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So speaking of stuff wearing out, has anyone tried to make their own bridles with Amsteel or something similar? I just order new bridles for my Links and they're $50 per kite for what I know is $5 worth of Amsteel.

It's the double-sewn Larksheads that convinced me not to try to make my own, but just wondering what others have done.

I have not replaced full bridles yet, but have replaced parts and sewn my own Larksheads with my home sewing machine.

So far everything is okay, my fix seem to be holding up.

I've also tried sewing Larks heads with dacron sleeves on my recently replaced lines. I found one line with a knot, and I could not undo it. Luckily, I was able to salvage the lines, so now I have a short 19 meter line set with 2 meter extensions.

That repair seems to be working good, have gone out with my repairs for two sessions last weekend, so far so good.

make sure your pulleys still spin. If they are stuck, with sand etc., then you will wear out your bridle lines real quick.

Bulldog wrote:So speaking of stuff wearing out, has anyone tried to make their own bridles with Amsteel or something similar? I just order new bridles for my Links and they're $50 per kite for what I know is $5 worth of Amsteel.

It's the double-sewn Larksheads that convinced me not to try to make my own, but just wondering what others have done.

Generally, I would not advise making your own bridles, it doesn't take much for it to be off from a performance or steering perspective, and at worst could be unssafe.

Did yu already order your bridles? You should have asked me, I have extra Link bridle sets...

one of my products used to be a powered paraglider and i tried making some modifications in the bridles, very small ones like 1/4"-1/2". huge differences! Dont mess with that stuff, that is where almost all the r/d goes into on a bridled kite. more complex on a paraglider of course but same thing. plus, why on earth would you want to tackle that project when you can call SS and ask for a replacement?

Doh! I'll call KWS and cancel them; they have to special order them anyway.

Yeah, I should have remembered that as I was looking at the 5 line bridles I have thinking "I wonder if I can modify these".

I'll trade ya!

Part of the $50 price is that they don't sell separate replacements for 4 or 5 line kites; just the dual sets.

I blew out a pulley on Monday at Sherman; very interesting and fast trip in to the Playpen with the very-powered kite doing slow loops on the water, only three lines attached. I kept pulling different components of the safety system, finally the oh-shit handle seemed to do the trick just before the kite hit the beach.

Paul I have brand new SS double pulleys, 3 or 4, cant rememeber, lemme know.

Be careful with amsteel as it tends to stretch, be sure to prestretch the lines.
I can make bridle lines for anyone that needs them.
When you measure the bridle lines, be sure to measure them under a load.
Best to replace in pairs, and save the originals as a reference.
I've been flying flysurfer kites for a few years, so am quite experienced with making my own bridles.
Ollie is right, you want mm precision with bridle lines. If your off by 1/4", your kite may fly like sheit.

I replaced a shredded bridle for someone this summer. Cost about 5 bucks for the line and I paid the buy at Suasalito West Marine $15 to sew the ends. Took all of about 15 minutes total and $20. Kite flies just fine.

don't need to sew the loop on the end, but does make it cleaner. you can just "fold over" the end of the line to create a loop and then just tie an overhand knot. this also make it easy to make sure you have the line length correct..adj the knot

steve