Hey guys looking at buying a 09 naish torch, Herd some good reviews for freestyle. Just wondering if there is any benfits apart from saftey with 5th line, im use to having 4 lines and never had problems before with safety. Plus anyone got feedback about the torch, what its like cons pros
i have a 10 and 14. Both awesome kites, but have had a few octopus related problems with the 14m (which is really the only thing I would consider a con on these kites).
Great unhooked, loops awesome, depower is good. Relaunch takes a bit of getting used to, but if the wind is decent then it usually pops up pretty easily.
If you like below the bar depower, then you'll like the bar, its a good compact and clean system.
if you have any questions, shoot.
Im considering buying an '07 Torch 12m. Anybody got any info on how different the new torches are compared to the 07's? Cheers
Octopusssy system is a big enough reason not to buy a kite if you ask me..... You would have to be an idiot to put that crap on your kite, so god knows what else they f@cked up.
benefits: weaker kiteloops, less power in the turns than a normal C, seeing its dependant on a tensioned 5th line it pivots around it a bit and makes the turning more pivotal than power turns. octopus inflation because it likes getting sandy and sucking a big floppy dildo as well as when you crash it hard the valve pops out of the strut and it takes u 3 hours to put back in instead of the 5 minutes putting a external hose (like slingy and all normal companies) back on IF they even pop off that is (once again normal kites).
cons: has a fair bit of depower, its a C kite those things will kill ya
If you think Octopussy is an easy fix or a good system... you never worked fixing kites in a kiteshop. Or you don't have regular sized hands...
nope no naish affiliation at all, i pay for all of my kites and i buy what i think is the best option.
Grom Wars, gotta love em
Now to answer the question. Most C kites will run a 5th line as it is still the best way to relaunch them. The simple reason people ride Torch is it's a fun kite that performs and still has an awesome wind range for a C.
Wassaby, there you go... a bow kite doesn't need the 5th line so thats why it doesn't have one and why you have no problems with your 4 line kite. Just be warned if you go and buy any C kite, that the way you launch it on the beach, and the way you relaunch it in the water is different to how a 4 line bow works. I did my kite lessons on 5 line Cs in 06 but bought an SLE the next season new (UK) and it was pretty obvious to me what the differences were.
Sounds to me like you just need to go out and try a few different kites before you buy mate. The reality is the differences between current day kites for most of us is that it makes little difference to our riding ability and what we do. In that someone riding a bow well will get more out of it than someone riding a C poorly.
Someone told me some good advice and said "most of the improvements the manufacturers make and the performance differences between kites make squat difference, unless you are a Hadlow or Lenten and are pushing the performance of the kite to the limit, so just get out there and get as much time in as you can and stop looking for excuses to buy new gear" Kind of stuck with me pretty well...
Unbelievable the garbage that gets posted on these forums sometimes.
Just a lot of big noises pushing their own barrows really .
Hey everyone knows the best kite in the world is the one you use yourself.
not really lostinlondon most C kites of today can launch the same way as SLE's can. I launch my C like that all the time and it works fine.
been using an 07 14mtr Torch since new in late 06, learnt on it (so it got a good smashing) and its still going strong today with no faults, great qaulity and a grunty fun kite. never had an negative issue with it. Buy one.
I had Torches for a few years, 2006 and 2007 models.
No Octopus or construction issues..... ever
Period.
ok well.. so has anyone flown both the torch and the slingshot rpm, If so what are your thoughts between the two.
Just flew my NEW 12m torch, have been using a '05 12m for the last couple of years. I dont know if Ive been lucky but I have never had a problem with any valves blowing out or the octopus system giving me the ****s.
I am very hard on my equipment, (if your kite isnt in the water at least 4-5 times a session your not going hard enough or progressing)
As ive found the 2010 torch is designed for unhooked riding. I had a few issues with the loops but as soon as I un hooked I had no problem in landing the loops.
It also seems to perform well even when oversheeted, my old kite used to flare and almost sail backwards, but the new version seems to handle it if not love it.
The pop is amazing but hang time is still a little short but this expected with type of kite.
A complete improvement on old tech love it!
relaunch in under 30 sec
It has alot of depower if not to much, I like to ride with out pulling on the bar for a bit of power, but this is to do with fine tuning.
not a bad kite, you will pay a little extra for this kite but having a good look at its construction you can see they are made even tougher
Is this a balanced review?
Right,
I went from riding switchblades in 2008 to 2009 torches, i had a 12 and a 8,
perfect for any condition, except like 40knots +
These torches are really good, depower is good, kiteloops are amazing, especially on the smaller ones. They are great for unhooked tricks and the bar system is great, simple but if you want to unhoook allot you might want to 'tune' your kite, ie shorten the outer lines, only a little bit. as for relaunch it does take a bit to get used to but once u get it ull have it outta the water in no time, (too bad i had to learn in san francisco bay under the golden gate bridge with tankser going everywhere, not a good place to try out your new kites haha) I used to ride bindings all the time and this was perfect for the torches they are pure freestlye machines. The turning is so wuick and i found i could ride my 8 when people were having trouble on 12's!
Hope this helps, im still wishing i had mine :(
Pete
here we go again, I'll operate the merrygo pimpround lever 
