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toppleover said..
Anyone know if the Switch & BWS lines are similar size ?

I own both bars, the front lines on the BWS are slightly larger, but not by much. I reckon the BWS bit would work no probs.

Nice one, thanks effisk.

I decided to get rid of the Wainman swivel, in fact top swivels entirely. I think the problem with that kind of system (both Switch and Wainman) is that the flagging line passes through the swivel at a hard angle with causes a high amount of friction. In addition the knot can also catch on bearing corners/edges in its path though the swivel. It's all well and good to say it will flag if the kite is powered enough but I feel a safety system should flag immediately in all wind strengths.

I've just fitted the Ozone trimmer bracket and flagging line stopper ball. Tests in the garden indicated it would work without fault but I will test it on the beach in various wind strength over the next few days

So I tested the Ozone trimmer bracket flagging sytem today in marginal 14/15 knots and the kite flag immediately with absolutely no hangups or hesitation. Highly recommended for anyone who has a troublesome swivel and wants instant flagging.

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snalberski said..
So I tested the Ozone trimmer bracket flagging sytem today in marginal 14/15 knots and the kite flag immediately with absolutely no hangups or hesitation. Highly recommended for anyone who has a troublesome swivel and wants instant flagging.

I'd love to see a picture of the setup...

Nice clean work snal man.

Switch get get rid of the swivel not needed.

If you loop alot this set up could lock the safety by wrapping around the CL line... ide keep an eye on it through a long session

With the Switch bar it has a below the bar swivel as well so any crossed lines from loops or rotations are corrected manually, which is what is required mostly with the dodgy original swivel (which doesn't flag properly either)

I hear you... I run a contoller 2 on my switch quiver and contoller 3 on my edge v8.
I occasionally rotate the bottom swivel also.
Top swivels are a little sticky at times when theres little tension on the lines....i did the drill trick and wd 40 on mine and all good now. Hope your mod works out fine.

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snalberski said..
With the Switch bar it has a below the bar swivel as well so any crossed lines from loops or rotations are corrected manually, which is what is required mostly with the dodgy original swivel (which doesn't flag properly either)

Exactly.

Be carefull with the controller V2 and V3 i have both models. The safety doesnt work plain and simple.

Got three issue with the kite not fully depowering due to the line not sliding through the hole in the swivel (line is too thick and the hole in the swivel too small).

If you have a Nitro 4 this can be very dangerous as the bridle can catch the tip of the kite when you are flagging the kite with the safety which can lead in terrible situation.

^^^^ Why don't you get a refund? I am returning mine as it is dangerous and should not be on the market.

I sold all my switch.... (i had 4 nitro 4)

got myself some proper kites.

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flirferler said..
I sold all my switch.... (i had 4 nitro 4)

got myself some proper kites.

And which kite company do you work for?


I received this today....


<div>Hello Simon,
<div>I am very sorry to hear about your problem. When developing the bar we have tested the swivel but did not anticipate a need for releasing without the presence of higher forces. All our kites depower to 90% flying of the front lines only and many companies like North and F-One to name only a few are quite satisfied with this result and do not even offer a single flag line system.

<div>However, this should not be an excuse and please be assured we are working on solutions to have a low force flagging system available.

<div>Thank you.

<div class="gmail_extra">

<div>
<div class="gmail_signature">
<div>
<div>Regards,

<div>
<div>Ralph von Brause

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flirferler said..
I sold all my switch.... (i had 4 nitro 4)

got myself some proper kites.

As for the kites...they are brilliant!! Ordered a Nitro v5 the day it was released. Beautifully made, stable, flying machines.

Customer service is also fantastic, Switch got in touch with me straight away and are refunding for the bar and lines.

...and no I am not chasing points.

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snalberski said..

flirferler said..
I sold all my switch.... (i had 4 nitro 4)

got myself some proper kites.

And which kite company do you work for?

Exactly...

Bought a real kite, stupid thing to say.

For the record though to try and keep things informed and correct unlike the above stupid statement, north are single line flagged now.

never had a problem with my v2 bar,
however I now use an Ozone contact bar I got on a sale, as I prefer the grip and the simplistic design and it works great.

I've had numerous SK bars and all models (1, 2 and now 3) and never had any issue with the flagging system and the swivel, and I use it more than my fair share



Greenarrowz the drilling did not leave any sharp edges?

I didnt drill the holes.... i took the lines off the swivel and rotated the swivel in the drill for 5 minutes with wd 40 so the swivel bearing was bedded in smoothly... i thought about oversizing the front line holes... but seeing ive never had any flagging problems on any of the 3 switch controllers i have....i wont be doing this.
In any case once you flag your kite regularly when self landing in higher wind the dyneema polishes the front line holes and they become more free and slide easily.

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shi thouse said..
^^^^ Why don't you get a refund? I am returning mine as it is dangerous and should not be on the market.

No way, where else would I get a new bar for $175.00 (half price deal), a simple mod & it's sweet.

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toppleover said..

shi thouse said..
^^^^ Why don't you get a refund? I am returning mine as it is dangerous and should not be on the market.

No way, where else would I get a new bar for $175.00 (half price deal), a simple mod & it's sweet.

exactly, its just a ****ing swivel, replace it and it still is the best price on the market. its not the greatest bar, but it is at the best price point. bars lose value immediately, worth almost nothing after using for a year.

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toppleover said..

shi thouse said..
^^^^ Why don't you get a refund? I am returning mine as it is dangerous and should not be on the market.

