Rider: 90kg,Level ,intermediated
Style: Freeriding
Weather: ?-? knots
Build Quality: 10
Satisfaction: 10
Disclosure: pay for all own gear

My Comments:
Just received Switch control bar, Ordered Thursday received Monday.
Havent been riding yet due to recovering from knee surgery

here is a side by side with 2011 blade bar

The switch bar thickness is even all the way across where as tappers and is thicker in the center
switch grip is not as soft but very gripy
quick relese requires minimal effort to operate look like the Iron heart system (reverse pin)
the donkey dick is a bit flimsy easy to become unhooked unless you feed it up the back of hook



The swivel is quite close i like this for self landing
standard saftey is double depower but can setup to flag



clam cleat is adjustable for total throw on the bar
the shorter the bar throw the longer the trim adjustment and vice versa


Bar comes with 20m+3 lines
the 3m extentions can only be used at the bar end as the line is folded and sewn with no sheath


1.7mm Lines appear to be high quality with a very tight weave

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pedleym said...



the donkey dick is a bit flimsy easy to become unhooked unless you feed it up the back of hook

Good review, pic's etc but not sure how you can say it is easy to become unhooked if it is new and you haven't been riding yet?
I've been using my Switch bar for a few months now and have never became unhooked accidentally.
It does look and feel a bit flimsy but it seems to do the job no worries.

For feedback, just ask anyone who had a North kite in 09.
Looks the same to me!

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tightlines said...

pedleym said...



the donkey dick is a bit flimsy easy to become unhooked unless you feed it up the back of hook

Good review, pic's etc but not sure how you can say it is easy to become unhooked if it is new and you haven't been riding yet?
I've been using my Switch bar for a few months now and have never became unhooked accidentally.
It does look and feel a bit flimsy but it seems to do the job no worries.

+1 good review, I can't say i've ever had mine come unhooked either.

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blueprint said...

tightlines said...

pedleym said...



the donkey dick is a bit flimsy easy to become unhooked unless you feed it up the back of hook

Good review, pic's etc but not sure how you can say it is easy to become unhooked if it is new and you haven't been riding yet?
I've been using my Switch bar for a few months now and have never became unhooked accidentally.
It does look and feel a bit flimsy but it seems to do the job no worries.

+1 good review, I can't say i've ever had mine come unhooked either.

cool it was just something i found when i hooked in to my harness (no load obviously) that you could move it around and become unhooked. probably wont cause a problem when riding.

doe's anybody know if you can buy this bar off the switch website, without buying a kite?

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bennie said...

doe's anybody know if you can buy this bar off the switch website, without buying a kite?

Yes you can, I did this.

yeh mate i only brought Bar

Just interested in how the safety works...is one front or both. ???

Also what,s the go with the FLAG IT point above the swivel, looks like there is a safety connection below the bar.

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toppleover said...

Just interested in how the safety works...is one front or both. ???

Also what,s the go with the FLAG IT point above the swivel, looks like there is a safety connection below the bar.

The leash connects to the small ring near the top of the donkey dick, the push away QR will let kite flag to two front lines.
I have never used it but if you wanted to flag it onto one front line you can by grabbing the red "flag it" loop at the top swivel.
It may be of some use when self landing in super overpowered conditions but I find that the Method kite self lands easily and have again never had to use it.

There is two swivels, one near the red flag it loop (between the two front lines and the depower pulley/rope), and one directly below the bar that you can manually turn whilst flying. The above bar swivel seems to actually work (unlike a lot of swivels) so I have never had to use the below bar one.
I don't do a lot of unhooking but have never had the QR release accidentally.
The stopper ball and cam cleat both work well and as pedleym stated the cam cleat set up is adjustable for those with shorter arms (or for those like me who are just used too not having much throw on the bar) obviously the further away it is the more the kite depowers when you let go of the bar.
The bar in the picture is shown with the rear (steering lines) on the 45cm setting (inside the bar) this is easily adjusted in seconds to 55cm by moving the lines to the outside of the bar by way of a larks head knot on the end of the lines attached to the short cord through the bar.
I am not really a fan of using the inside setting because of the possibility of your leash catching on the bar end but it is there if you want it, I just use the outside setting.

Hi there,

Can you tell me if the the centre lines have larks heads or knots on the end?
and same for steering lines?

Im using a north bar at the mo but have to use small pig tails to convert the centre lines. Just wandering if this bar/lines will fit straight on

cheers

^^^you dont need additional pig tails - just tie a figure eight knot where the loops are.

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BMAN said...

Hi there,

Can you tell me if the the centre lines have larks heads or knots on the end?
and same for steering lines?

Im using a north bar at the mo but have to use small pig tails to convert the centre lines. Just wandering if this bar/lines will fit straight on

cheers

Knots on the centre lines, loops on the rears (from memory, 99% sure but will check)

^^^ isn't it the other way round,loops centre lines and knots backlines.

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radman4 said...

^^^ isn't it the other way round,loops centre lines and knots backlines.

nah, have mine sitting in front of me, knots in centrelines, loop on rears

here is a pic of the line ends


closer look at chicken loop