Rider: 82kg, 142x 42 underground TT 05 model
Style: Freeriding, freestyle
Weather:8-15 knots
Build Quality: 8/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: Team rider for switch, I have not been byast to the switch brand but I know others will say I have-try the kite for yourself..

My Comments:
Hi all, my first review here as i report from my hospital bed after an appendectomy.

I am currently a team rider but have no byas towards the brand for this reason, Simply stating the facts.


Weight - 82kgs
Board - Underground FLX 05 model 142x42 (piece of **** board with no concave whatsoever, and a pretty useless upwind board..
Wind - 8 Knots to 15 knots gusty

I have ridden North Rhino 06 14m, North Rebel 07 12m, Slingshot Fuel 08 12m, Naish Cult 09 12m, Flexifoil ION4 2010 12.5m.

Looked into switch kites as I believed many kites in the market were way overpriced and was recommended by a team rider for switch, Didnt really expect too much of the kite for such a cheap price as I also went for the team member setup.

Ordered the kite online and to my dismay 3 days later it arrived- Awesomely fast for something so big!

On first impressions of the kite, (pumping it up on the grass as I couldnt wait for wind), the kite looks solid, a different thinner style leading edge then im used to which rolls up weird as it has a flattish profile, nice reinforcing on the wingtips and scuff guards on the kite, makes it look mean. the kite did hav a strange profile to what I am used to but overall it looked good with fairly simplistic graphics.

Control Bar is really nice and reinforced with metal parts where some companies still have plastic ones that tend to get sundamaged, The loop looks a little oversized but has a great safety system that seems to work well.

Maybe Time to hit the water?

OK so I rocked up at the beach not really intending to hit the water as it was only averaging 8 knots and I just wanted to have a fly.
Got the kite up in the air and my first thoughts were what the hell is this kite doing? on further investigation found it to just be the wind dropping in and out..
At the lower end of the wind range the kite seems to have a bit of power but not really want to sit right ( cant expect too much at 8 knots) once it picked up to 10 knots it basically filled out a bit better and sat well, on first feel it felt like my naish cult a lot especially with the way the bridals are set up.
Kite turned slow up to about 10 knots( as expected) and once the wind got going at around 10-15 kts the kite really got some good fast turns going.

With the wind at around 10 knots gusting to 15 i really didnt feel the kite was producing much power, didnt think it would be enough to get back upwind too easy.

Well I was wrong, as soon as I hit the water the kite seemed to almost generate its own power and kept me going, upwind angle was fairly impressive considering the lack of wind. I could comfortably go out and back to the same spot in 8-10 knots, quite impressive so far.

Turning the kite on the water i found the kite to be fairly reactive with plenty of pull through the turns as long as you keep that bar pulled in.

Jumping felt a bit strange but after a cuple of attempts i got some decent air which was quite impressive for such marginal conditions, I think it will perform well in the jumping area of 15-20 knots..

unhooking i found to be really good, the bar pressure is fairly low which makes unhooking quite easy, (see how it goes once i get a windier session though).
I really was sceptical of such a big chicken loop but it helps when hooking back in as you have a lot to grab onto. leash system works well same as the naish system. Kite relaunched well didnt take much to get it back up.

All in all I found the kite to be a great all rounder for freeriding, could be ok for freestyle but probably lacks a bit for explosive pop..guess thats where the combat comes in. I am looking to get a board from switch when they come out and see how that goes, the prototypes look awesome.
Pretty keen to get a race board also with this kite hopefully switch decide to do one in the future, I believe the nitro would be good speedwise.

Basically if your looking for a kite that gets you on the water early, both upwind and jumping, this is the best ive found so far, look forward to seeing future models of the kite after some r&d, pretty good though for their first designs.

see you on the water!