by POACHER » Hey I thought I'd give a quick, honest review of my new Switch 12m and 16m V2 Nitros. I did sign up under the Team Rider program, but I did still pay full boat for the 16m. Sorry to Switch for not getting info out sooner, the ice just went off our lakes under a month ago and the wind hasn't cooperated.
The 12M Nitro II:
For reference, I've owned kites dating back to Naish AR 3.5, Aero II, GK Sonics, V-Sonics, Trix, and most recent were Ocean Rodeo Rises. I've flown quite a few kites as well. Liquid Force Envys, Cab Switchblades and Crossbow, Flysurfer Speed 3 sizes 12-21m and a few more. So anyway, for what that 's worth!
First off I'll state that I was a little leery of this brand going in. I kind of always had something in the back of my mind saying "Something has to be left out to sell at this price." Well I was pleasantly surprised to find out quite the opposite. Fit and finish of these kites is on par or above the average from what I've found in many manufacturer's kites that cost twice as much. I was surprised to find the level of quality that the kite, the bag and even the bar showed. Nicely done Switch! The 12m Nitro I flew about a week ago. It was gusty, SW winds ranging from 15mph to 25mph. I weigh about 190lbs. (86kg) and ride a 2013 Nobile NHP 134x42. (great board btw!)
The kite flew great. I was unsure of what I'd be getting without trying a demo first, but I again was very pleased with the kite after an hour of flying. The kite dealt with the gusts quite well. It doesn't dump power in gusts quite as easy as some kites I've flown, but it's other positive attributes more than make up for it. The kite is just power hungry. It pulls hard and can boost you as high as you want. The upwind on this kite is crazy! I LOVE the fact that I'm gaining ground constantly even while casually cruising. When jumping, it's nice to not have to fight and tac just to recover the distances you lost on the jumps. I take it this is a trait of the kite for racing? The other thing that I was really pleased with was the stability of the kite. It never wanted to backstall or overfly anything. (at least in my short day of use) The kite drifts really well. I can't wait to take it into big Lake Superior wind swell. Should work great. If I had to make a comparison of kites I would say this kite feels a lot like a happy mix of a Cab Switchblade and my OR Rise. It jumps like the Cab and makes power like the Rise.
On the bar, I have to be honest I'm used to having a lot more depower throw on the OR bar, but I realize this is above the bar type system. It did work well, but sometimes it's just weird to change systems. I do hope the new bar has a different grip and safety sytem. Kiting inland lakes we sometimes get some funky winds that come through. Being able to ditch the bar to depower would be reassuring. The current mini 5th system doesn't seem to give much depower when popping the chicken loop. I know this has been drubbed to death, but again.......my $.02. Stoked for Bar Version 2.0!
The 16m Nitro II:
What a monster! This thing is pretty cool! I've been on the fence for awhile on whether or not to throw down $3k for a Flysurfer Speed 3 21 as my lightwind kite. Three of my kiting buddys have these kites and I've flown them several times. They are a great, (the best in my experience)for a super lightwind machine. However........they are expensive, not much fun to fly IMO, and I don't really dig the foil intricacies. So I did some reading on the 16m Nitro and pulled the trigger. It is a fun kite to fly!
I had it out yesterday in ESE wind ranging from 8mph to 20mph. The kite did fine dealing with the variale conditions. When the lulls hit, I'd have to soak for a minute, but the kite never once stalled or gave the Hindenberg. I was pretty impressed for a big inflatable to work that well in light air. My buddy was riding his 21m Speed 3 and we were both riding ok given the fluky wind. He weighs about the same and was riding a Flyboard Radical 144x46. He definitely had more juice than me, but I was able to maintain my line and get home when the wind finally dropped to almost nothing.
The 16m actually turns quite fast for a big kite. It depowers pretty well and it is super stable. I applaud Switch for engineering the awesome relaunch into this kite. I dropped it into the water once while in deep water, I was able to relaunch easily just by pulling the steering lines. I was tinkering with a GoPro 3rd person backpack mount yesterday while flying the 16m. I'll have to put the clip up of me dropping the kite and the quick process for relaunching. This kite relaunched easier in 10mph of wind than my Rise 12m in 20 mph winds. Well done! Kites that are a pain in the ass to relaunch just aren't fun. Everyone dumps the kite sometime. Overall I really do like the kite. I'm anxious to see it's true low end with my door board. For the price, this kite is a steal.
To sum up, I'm very pleased with my purchase. (I did get an 8m Nitro II as well, that I'll review when I've flown it) The quality and performance of these kites are really quite impressive. I'm super happy to be out of the routine of buying kites for $1,400+, using them for a season or two and only getting $400 for them on the used market. It's brutal. So thanks for actually putting out a quality product at a price that is fair Switch.
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