Totem Vario Pro Model Universal Bar

The new Totem Vario Pro Model features:

• coated depower throw
• new floaters
• new choice of colors: red blue or green blue

The depower throw is PU coated (polyurethane tube). The PU is made in France.

If you prefer a textile coating, just request it: we can provide it. The textile coating is more suited for very cold temperatures.
A screwable stopper ball is set below the Clamcleat to protect it.

The new floaters are stiffer. An elastic means "sticks" the floaters onto the bar ends, pointing towards the kite.

The Totem Vario is set up with the AKA 3 chicken loop.

This new version comes with an antichoc protection under the bar, to better protect the grip below the bar.

This brand new Totem Vario is the latest evolution of the famous Totem control bar:
- adjusting the width of the back leader lines has never been so easy: just untight the connectors and slide them in or out!
- the foam bar ends will better protect you and your board in case you fall
- new high quality dyneema lines with very low stretching greatly improves the reactivity of the kite

The Totem Vario was designed by the best engineers in the kitesurf industry. The bar is produced in the same factory as the premium brands.

Stéphane Goffinet, so easy for him in the waves with his Ketos foil, a Conceptair Foil kite and a Totem Vario Access with AKA 3...

Thank you Kelly Bonnet and Julien Fernandez, Martinique Kite School, for this cool video in Sardinia. Feel free to contact them for kite lessons (old school freestyle tricks, twintip, strapless surf, foil...) on great lagoons of the Carribeans!

THE TOTEM VARIO: THE ALL PURPOSE, DO-IT-ALL CONTROL BAR!

The Totem Vario Universal Control Bar is perfectly suited for freeriding, wave riding or even hydrofoiling.

The bar can be adjusted to any kite size in a couple seconds. Controlling the width between the 2 steering lines is very important to master the rotating speed of your kite. The bigger the surface of the kite, the wider your bar should be. On the opposite, if you are flying a very small kite (4 or 5 m2), you don't want the kite to behave like a mosquito and turn too fast. You can slow it down by moving the back steering lines closer to the bar center. The Totem Vario is perfect for beginners too, because they will avoid oversteering in strong winds and smaller kites.

The Totem Vario is available in 3 sizes:
55 cm max, 60 cm max and 65 cm max

Totem Vario 55 cm

This bar allows you to change the spacing between the back leader lines from 43 to 55 cm. You can use this bar to fly kites from 3 m2 to 14 m2. Or the latest 15 m2 kites (that turn better than old kites).

Suggested settings:

43 cm : kites from 3 m2 to 5 m2
47 cm : from 6 m2 to 8 m2 (or even 9 m2)
51 cm : from 9 m2 to 11 m2
55 cm : from 11 m2 to 14 m2

The 43 cm setting is interesting for those who learn how to kite, to avoid over steering: this will slow down the kite.

Unsure about which bar you need? The Totem Vario 55 cm with 22 meter lines is very likely to be your ideal choice (if you don't fly big kites).

Totem Vario 60 cm

This bar allows you to change the spacing between the back leader lines from 48 to 60 cm. You can use this bar to fly kites from 5 m2 to 16 m2.

Suggested settings:

48 cm : kites from 5 m2 to 8 m2
52 cm : from 9 m2 to 10 m2
56 cm : from 11 m2 to 12 m2
60 cm : from 13 m2 to 16 m2

Totem Vario 65 cm

This bar is aimed at people flying very big kites (up to 21 m2) and/or foil kites that may not turn fast enough with a smaller bar (typically Pansh kites...), or kites that fly really well with larger bars such as Conceptair foil kites.

Suggested settings:

53 cm : kites from 8 m2 to 11 m2
57 cm : from 12 m2 to 13 m2
61 cm : from 14 m2 to 15 m2
65 cm : from 16 m2 to 21 m2

You will enjoy trying different spacing settings to know your kites better.
The suggested settings are good for freeriding or waveriding. If you are an advanced freestyler, you may choose narrower spacings to avoid oversteering during tricks.

