Blade Trigger 9th Gen

The Trigger has been epitomizing all that is good about a three-strut ‘all round’ kite for several years now. It was one of the first three strutters back in 2008 and Blade have spent the time since then tweaking and improving the design. We have tested the Trigger for the last few years and it is fair to say that it has been one of our standout kites from the less well known brands.

For this 9th Generation version there is a new canopy material which improves the strength and rigidity of the kite. Performance has also been tuned up with the Trigger flying a little closer to the edge of the window. Graphics are distinctively ‘Blade’ and there are lots of nice touches to indicate that a lot of thought has gone into the little things. Tuning wise and there are wave settings for maximum versatility (we flew the Trigger on both ‘standard’ and ‘wave’ settings for the test). We flew the Trigger on the Unibar V2 which is a great bar, although V3 is just around the corner so you will soon get that with the Trigger.

On the water and the Trigger feels nicely tuned and ready to go straight out of the blocks. The low end is good, although you need a few strokes to get going if it is lighter. Through the air the kite feels very nimble indeed and it is easy to place it where you want it in the window – we found that on the wave setting particularly you could really ‘micro manage’ the Trigger to keep it where you wanted while you’re surfing a wave. On the freestyle setting and for boosting, the Trigger continues to deliver plenty of oomph and hangtime – you really get pulled off the water but then there is a nice additional lift if you’re looking to put a loop in or just enjoy the scenery… You can hold a Trigger down a size or two bigger than you might think too so you can really get stacked for boosting. For powered freestyle there is a good amount of slack and the Trigger would be a great bet for getting your first few unhooked moves dialed in.

In a sentence: The Trigger continues to be a fantastic example of a three strut all-rounder and delivers solid performance across the board.