Great kite, this kite has rekindled my love for kiting after too many years on hybrids.
What did you want to compare the torch to?
it is great if you want to focus on unhook stardom and megaloops, is a very extreme performance kite. Generates heaps of power down deep and lands you with plenty of slack in the lines. Can be temperamental to being incorrectly sheeted and has a fine sweet spot margin for power. Very fast and very responsive.
kite is well built, pigtails and lines are solid but 2013 bar is better. I dont own one nore have spent a solid amount of time on it to give a full review but those where my immediate impression compared to the likes of the chaos, vegas, p-series. Iv been told the park is a similiar feel but isnt as specialised as the torch and works well in the waves.
Had the 12m Torch 2012 for a year now and still love it. I agree with most things mywistom said. The kite flys quick but (and this is in my opinion a miss conception people have with C kites) turns not all that quick. This is because it carves (rather than pivot). The 2012 (and 2013) make the kite a bit more aggressive as the depower throw is a lot shorter than on the 2009-2011 bar.
The kite is very powerful in loops -still a bit scared doing unhooked kiteloops in more than 17kn. Unhooking is great, pop is very good, boosting needs more technique than on other kites (and some other C-isch kites boost maybe a bit higher). However I love how you get ripped of the water when sending the kite. Bottom end of kite is a lot better than in previous years (and I think) a bit better than on the Fuel. On my 2012 the lines stretched a fair bit –which is enjoying and it has not happened to me to this extent on the older bar –maybe **** batch… (if you buy a second-hand kite check the line length). Will get my 8m 2013 Torch soon
i want to compare it to the Cabrinha switchblade for unhooking and boosting. and also what size would you suggest, i weight 62kg and am about 5'11 and still growing. the 2 sizes i have in mind are the 8m torch and the 9m torch. i have the 8m switchblade at the moment.
Hi Nate
Been a few years since i tried a switchblade, so don't know what the new ones are like, but from what I can remember, they pop really well but keep pulling all the time. If you pop the torch aggressively you can get a nice amount of slack in it, and they do like to be popped aggressively. I have to agree with suimike about the 12, it is a bit slower, but the sizes you are looking at will whip around a loop and spank you hard if you get it wrong.
Might want to look at a 7 and 10, as the 8 and 9 are too close. They do have a fairly good bottom end. I use a 12 and 9 but I've got nearly 20kg on you.
your in perth right mate? kiteaddiction in myaree sell both these kite's and most likely have demo's. Go in there and at the very least Daniel will be able to answer most of your questions.
yeh kite addiction is where i buy most of my gear from, dans a good bloke and helps me out with my kite selection heaps. And to juicerider i meant which size would suit me better. the 9m or the 8m.
hey nate, i used to ride a switchblade and swapped to the torch by choice after flying one, its got huge pop-slack, it is a pretty agressive kite but it keeps you alert the whole time. It pulls more through a turn/loop than any other kite ive ridden, i think its most comparable to a Hadlow kite out of all the c-kites ive been on. i would say the torch and the switchblade are two of the most different kites on the market, but you would be stoked on the switch, especially if your looking for a more agressive kite to loop/unhook or even boost on. you will find the 2012 torch very similar to any of the torches 2009 and onwards, especially after 2010, each year naish make small tweaks to the torch to improve it, not changing the kite dramatically
