THE MOST DURABLE KITE

[ramsey]

Ok all.....the past couple years there have been a lot of changes in kites. Bow, C, depower, more power, range, turning, blah, blah, blah......


I wanna know....What is the most durable kite?

[adamrod]

that's a pretty tough question man. it seems that all the building materials are pretty much the same these days, and all the kites are made in pretty much the same factories . . .so yes, a few design differences might affect durability, but overall i'd say differences in the rider (or luck) would probably outweigh any design differences from a durability perspective.

[jjm]

Durability observation:

A Slingshot TD,
Was yanked from a big tree,
Not even a scratch.

[Jason Martin]

i've got an 02 wipika and it still works. people laugh at me for flying it but it works just as good as any other kite i've ever flown. It was replaced by a cabrinha, but the cabrinha kite broke 3 times so now I'm going to fly it until it dies. I've also got two naish kites that have been attacked by several waves and they still work.

[KillaHz]

All kites barring any defects seem to be made pretty equally these days as far as durability goes.

My observation about the kites that I fly is that they are quite durable. For the first time since I started kiting, I am keeping two of my kites from last year to ride again this year. They are Waroo 9m and 16m. I have had to replace the chicken loop on the bar and the 9m leading edge bladder...about $40 two keep my kites going another year.

I have added two new kites to the quiver; a 2007 7m Waroo and a 13m Bularoo. Now you want to talk about a bomber looking kite, check that thing out. I got to fly it for a little bit when the wind died yeterday at Sherman. The kite actually as rubber traction stitched into the leading edge for added durability and leading edge grip in the snow...looks quite beefy.

I'm psyched with the durability of my kites. I would say, a better wuestion would be which kites are not durable?

[ramsey]

Hello gabe,

I've got the opposite point of view for waroo's. Here's the list of things I broke:

'06 waroo 16m leading edge stitching tore (replaced)
'06 waroo 12m leading edge stitching tore (replaced)
'06 waroo chicken loop broke (bought new - slingshot worked)
'06 waroo chicken loop to line attachment broke (bought new cabrinha worked)
'07 waroo 9m leading edge tore (not replaced yet)

Now the bar/chicken loop failures that I had may be due to my large size, but I gotta think there's something going on when ALL my kites break. Not only that I've had the replacements repaired like 3-4 times.

I don't believe that this is just bad luck.

[average_male]

Lots of room for bias on this poll, most will vote on what they like or ride, not in your case Ramsey, your Waroos seem to be disposable. I hear that a lot about the Waroos, I hope that the Waroo Pro Series are better made.

[Kite Adventures]

Durability wise I'd have to say our North kites are up top in quality. I just sold my 6m Vegas to KCliff and it's like basically new after 2 seasons (only used it for 1 though) and Dave's 2004 12 meter Vegas was flown over 75 days and is still in great condition. No tears, no rips, no bladder problems etc. (oh yea, we're selling it!)

[Live2KITE]

Here is a Real Life example. (names and location are hidden for obvious reasons)

rider is way overpowered and coming back from the beach.
He let's kite go as the storm was making his return to the beach impossible.
Kite takes off over the beach and to the local 2 lane road behind.
A car going 50-60mph catches the loose kite which drifts behind the car but the bar / lines get tangled to the front bumper.
The kite catches the wind behind the fast moving car and acts as a parachut. the car stops from 60 to 30 in msec.
The bar picks the pressure from the kite and penetrates the passenger's door (all the way through) and the lines yank the front pumper.

I won't continue much but the results were, a couple of torn panels on the kite. LE intact, struts intact, most panels intact, lines intact, bar intact!!!!

Noone got hurt which was the most important thing.

The kite was repairable after this.

[ramsey]

Apparantly, I should by an 02 wipika and I'll be in good shape.