What do you ride at the moment?
They're a high depower-C kite.
More depower than a Fuel, much more depower than a Hadlow Pro.
I ride the '09 but demo'd the '10 and really liked it.
well its not quite as harcore as the hadlow pro for example (mainly coz of the depower) but they are really solid kites, loop awesomely, pull hard, big pop and everything you want in a freestyle kite.
the torch is a really fast and powerful kite and will give you loads of pop
the fuel may not have the same depower as the torch but it is a bit gutless at it's bottem end
overall it really is wat you prefer
Having recently had the chance to try out a Hadlow Pro, if your after turning speed i'd highly recommend giving them a look. Yes, the Torch turns quick but the Hadlow is quicker. They are a very 'different' kite to fly thought, so definitely demo one before you buy.
the fuel is the way to go then the fuel offers both depending on how u set them up
there is a bigger pull out of the loop from a torch, but the turning speed and consistancy from both kites is about the same. Faster kites are not always better, they make tricks harder to pull off and unless ur planning on kitelooping, id just go for a slower turning kite, they are way more fun, and you can be more powered and there is more room for error. 10m is the perfect size, if your only reason for changing from the switchblade is coz its too slow i wouldnt change, coz they are pretty good kites aswell, and if you dont mind the bow kite then ull be fine, but if u want a c-kite, torch, hadlow and the like are all really good.
c kites are better for looping BUT, You will get a far more powered loop on a switchblade as they don't pivot on the wingtip like a c does. They tend to do a bigger sweeping arc ... Pulling power all the way. I takes quite a bit longer for them to loop meaning you need more height......This can cause another problem with the SBs as often when landing a big powered kite loop you have a lot of speed and downwind travel on landing this can see you under the kite or even down wind of it resulting in that horrible site as the kite drifts back before shock loading the lines.... This issue is usually overcome on landing by either down looping the kite or doing a second loop on landing. it is at this point that the quick turning of a c kite really really helps..
^^^^are you guy serious
I ride BOTH... Fuels ( on 4 lines ... Not flattened using a 5th ) and SB's ( sb1,2,3 and IDS ) ( 8m IDS my favourite in 26-35 and we all know that's when it's most fun )and have for almost 3 years ( almost 5 years kiting but 3 using both styles)
C's turn faster than bows as they are able to pivot on the centre axis more.... Fact..
Thus they loop faster= better for looping as they are quicker to complete the loop
( the sides of a c kite ie where your outer struts are catch and use wind in a turn making the turn quicker)
Bow/hybrids are slower at turning ... Fact ( eg: crossbow etc are slower to turn than sb's.. rev's are slower to turn than fuels ..due to flatter shape)
Thus they are slower to complete a loop !!! This is because they do not have the same " presenting face" to the wind when turning
..... because of this... The loop is more of a rounded sweeping arc which takes longer to complete ( the kite covers more ground in order to turn 360deg )
..... Are you still with me ?
this in effect means the kite spend more "time" in the power zone = equals more down wind pull ( see previous post as to why this is not such a good thing "
I am not biased towards either style of kite ... a c is always better for unhooking and loops But... A bow will give you a more powered loop ( if you have the balls to loop them.. as many times you find you can land before the kite catches you and landing flat from 5+m is not great... Just ask my left knee)
Ps : I am referring to powered loops or mega loop style loops Not under the kite loops where the effect and down wind pull is negated by the reduced angle to the wind.
This experience is in part based on the fact that I feel far more comfortable looping my fuel and that each loop on my sB takes a moment to consider. " am I really going to on this run " and is usually more likely to lead to a wetsuit browning....
going back to the original post ...if I was to buy another c kite now it would be a Torch ( or Vegas .. Maybe ) . to me these two stand out from the rest !
thats all I can tell you about my experience of looping both styles .