No way, where else would I get a new bar for $175.00 (half price deal), a simple mod & it's sweet.

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Greenarrowz said..
I didnt drill the holes.... i took the lines off the swivel and rotated the swivel in the drill for 5 minutes with wd 40 so the swivel bearing was bedded in smoothly... i thought about oversizing the front line holes... but seeing ive never had any flagging problems on any of the 3 switch controllers i have....i wont be doing this.
In any case once you flag your kite regularly when self landing in higher wind the dyneema polishes the front line holes and they become more free and slide easily.

From what I read above I thought the issue was with the diameter of the central hole of the swivel. I don't count too much on the above the bar swivel to uncross the front lines and usually do it manually with the below the bar swivel but I'll give it a go with the WD40 trick. Thanks.

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igoryak said...

toppleover said..

shi thouse said..
^^^^ Why don't you get a refund? I am returning mine as it is dangerous and should not be on the market.

No way, where else would I get a new bar for $175.00 (half price deal), a simple mod & it's sweet.

exactly, its just a ****ing swivel, replace it and it still is the best price on the market. its not the greatest bar, but it is at the best price point. bars lose value immediately, worth almost nothing after using for a year.

I've had the controller 2 bars for a year now and I've been lucky I've never had to do a self-rescue in deep water. I've been reading about the problems with the single flagging not happening thinking I didn't have any issues with it until....this evening. I had to quick release quite far away from the beach. Wind was about 18 knots, the kite was fully powered on the side of the wind pulling me hard back towards the beach, it just wasn't flagging itself on the single line, the bars were always within reach, I was thinking WTF is going on it can't be possible, there's so much power on the kite and lines... it went on for about 10 minutes and heading straight towards rocks. Eventually with a lull the kite fell over and drifted towards down wind and then single line flagged. I wish I had my gopro to show switch kites the problem.

Now I'm having serious safety worries with this swivel. I love switch kites but they really should recall all the bars and replace the swivels with a bigger hole... I have emailed the warranty team.

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Alysum said..
I've had the controller 2 bars for a year now and I've been lucky I've never had to do a self-rescue in deep water. I've been reading about the problems with the single flagging not happening thinking I didn't have any issues with it until....this evening. I had to quick release quite far away from the beach. Wind was about 18 knots, the kite was fully powered on the side of the wind pulling me hard back towards the beach, it just wasn't flagging itself on the single line, the bars were always within reach, I was thinking WTF is going on it can't be possible, there's so much power on the kite and lines... it went on for about 10 minutes and heading straight towards rocks. Eventually with a lull the kite fell over and drifted towards down wind and then single line flagged. I wish I had my gopro to show switch kites the problem.

Now I'm having serious safety worries with this swivel. I love switch kites but they really should recall all the bars and replace the swivels with a bigger hole... I have emailed the warranty team.

In this situation if you tug hard on your safety leash the flagging front line probably would have cleared the swivel an the kite flagged as it should. The problem however is that time or an opportunity to give the required secondary encouragement is not necessarily available (and should not ever be required).

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snalberski said...

Alysum said..
I've had the controller 2 bars for a year now and I've been lucky I've never had to do a self-rescue in deep water. I've been reading about the problems with the single flagging not happening thinking I didn't have any issues with it until....this evening. I had to quick release quite far away from the beach. Wind was about 18 knots, the kite was fully powered on the side of the wind pulling me hard back towards the beach, it just wasn't flagging itself on the single line, the bars were always within reach, I was thinking WTF is going on it can't be possible, there's so much power on the kite and lines... it went on for about 10 minutes and heading straight towards rocks. Eventually with a lull the kite fell over and drifted towards down wind and then single line flagged. I wish I had my gopro to show switch kites the problem.

Now I'm having serious safety worries with this swivel. I love switch kites but they really should recall all the bars and replace the swivels with a bigger hole... I have emailed the warranty team.

In this situation if you tug hard on your safety leash the flagging front line probably would have cleared the swivel an the kite flagged as it should. The problem however is that time or an opportunity to give the required secondary encouragement is not necessarily available (and should not ever be required).

I was holding hard onto the safety line which was dragging me hard away, so not really possible to give a tug...

Stories like yours are a worry

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Alysum said..


I was holding hard onto the safety line which was dragging me hard away, so not really possible to give a tug...

Stories like your are a big concern. I did my own mods as youv'e possibly read and contacted Switch who replied with this..

Hello Simon,
I am very sorry to hear about your problem. When developing the bar we have tested the swivel but did not anticipate a need for releasing without the presence of higher forces. All our kites depower to 90% flying of the front lines only and many companies like North and F-One to name only a few are quite satisfied with this result and do not even offer a single flag line system.
However, this should not be an excuse and please be assured we are working on solutions to have a low force flagging system available.
Thank you.

Regards,

Ralph von Brause
Mob: +64 21 111 2639
Email: ralph@switchites.com


An email to Ralph outlining your problem would help bring home the importance and urgency of a fix (Ralph's email address is missing a 'k' - SB wont allow posts with Switch's full product name)

Its pleasing to see that a thread on a forum can bring about change (yes I realize it took emails to the company, but still, it raised awareness of an issue I didn't even know existed). I have faith that the company will sort out the problem quickly, and make it available for either a low cost, or free to those that have purchased their kites.

Good stuff all round.

Off for a kite now, hope I don't need to pull my safety, damn, probably just jinxed myself haha!