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Jest of Eve Talon Review

This is the second offering from Jest of Eve kites, following on from the Trident in its various guises. So, is the Jest of Eve Talon an improvement?

Bryan Beasley gives it a good thorough spanking.

Build Quality.

Mark (Mr. Jest of Eve) has been gaining something of a reputation over the last 12 – 18 months as that of a quality kite builder, and rightly so. The Talon will go some way towards cementing this reputation. The stitching and construction is excellent. The kite is beautifully made and lovingly constructed with some of the best materials around. Component parts are the PC31 Ripstop Polyester sail with Mylar reinforcing along the trailing edge, Skyshark P200 and Skyshark Black Diamond Nitro leading edges, 7pt lower spreaders and Structil for the spine and other bits.

Design and Technology

The sail graphics for the Talon are amongst the most striking on the market. There seems to be endless scope for colour themes, 3D effects and personal preferences. There have been a few Talon made already with a simply stunning, sophisticated look to them. It wouldn’t take much however, to add some fun and zest to the outlook. A word of caution though, the colouriser (found through the Jest of Eve website) can easily eat up several hours of your time. You have been warned.

A lower Aspect Ratio has been used in comparison to the Trident, so many of the over steer, pitchy ‘issues’ have been addressed, and the whole effect is one of a much more balanced kite.

Technologically speaking, there’s nothing ground-breaking here. Roll bars and covered leading edges come as standard, and there’s a bit of ballast to help with the manoeuvrability. The Trident came with some neat little cones fitted to the roll bars to help stop the lines slipping during wrapped moves. This has been improved further with a ‘Slip Catch’. This is a small protrusion from the yo-yo stopper fitting (where the roll bars fit into the leading edge), and it seems to work pretty well.

Flight Characteristics

Enough of the arty stuff, how does it work?

Well, pretty nicely. There’s not too much pull and the sail catches the wind effectively enough, so little wind is needed to get the thing working. The 3 point active bridle makes it pretty responsive and it holds a line quite well. So well in fact, that I would suspect that a scaled up version would make a passable precision kite.

Precision however, is not really what the Talon is all about – so let’s talk freestyle. All of the basic positions are easily accessible. There’s a stable fade, solid if not deep turtle, easy pancake with the flick of the wrists and recovery is predictable. Axel based stuff is sharp with stabby inputs, and flat and soft with a more delicate approach. Combining the 2 makes for some delightful combinations of Cascades, Cometes and Taz Machines, with multi-spins flat and smooth. Similar can be said of 540’s and Slot Machines. Aggressive inputs give really quick spins, whilst smoother, more controlled action does offer a really pleasing ‘Old Skool’ Style.

Backspin moves and combos are very tidy, and lead into one of the very finest Barrel Rolls I’ve seen. Just get it spinning, apply some pressure to the active hand, and keep it there. Pull harder for a fast roll, lessen the tension for a slow one. Release and catch whenever you’re ready. Sweet. Turtle based spins are not the Talons’ forte, but they are a lot more achievable than the previous Jest if Eve design. Lazy Susans (with multi-spins from a single input), Rolling Susans and Inverses come at a snap, as do Insanes and Rolling Cascades, but whilst reversing these moves (ala Cynique / Insane L/R) are perfectly do-able – there just not as easy as most of the other moves. This is down to the depth and stability of the Turtle and the pitch characteristics, which brings us on to… Roll-ups are a pleasure, as many as you like, real quick and concise, or slow, smooth and flowing. This inbuilt pitch also enables Yo-Fades and Crazy Copters, and all of the variants to come quite comfortably with the right inputs.

To compare and contrast…

There seems to be a wealth of fantastic kites available to the serious and recreational flier alike just now, so how does the Talon compare. Well to start with, this is as well, if not better made as any. Bar none. It’s right up there with ‘Benson’, ‘CR’ and ‘Sky Sport Design’. The price for a bespoke, boutique kite is about right, and whilst there are cheaper, mass produced, options available, the Talon certainly represents value for money for what it is. In flight, the Talon flows like a Benson ‘Deep Space’. It’s nothing like as crisp, but more spin friendly and pitchy than a CR Fury .85, or RSky Nirvana. It’s not all French in its Turtle bias, but backspins and Barrel Rolls like a dream. All told, the Talon is a really accomplished freestyler, with a sleek and silky transitional style punctuated with a sharp and defined aspect. Just this reviewers’ opinion, but ‘sweet’ indeed.

Bryan