4'11 Firewire Evo by Tomo in kite construction LFT borrowed from Bonny at kitesurfsup.com.au. I'm 70kg, had a 7m kite in 2ft City to Trigg downwinder. I also rode the 5'1 a mate lent me on a 3ft day. Affiliations - none.
Stable, floats over chop, smooth/soft rail turns, forgiving entry rocker, excellent upwind - they could have called it the magic carpet
that wide tail pushes some water but requires more input to snap
wish I had this board when I first went strapless
Ryland makes it look good in bigger stuff but not sure that's its sweet spot

Do you know if it's possible to put straps on the Firewire Evo? I image it would require the construction type with the stringer??

Not sure about the straps sorry. Perhaps not. It is quite a stable unit though

I have the 5'3" great board I set mine up strapless .I believe KP have Pads that can fit strappes give then a call

77kg. Should i be looking at the 5"1 or 4"10 ?

Thinking I'm kind of right in the middle of the two, could go either way.

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Cygnify said..
77kg. Should i be looking at the 5"1 or 4"10 ?

Thinking I'm kind of right in the middle of the two, could go either way.

Just base it off of the winds you normally ride in. If more than 20 knots usually go the smaller if under then go the 5'1.

you can get a crafty shaper to cut inserts into your firewire ,ive seen it done at my local and for those loving straps.....spot on :)

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Cygnify said..
77kg. Should i be looking at the 5"1 or 4"10 ?

Thinking I'm kind of right in the middle of the two, could go either way.

I'm going with the 5'1", hopefully will have one soon. I'm probably going to get inserts put into this board. The NSI stick on pad/strap combo is convenient, but the glue always gives up and I'm forever sticking the pad back down. So far super glue works well, but on both my boards that have these pad/strap combos I've had to do all the front corners and the rear of the rear pad too.

I ended up going the 5"1 as well. Grabbed a quad fin set just waiting now for wmfg full deck to put on the board. That should have me covered.

Itching to use it!

What size 4'10" or 5'1" for average kiter, 150 lbs (68kg), no big waves, small jumps, playable surf? Everything from weak to strong wind, using for about 30-40 days a year...

Does anybody know for EU stock with FST II fins system? Many thanks.

Love this board. I ride 5'3" and am 95Kg and use Pancho Large futures. Naish Slash 9m 14-18knots, 7m 19-25knots and then 5m from 25 knots.

IMO would not be ideal for straps as really lends itself to a dynamic foot position to make it plane like a boat, rather than setting a rail. It also prefers to be underpowered rather than overpowered. Mind you I have never ridden strapped beyond my first few months of kiting so I may be getting that wrong...

Excels in small to head high surf. The wide tail makes it get a bit sketchy once the surf gets to double overhead and above but you can still do it. I asked firewire if they could make me an Omni in kite construction for the bigger stuff but they said no

I personally slightly prefer it to the Vader and much prefer it to the Vanguard. Much looser but yet more stable in chop

Anyone know whether the Evo Kite version is available in WA in the new Helium tech? Or is it just a given that when you order a Fst it comes in Helium? Asked a few stockists and they weren't sure

Can't answer your question but when I got my Hevo about 3 months ago, the entire shipment was in Helium - no FST.

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Westernfront said..
Anyone know whether the Evo Kite version is available in WA in the new Helium tech? Or is it just a given that when you order a Fst it comes in Helium? Asked a few stockists and they weren't sure

Pretty sure only helium now, it has superceeded fst

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Westernfront said..
Anyone know whether the Evo Kite version is available in WA in the new Helium tech? Or is it just a given that when you order a Fst it comes in Helium? Asked a few stockists and they weren't sure

We have got the Evo 5'1 in stock in the new Helium construction. We have some Vader FST still available but all Evo and Vanguard are just the new helium now :)

Has anyone who has ridden the Evo in Helium and FST comment on what they thought felt better??
ie: Flex, Bottom Turns, Snaps, Rail to Rail, Upwind Ability

What about Thruster Fin setup:
ie: Stiff fins, vs flexy fins, what do you prefer? Feel wise?

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jrickta said..
Has anyone who has ridden the Evo in Helium and FST comment on what they thought felt better??
ie: Flex, Bottom Turns, Snaps, Rail to Rail, Upwind Ability

What about Thruster Fin setup:
ie: Stiff fins, vs flexy fins, what do you prefer? Feel wise?

I had a demo FST 5'3 for a couple of weeks before buying a 5'3 HEVO.
Have not noticed much diff besides a slight weight reduction.
I like riding (surf & kite) mine as a thruster, it cranks upwind & so fast...imo it doesn't need the quads.
There's a heap of fin info on the FireWire forum.