Here's something to consider while everybody keeps shopping at west marine for kite parts for all there so called indestructible kites
Yes I do ride Switch kites love the top notch quality and performance of the kites but with all kites things wear out & break why not order the same part that you need at wholesale prices rather then making a new bridal line or making a bladder with stick on valves that really don't work that well. Instead you have a separate online warehousehttp://switchkites.com/warehou ... ucts_id=44 with each individual part for every size kite also every part for your bar to keep u save
I have not had any issues except replacing the center line on my bar which only cost $14.50 I kinda felt guilty because it was so inexspensive so I remembered I needed a pump only $11.50 so I ordered & it shipped to me in 5 days back when I had this issue before switch it would have cost me a hell of lot more $$ they even had a video on how to replace center line

The bridal line cost less than $5 for both pieces, nothing to make, and west marine is just down the street. So for me, I like when kite companies use standardized parts and don't have to order/wait for the over-priced parts to come. 14.50 is not bad, but still cheaper at west marine for that same line(I'm assuming it's the same as the North bar since they look pretty similar)

I did look on the switch website and the spare parts are very reasonable which is quite different from what I'm used to seeing. PROPS to Switch

Guys, seriously, are all of you from the US?
No one mentioned Fone.
had Fones for 4 years now and hands down these kites are the most durable kites out there.

I think we can conclude there are a lot of well built kites out there. When that is said, people do have very different usage patterns.

Really it is all about how and where you fly them. My main spot is a grass launch area in a huge bay. The biggest environmental threat to my gear is the sun and we have lots of that. Sand and high winds will eat gear alive. My 2yr old 9m has been sewn 4 times my 12m one patch on a pin hole had it the same amount of time. The 9 takes a harder beating since I fly it in higher winds and in the surf. Putting a kite through the washing machine wears them fast.

Funny story (I think) about my friend's 14 meter Naish Torch. He likes to ride powered, and will take that kite out in any wave more or less. Long story short, he drops it in the impact zone on a big wave, that completely muches the kite up...him and the kite are washed ashore (different places). He walk down the beach, to find this huge ball of lines, kite, and inflated bladder.

He is a big guy, so he carries / drags it up the beach as that ball to where we are, and just drops the kite. All of us thought it was a goner...when the kite hits the beach the kite just sort of unfolds and flop - plop the kite is still good all inflated, and just about ready to go (except the lines). All of us were kind of surprised considering the waves and how the kite looked getting dragged up the beach.

Moral of the story: Kites can take a surprising amount of beatings before they go.

I had a Bandit 4 bar break on me when I was testing one. On the place where the leader lines are connected. Not to impressed with that.
Kite looked good tough and worked well.

Not so my 6 months old Cabrinha Switchblade which never went through "washing machines" and hard beatings.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions.
I guess all major kite brands were mentioned here in this thread.
What I was looking for is a durable kite with the same (or even better) jumping/height/hangtime characteristics as the SB.
I will give the Flysurfer Speed3 a go and see how this one performs. If no good, I will work through the others mentioned here.

Cheers
Caesar

HAHA I think every brand except Best has been mentioned which means either every brand is good or no one knows what they are talking about.

I don't think you will have much fun jumping foil kites. I haven't ridden one but I just can't imagine a non rigid frame accelerating as much when you send it. Anyone know where I can find a video of someone sending it big on a foil?

some of them foils can go huge. They have their faults, but getting air aint one of em.