Kite Care:Using Tectron and Armor All and waxing Your Line

Rascal · Post by **Rascal** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:41 am

Merry Band:

Doing some end of season maintenaince on my kites.

I have been told by various people that it helps maintain the fabric and colouration of your kites to spray them with:

Armor All

OR

Tectron (http://www.bluemagic.com/extremewaterrepellent.html)

In addition, it helps your kite lines to wax them. Been told that surf wax is good but it can become a little sticky, so just rubbing your lines with candle wax is also effective.

Before I went and did anything like this, would appreciate any comments from the board from anybody has done this.

Last thing I would want to do is to mess up my kites and/or lines acting on a tall story.

Rascal

Loscocco · Post by **Loscocco** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:36 pm

Hmm interesting
I would be curious if anyone else does crzy stuff like this to their kites

OliverG · Post by **OliverG** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:50 pm

Or you can what I do, which is probably the worst example:

1. Take all your wetsuits, still wet, sandy and inside out, and throw them in a heap in a bin and forget about them until you kite next.

2. Stuff your kites into their bags, possibly wet, sandy or dirty and forget about them until the next time you kite.

3. Don't pay any attention to your bars and lines and only repair them when a component, sheeting line or pully breaks, preferably after the failure of said items cuts an epic session short and forces you to swim in and then watch all your bros out on the water killing it while you contemplate your broken gear and how you can fix it, or somehow rig it, to get back out on the water ASAP!

4. If all else fails, quickly scan the beach to see who you can borrow a board, kite, bar and lines or all of the above from...

Ollie

Don Bogardus · Post by **Don Bogardus** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:54 pm

I would be careful useing anything on you kite, as not only are the
seams stiched, they are also glued, and any chemical could alter
the properties of the glue in the seams!.
I do douse my linesets ocasionally with a weak soultion of wetsuit
shampoo after rinseing them with fresh water. I have been doing this
for a long time, and it seems they always feel slippery and new, even after a lot of hours on them.
It contains some silicone. May work for kites too.

windhorny · Post by **windhorny** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:01 pm

Dave Civ has mentiooned this line conditioner Slinghot is making for a while. Anyone heard of this?

Although ollie's method is clearly the tried and true. I think the reality is that salt is a preservative and not much is going to happen to your gear leaving it there. Just parts that may rust or lock.

elli · Post by **elli** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:13 am

I wash the bar and wetsuit to prevent rust on metal parts like zippers, swivels, release pins and so on. Dry thoroughly.

Oil the swivel so it does not rust, and fix the wetsuit. There is always something to fix in the wetsuit after a season, if you turn it inside out you will normally see small tears that are not visible from the outside.

I do like to wash anything that has zippers on it, including bags, foot straps, vest...

That's about it. Kite I leave the way it is.

If you do wash the kite use plain water and let it dry all the way. The best way to wash is inflated, so less water get into the tubes. I only do that after a mud bath in third av.

Rascal · Post by **Rascal** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:34 am

Coolio. Thanks for the feedback.

1). In terms of the use of Tectron, it seems that these guys advocate using it. However, for smaller kites. I have an email into them to see what their feedback is and will keep you posted:
http://www.colors-wind.com/accessories/Tectron.htm

2). In terms of waxing kite lines and using Armor All on the kite fabric, I'm told there was an article in the July edition of kiteboarding magazine that described this process. I am going to see if I can dig that up.

3). I also have a note out to some kite reps to get their views on this issue.

Rascal

windhorny · Post by **windhorny** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:16 pm

You could also use Ryans approach and land your kite in an oil spill, that should keep the zippers from squeeking.

If you have an old kite, really the best way to take care of it is to douse it in gasoline and throw a match on it. This will remove all residue and discoloration, alsopreventing any safety issues the kite may have next season.

On a more serious note, if a standard renters insurance deductible is $500, then why not just claim your kites stolen every year?

marina cc · Post by **marina cc** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 6:30 pm

I have used 303 on paragliders for over 10 year to prolong the life of the material. It has worked very well and has kept them looking brand spanking new for when I've sold them used. Brian from Tampa Bay Kiteboarding uses 303 on all his school kite as well as swears by it....

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:05 pm

I say we up that baby up right after you light it!
I got it..., I'll fly it ,you light and video while I do a sick kiteloop handlepass on the beach..
Ya thats the ticket!!
Limmi

BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Kite Care:Using Tectron and Armor All and waxing Your Line

More feedback ...

303

Who is online