter frontal winds up to around 35kn+
I'm thinking of going open C type, 9 & 12m RPM's and keeping the 17m core for light wind.

Im starting to unhook etc as previously mentioned, but i want a kite i can park and freeride a little too without working it too much which the judge and other C kites need. I also found it lost power to fast through the lulls. I did like my quiver before as it covered most riding condition and styles, but now I'm looking for same kite quiver.
Don't know if this is easy to follow as I'm writing it on a small screen. Sorry

I rode a 2013 RPM when they first came out, but ill have to get on one again soon to see if its what im after.

No I was able to understand you quite well. The judge is a powerful kite but with all kites it takes some time to get completely dialled into it. I agree that the C4 kites are gutless in the low end department but they are smooth flyers. The Judge for me has that much better low end but won't be able to compare to the range of the edge. In all fairness one is a C kite to a dedicated race kite. I have owned a RPM in the past and sold it as I felt the steering was delayed (not sure what the current models are like). In the end you gotta pick what suits you best. Have fun on whatever you decide as in the end they are all great choices.

James