If you are using kite line extensions, it is a good idea to widen the steering lines positions to speed up the kite, especially in the low end wind range.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TOTEM VARIO

- are the bar ends strong enough?
Yes, they are really really strong (high end plastic with fiber glass at the bar ends)
- can the connector of the Totem Vario bar end move out of the notch and slide by itself?
No, the notches are deep enough and the connectors always keep some tension

WHICH KITE BRANDS IS THE TOTEM VARIO COMPATIBLE WITH?

The bar is "ready to ride" with a very large majority of kites on the market. Plug and ride! In fact, to this day, we don't know of a kite that would be not be compatible with the Totem Vario.

Below is a list of the major brands for which you can use the Totem Vario bar:
Advance, Airush, Best, Blade, B3, Bullkite, Cabrinha, Caution, Conceptair, Core, CrazyFly, Decathlon, DuoTone, Eclipse, Eleveight, Elf, Epic, F-One, Fluid, Flysurfer, Flymaax, Flysurfer, Gaastra, Genetrix, Gin, Gong, Griffin, Harlem, HB, HQ, Hyde, Kitech, Liquid Force, Naish, North, Ocean Rodeo, Ozone, Pansh, Peter Lynn, Powerkite, Reedin, RRD, Slingshot, Sroka, Starkite, Storm, Supair, SwitchKite, Takoon, Zeeko... (non-limiting list). All 4 or 5 line kites...

All the brands mentionned are registered trademarks.

If you are unsure about how compatible the Totem Vario is with your kite, such as 6 or 7 years old Best Kahoona, Slingshot RPMs, or kites prior to 2008, give us a call. In fact you can use the bar with any kite, but you can finetune the setting of the bar for some older kites such as the ones above-mentionned: you can untight some of the knots hidden inside the floaters to get the best possible settings for these old kites. See the Videos section of this website to learn how to optimize the length of the back leader lines for these kites.

SK99 DYNEEMA LINES: HIGHEST QUALITY!

We are now using new kite lines for the Totem Vario, with the lowest possible stretch. The lines are prestretched by the manufacturer and we stretch them again when we sew the loops. The dyneema is SK99 quality, which is currently the best.

Each line can sustain more than 400 kg. The average braking load of one line is around 495 kg. They are virtually unbreakable.

Since the kite lines have pretty much no elongation, your kite reacts instantly when you move the bar. This is one of the reason why people have a very very good feeling with the universal bars...

WHICH OPTIONS SHOULD YOU CHOOSE?

If you are unsure about which options to choose, the default choice is most likely the best choice for you:
Totem Vario 55 cm, 21/22 meters lines, standard chicken loop (M/Medium).

Option "low V / 4 direct lines" versus "higher split point":

This choice has a very minor impact the behaviour of the kite. The total length of the lines has much much more impact on the behaviour of the kite! Nowadays, virtually all brands, except 2, have a low V, which means that the power lines are connected just above the pulley of the trim (no front leader line). But you can still use the universal bar with a low V setup with all the kites on the market!

If you choose "low V / 4 direct lines", the total length (leader lines+kite lines) will be reduced by 1 meter. So in this case, if you choose 22 meters, you will get in fact 21 meters, not 22 meters total (20 meter lines+ 1 meter leader lines). If you choose the other option "Higher V, higher split point), then you will really get 22 meters (20 lines + 2 meters leader lines). Also, if you choose "Low V / 4 direct lines", you can land the kite by yourself (in mild winds only...): you can grab one of the power lines to land the kite.

Chicken loop size:

S (Small) is great for waveriding, hydrofoiling or kids
M (Medium) corresponds to a standard chicken loop size
L (Large) is aimed at advanced freestylers

Line length:

Most common sizes: 21/22 meters and 23/24 meters

21/22 meters is great for waveriding.
23/24 meters is better for mild winds and/or heavier riders or freestylers

We also provide kite line extensions that will improve the low end wind range. If you hydrofoil in less than 10 knots it is a good idea to add extensions to pull yourself out of the water (you will have more leverage in mild winds).

So the ideal configuration is to use a combination of fairly short lines (21 or 22 meters) and kite line extensions.

Any doubt or question? Feel free to contact us!