Are Switch kites getting any better?

[Tiago1973]

users (including Marc) wanted a smaller/quicker pack down.

ahahah

thought it was about people complaining about those battens going through the canopy

after all was all about pack down time

lol

[Tiago1973]

So what they did is what all the other brands did, get rid of the battens.....so do not complain about the fact they did the same all others did hahaha

not complaining

more killing time and expressing it was a lost opportunity imo

[Hansen Design]

Relatively small %. Hard crashes + hard battens = damage. Felix still uses them.

[L0KI]

Never had a problem with the battens on my old WindWing C kites.
Don't care for the battens that were on my Evo though, they broke right through, and I think you don't need them where they placed them.
When I got the Evo from a team rider, the canopy battens were already taken out, I replaced them and found out why they had been taken out!
You can reinforce the shite out the tips of a C kite, not as easy to do in the middle of canopy and at the trailing edge.
I don't think the battens at the tips of a C kite, effect the pack down time.
And I don't like bladders that have to make a 90 degree turn and go across the end.

[Hansen Design]

Contemporary 'C's have much longer wingtips around 50% or more center chord. Improves turning and relaunch but hard battens left installed nearly doubles the length of a packed kite.

[L0KI]

I was looking at my Prime, has a little 45 degree knuckle to accommodate the bladder coming around to 90 degrees, works good.
My old Slingshot C kites made the 90 degrees straight away, which was tough on the bladders for fixing and re-installing them.

[richardamo1]

Ok heres the thing.
I have been lucky enough to have used the demo 12 meter nitro 3 for a week and a half, with about 17 hours logged on the water.
I defiantly have no affiliation to any brand or hidden adjenda. as you can see from my previous posts.
This is just an honest review of the nitro 3, and as i say totaly my opinion , yours may be different.
I have been riding in New Zealand for 8 years solid now and would class myself as an intermediate rider.
I have personally owned over 20 kites during this period and tried another 15 or so, and no im not rich i normally have a kite i stick with but buy other kites to try 2nd hand from trade me and if i dont like them i sell them again for basically what i paid for them, easy way of trying equiptment for little outlay.
I love trying new gear its what floats my boat.
Anyway back to the kite, very early on i purchased a nitro1 , rode it for about a month then sold it, like many people have said allready on this forum.
For me after exploring nitro 1 over the period of ownership i like others discovered strange characteristics which did not appeal to me at the time so out it went.
But did i loose heaps on the deal , no got within $ 50 of what i paid for it. +1
Then nitro 2 came out , i did not buy this kite but did demo for an hour or so, but this time i knew what to look for in this kite , and again maybe not for me .
Ok nitro 3 with as i say about 17 ish hours on it over a week and a half.
This v3 is different in most ways , the heavy bar pressure is gone , no more jelly fishing and super easy relaunch, although did not try the reverse launch which is apparently doable with this kite.
With my 100 pies in weight i do ride a 148 46 flx as my light wind board hence the good low end figures.
With cross on conditions at our local beach with medium surf 12 knots is do able with small losses, but a few knots more the difference is incredible, feels well locked in with enough power for small kiteloops, nice darkslides and lofty transitions.
What caught me out at 1st was how far this kite will hunt the edge of the window, does not sit back in the window, seems to want to get to the edge pretty quickly.
Had to get back on edge pretty quickly to get tension back on.
Once i got this sorted no worries.
Very powerful 1st down stroke , heaps of power , very nice.
Maybe not a beginners kite in the respect of the initial down stroke can be a little aggressive for them , and also forward speed is pretty awesome to be honest, defiantly more high aspect than the nitro 1.
On a side note when this kite was supplied too me it was set up a little over sheeted and would choke or back stall a little , a few small adjustments later , all sorted.
In the low to mid 20s thinks start to get interesting, boosts are effortless with hang time to match , cant explain how a high ish aspect kite hangs so well but it does.
As i said before forward speed is awesome to behold but easily controlled with edging skills and de power.
Talking of de power again really nice , doesn't seem to need 2 feet pulled in to take the sting out of it, maybe just an inch or 2.
Build quality without doubt is up there with any of the others i have owned and would not give me any concerns whatsoever.
Great Boston valve quick inflate system like the ozone's.
Bar and lines again great quality and feel, at 1 st i thought the quick release looked a little Tupperware but that's just personal choice , works well and has a nice large area for untangling twisted lines.
Clam cleat system works flawlessly like the north system , nice..
It seems to me that switch kites are listening and acting on the concerns of kiters which is to be commended.
I personally would buy this kite, for most of us mortals this kite is exceptional value, and with a 30 day money back guarantee and at the price can you really go wrong.
And lets be fair $1000 for the kite if you use it for a season and get back $600 so what , how many times have i bought a $2000 kite and got $800-900 back !!!
During my early years i would happily drop $ 2000 on a new kite and another $500 on a bar and lines.
But years later and 2 kids maybe not.,
But truthfully switch will be on to a winner with the nitro 3, for such a young brand the results are stunning.
Its not often i put pen to paper as it were but this kite for me suits all my requirements and really is up there with the best.
Really just try this kite for yourselves before hating on it.
As i say only my 2 cents worth and as many have said before its about what suits you , nobody else just you.
Love it

[Rando1994]

Update on 16m Nitro 3:

Boosting and Hangtime Machine!

Ok, here's the whole story. This past weekend was my third opportunity to ride the Nitro 3. It was also my first time to ride it in truly optimal conditions. The wind was right around 20-24 mph, which for many means rigging a smaller kite, but at 215lbs, I like to rig big.

The Nitro 3 screams upwind. I did three separate upwinders on Sunday, tacking almost three miles upwind into shallow flats. Absolutely awesome upwind performance. The kite really pulls hard and I had to set my edge very powerfully but the upwind track was amazing.

Boosting and hangtime. Working my way back downwind I was boosting the whole way. I got really dialed in on the timing and edge control to really send it and soar. 5-6 second boosts were routine, with a couple that went even longer. The Nitro 3 really pulls when sending it so the trick is to really set the edge and tension the lines aggressively. Boom. To the moon. Awesome. And re-entry was light as a feather.

On one of my deepwater tacks upwind, the nose of the board caught a wave and it pulled me down. Lost the board, splashed the kite, all in deep water in strong winds.

Relaunched the kite no problem with just a moderately aggressive pull on one outside line, then two tacks body dragging to get to my board. Easy.

I will say the relaunch is somewhat sluggish, but a little extra tug on an outside line brings it on edge and back up. Not a problem, but no one will state the Nitro 3 has "auto re-launch".

The bar pressure was a bit heavier than the 15m edge I've ridden often in the past, but less than many others I've had. After 6 hours Sunday, I had no elbow pain at all, which has caused me to sell kites in the past. The Nitro 3 is a keeper, IMHO.

Amazing boost and hangtime, predicable handling, I am loving my Nitro 3!

[Westozzy]

The Nitro 3 really pulls when sending it so the trick is to really set the edge and tension the lines aggressively.


Sounds good to me....rando does it require a more racking kite technique or can you keep that tension and rip it up and past 12?

Does the kite have that high aspect bound surge (as the kite tries to hunt the edge of the window quickly) or does the pull come on in a linear fashion?

[L0KI]

I would think most of that stuff is hard to gauge (or compare) in a 16M kite.
15/16/17/18 are typically so different from the middle sizes.