Tkb Review: 2021 NAISH Triad

Sizes Available: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14m
Sizes Tested: 10m

Naish Says:

When the Triad was created, the focus was on creating an optimized rider experience with seamless transitions from the beginning stages, to intermediate and beyond. The Triad is intuitive and stable with true sheet-in-and-go power and forgiving steering that does not overreact, making it very comfortable and easy to fly. Whether it’s a new rider just starting, finding a place in the waves, learning kite loops, foiling, or just want to become a better rider, the Triad is a true all-arounder.

Visit for more info: https://www.naishkites.com/product/triad/

TKB Says:

This is the third season for the Triad with subtle changes that make this all-arounder just a little bit more user-friendly for the progressing kiter that is moving through the beginner and intermediate stages of kiteboarding. The standout quality of the Triad is its super intuitive controls that give you confidence in the kite’s position and easy and instantaneous power delivery. Combine these things with easy relaunch and you have a super reliable platform that will help you build skills with every session.

Inflation Valve: Surelock nozzle required
Flying Line Attachments: Center bridle: Knot / Wingtip bridle: Larks head
Centerline Split: Low-V
Front Bridle Options: Single setting

Features and Design
The Triad comes with a 3-strut airframe that features a low aspect canopy with sweptback wingtips and a ton of draft in the kite’s profile for easy power delivery and super stable flying at the top of the window’s zenith. It’s equipped with Naish’s Surelock push-button inflation valve which keeps the pump hose attached to the valve while inflating and allows for deflation with the push of a button (just remember to push the button to close the valve (button sticking up) prior to inflating. The Triad uses a fairly simple medium-length front bridle which offers a single setting (no tuning needed) and a single slider that helps change the kite’s angle of attack. We tested a prototype that had only a single wingtip attachment point, but the production Triad comes with two attachment points that allow you to choose a setting farther forward or backward compared to what we tested. The front bridle attachment points end in a knot while the wingtip attachment points end in a larks head. The wingtip features a little bit of Dacron and transitions to double ripstop along the trailing edge. The overall build quality of the Triad is solid with details like the large diameter distribution hoses that make inflation/deflation quick and easy, along with the drain patches in the wingtips that yield faster relaunches. This year the Triad’s diagonal load seam moved farther down the canopy, adding extra strength and rigidity to Naish’s Quad-Tex fabric which feels incredibly crisp and results in a fairly light build of the kite.

Impressions
The Triad is the all-purpose kite in the Naish lineup that is geared to be super reliable and user-friendly with plug and play rigging that is ready to help you make the most out of your session. The first thing we noticed about the Triad is that it’s designed to offer medium bar pressure, which is a bit more than you will find with the Pivot, Slash or Boxer model Naish kites. With most of those kites offering some version of lower bar pressure, the Triad is geared to the progressing kiter with a medium bar feel that gives you a much better feel for the kite’s position, tuning and steering response. The bar feedback gives you a good indication of how your kite is tuned and the canopy is resilient to oversheeting; pulling too hard during an intense maneuver will not stall the kite because the Triad will still generate power. The Triad’s steering speed is middle of the road; although it takes more pressure to initiate turns, it feels direct and intuitive for progressing kiters. While the turning speed is tuned down a bit to create predictability in the kite’s handling, the steering arc is fairly tight and pivotal which makes it easy to put the Triad exactly where you want it. One of the highlights of the Triad is its sheet and go power delivery. With its deeper draft over the center strut, it really seems to offer up a ton of power in the bar’s movement on the throw, which puts less pressure on flying perfect power strokes and more on tuning the power at the bar. At the end of the bar throw, you get an impressive amount of depower that makes the Triad feel extra safe in hectic situations and gives the Triad an excellent high-end range which can help you extend your sessions even when your quiver might be limited.

Jumping is fun and easy. Although the Triad doesn’t create a ton of lift, it makes up for that with predictable jumps that are fun-sized and delivers an even amount of lift every time. You won’t get the revved-up lift you might experience with the Pivot because the Triad doesn’t try to wring every ounce of pulling power out of a gust. Instead, it levels your jumps with easy launches, good hangtime and sufficient float to help you with soft landings. We liked the Triad for wave riding with its tight turning. Its mid-window stability ended up being super fun for park and ride surfing and a great selling point for kiters that intend to end up in the waves. The Triad is a dependable platform for advancing core kiteboarding skills, and while it might lack some of the aggressive handling of a higher-end niche kite, if you put this kite in the hands of a skilled operator they will appreciate its dependable traits and may learn a thing or two while pushing their own personal limits.

Featured Control Bar
The Naish Torque bar got a big reboot this year with the addition of a double PVC-coated throw line and an entirely new quick release that offers the simplest ‘click style’ reassembly after activation. The Torque 2 is a dual length bar (40/45cm) that offers 22m lines with 2m extensions. The Torque 2 continues to be a low-V bar with a single centerline depower with the center lines ending in a larks head, and the outside lines ending in a knot. The first thing we noticed was how luxuriously smooth and frictionless the bar moves across the PVC-coated throw line, giving you durability/longevity over the previous bar, as well as frictionless movement of the bar. The quick release offers a completely new take on the click-in style safety systems. When you push away the quick release handle, it disconnects the entire loop, which stays connected to your harness via an L-shaped donkey dick. Re-connecting the system is really easy because you just have to bring the quick release to the loop and push them together for the system to reset. The beauty of this design is that lining up the fixed loop with the QR handle is really easy; it almost guides itself together. The other style click releases require you to insert the broken end of the loop back into its mechanism, which requires more dexterity. The other noticeable difference with the new quick release is the L-shaped chicken finger that ensures against false-hooking and accidental unhooks. When the finger is inserted into your harness hook, it is locked into place. We liked how the push away mechanism requires just the right amount of tension so you don’t have to worry about accidental releases and the click-in reset gives you a clear mechanical reset that gives you a clean sound that indicates when you’re back in business. The above the quick release swivel doubles as a quick release guard and has almost no friction when you go to untwist your lines.

The new Torque 2 bar offers a new power adjuster cleat that does a great job of biting into the rope with the excess power toggle finishing with Velcro to keep it from dangling out of place. Much of the bar chassis is the same with the bar-end inserts that pull out to adjust bar width, also giving you four knots to adjust the outside line lengths for stretch or precision tuning. The bar winders are rigid and provide ample space for a clean wrap job that won’t fall apart in your car with retractable bungees that keep your lines in place for easy rigging your next time out. The flying lines are nice and thin for extra efficiency and low windage. The insert is replaceable if you have issues with wear. The bar itself features the same rubber grip with asymmetrical humps under your knuckles, which is both comfortable and grippy. This year the Torque takes a big step forward with the new quick release and new high-quality details that make this a high-performance bar both feature-rich with a clean and simple layout while keeping the weight down to a light to medium package.

Visit for more info on the bar: www.naishkites.com/products/control-systems/