switchblade bar pressure

[jmach]

I recently flew a 2011 14m SB and found the bar pressure surprisingly light/medium light. For you experienced Switchblade users, how does the 2011 compare (bp wise) with newer SBs from the past few years?
Thx

[dejavu]

Mitaka, I think covered this off in 2017 quite well using a Cabrinha example.

Bar pressure is:
1 The force needed to keep the kite and certain angle of attack when kiting.
2.The force needed to turn the kite.

Light bar pressure means less force needed. Changing the bar pressure with different wingtip attachment points has the following simple explanation:
Imagine the kite is a simple leverage system where the front line attachment point is the fulcrum and the rear line attachment point is the place where force is applied (for simplicity no bridles are used and the from lines are also connected directly to the leading edge).
lever figure 1.gif
lever figure 1.gif (4.2 KiB) Viewed 2957 times
When the rear line is attached closer to the wingtip (setting A on Cabrinha kites), which means further away from the front line attachment (fulcrum), you need less force to keep the kite at certain angle of attack. You also need less force to turn the kite (change angle) BUT you need more travel! Simple physics!
On the other setting B (away from the wingtip, closer to the fulcrum) you need more force BUT when turning the kite you also need less bar travel to achieve the same change of angle!
IMG_6251.jpg
Same bar travel has more effect on setting B then setting A.
Since the travel is fixed bar fully sheeted out will allow a little bit more "De-Power" on setting B.

[dejavu]

The article was explain bar pressure from 2017.

[pākihiroa]

The article was explain bar pressure from 2017.

Which would make it 'dejavu all over again', right ?

Sorry, but somebody had to say it.

Your explanation makes total sense to me. FWIW, I always use the 'B' setting and, despite being a light weight, have never felt that there is too much bar pressure. But this is coming from a windsurfing background where 'bar pressure' is actually a thing.

[Daversj]

I dont ride Switchblades much anymore. First one i owned was a 2012 9m which i liked. Last model i had was a 2017. The older models were lower aspect than current versions. The Crossbow was there high aspect kite back in 2011.
Switchblades are great for jumping, going upwind and a good kite to learn on. I find the larger sizes very slow to turn and have higher than average bar pressure. If you bounce between other 5 strut kites the switchblade has higher pressure than most. A really long day of kiting on one and my elbows feel it. In larger sizes the construction gets very heavy and they dont make good light wind kites. Sizes bigger than 12 are awful, they shouldn’t even make them.
The smaller sizes,10m and under, are faster and fun for freeride... and they handle gusts well, lots of hang time.
For waves they suck, have no drift and fall to the side fast if the lines slack. They pull hard through a loop and pull you off the wave even with the bar out. Relaunch in the larger sizes is slower than a mid aspect kite obviously.

So, good kites in smaller sizes, but not for waves and prob not the best choice for foiling either. Bar pressure is higher than most.

[rleshem]

I had 2011 and 2016 - 2016 was much lighter than 2011 especially for turning.

[dejavu]

Agree Davers. I have had two Cabrinha Switchblade 14m kites over the years and found that they did not turn fast enough or perform. I then went to the Contra 3 strut 15m and this was amazing.