F-One Strike V2 Wing Review - Best of 2022?

Hey everybody, welcome back to MACkiteboarding Wing Wednesdays. I'm Tucker and today I'm going to tell you all about the new F-One Strike v2 for 2022.

This has been a really hotly anticipated wing this year and there have been lots of questions about it. With the success of the v1 and how great of a wing that was, to say that the standards were really high would be an understatement. I think, more than anything, people have been scratching their heads, wondering how F-One was going to make this wing better and hoping they don't ruin the special sauce that's in the v1, and I'm here to tell you they didn't ruin it. They only made it better, and I'm going to tell you why and show you some of the features and benefits that are lending to that.

This is the 5 meter in the Glacier Flame colorway

A really beautiful wing that pops with the sunlight. Not that I'm a crazy color person, but it is a really pretty wing in great color choices by the F-One team. On the first look, I would say it almost looks identical to the Strike v1. You've got these long, loopy handles. They're simple, and the overall shape is pretty familiar; even the material that's being used is kind of the same stuff. It has similar scuff guards and whatnot, but the magic is in those small details. As I mentioned, everybody was worried about wrecking the Strike magic, and with some small refinements, I can say they only made it better with no drawbacks on the v2 versus Strike v1. So that's all great news.

Let's start at the top and go over some of the basics and the features and benefits. We have our surf handle here at the front.

It's nice and stiff. It's really popped out from the leading edge so it's easy to find and grab it, but it's stiff enough that you can control the wing easily. You've got your scuff guard underneath. Then there's a nice reinforced leash loop. That's great, especially when getting dragged through the waves so you don't wreck your wing or lose your wing because you rip the leash off.

On the connection between the strut and the leading edge, they've paid a lot of attention to detail and really gone through the extra work and difficulty of manufacturing this with these extra reinforcements and the extra dacron just to make sure that's super solid, stiff and durable. I give the F-One team a big thumbs up there.

Similarly for the handles, how they're harnessed in and tied into this boom really makes for a durable, long lasting wing in all conditions.

These are actually a little bit chunkier than the v1, so I would say they're more comfortable in your hand. They're a little bit stiffer, which leads to a better response between the wing, the strut and the handle, but they're still those narrower diameter, simple handles which are so comfortable and really reduce fatigue and keep the weight down.

Nice harness line attachment points here. It's in the right spot, reinforced really nicely, so big thumbs up there.

This boom or strut is quite a bit bigger than the v1 so it's stiffer

and then it really tapers down at the back end to make it streamlined and not add any additional weight on the trailing edge that you don't need, so it still feels super lightweight. This boom is a lot stiffer than last year, so the response and the amount of stress you can put into the strut is really amped up.

The baffle has a cutout to reduce weight. 

Again, they're just cutting weight anywhere they can without compromising durability. That's part of the magic of this wing.

The strut hose one pump connection is kind of hidden underneath the boom

This is so that you don't grab it and rip it off by accident while transitioning from your handles or while hanging onto the leading edge and deflating your wing when you don't want to, so that's really nice.

It's got a dump valve here. 

They opted for the more needly style valve, which will allow you to inflate this independently. We don't have a clip on the strut hose here, so if you did want to do that you need to add a clip, but it does dump nicely. That way you don't need to push it all out the leading edge, so it packs up quickly.

It's got primarily the same leash as last year using this bungee rope style, which I really like. 

It's easy to grab, it's comfortable, they stretch out nicely, and they're very durable. The leash loop for your wrist here has been "improved", but I think they just made this middle securing part a little fatter, so it should be a little bit more reliable and stronger. Maybe the leash cuff got slightly bigger, but it's still on the smaller side if you're a bigger person or wearing a wetsuit, so it's nice that they have this quick disconnect here where you can attach a different loop or connect to your harness or waist belt line as well.

So that's a quick look at the F-One Strike v2 wing in all of its majesty. If you guys have any questions at all, reach out to us at the shop or put a comment in the comment section below. As always, we'll do our best to get back to you real quick. We've got quite a few of these booked this year, but they are a hot commodity and they tend to arrive a little slower than we like, so definitely get one while you can, get on the wait list if you need to, and we'll get it out to you as soon as we get the proper size that you've requested and get it rolling. This has been Tucker with MACkiteboarding.com and we'll see you next time.