cjriedel - 20-10-2008 at 10:53 PM
how much should a guy pay for a new set of lines? I only see them on eBay for between 40 and 80 $US I have a small (3.5) powerkite with u-turn
handles
SCREWYFITS - 20-10-2008 at 11:16 PM
What brand lines are they and what strength are they and what strength do you need... :puzzled:
Some are cheaper than others but all do the job... the better name brand lines are Flexifoil, Ozone, HQ... and the cheaper are Pansh and are less of
quality and can be ugly with splices in them, but perfect for the budget minded because they work well, but not great... they some times come with
different lengths and stretch more so than the better brands...
My advice, get the better ones if you can afford them, as they will last you a long long time... and you will be ultimately happier...
Good luck...
ripsessionkites - 20-10-2008 at 11:29 PM
the price you quoted is average for a lineset of power/brake.
how much were you thinking of paying?
you should contact your local dealer or visit one of the fine retailers on this forum. i'm sure one of the shops owners on this forum is close enough
to you. all great people to deal with as well.
screwyCool suggested a few, and other lines to look at: Climax / Vector / Q-Line
tridude - 21-10-2008 at 03:43 AM
ping acampbell @ coastalwindsports.com. He carries, Flexi, HQ, Peter Lynn ,and Shanti line sets.....................Shanti should be fine on your
3.5................
PHREERIDER - 21-10-2008 at 04:40 AM
Q line or is that Q powerline? anyway
the sleeveless sets are nice
I directed a friend to "a wind of change" and they hooked him up
there is a guy out of mamai on ebay for a third the $ but don't know them, he claims Q power line as the product.
awindofchange - 21-10-2008 at 12:36 PM
Ahhh, lines....the question that comes up often but is usually overlooked or not taken seriously.
First you have to ask yourself how would your kite fly if you connected it to bungee cord? Well, putting your kite on cheap lines is doing exactly
that!
There are a ton of lines on the market, some are very cheap, some are very expensive. It all boils down to what materials the line is made of and how
it is actually produced. Different line is designed for different uses. Cotton or polyester line is very strong but like bungee cord, has a ton of
stretch. This allows the line to take sharp tugs without snapping. The stretch actually gives those lines a higher breaking point but if you use
them on your kite, the kite will feel like jello on the end and your control will be terrible, not to mention that on a power kite the lines will
usually be stretched to their fullest which will put their breaking strain at its limits. One tug on a fully stretched line will snap it like a twig.
Kite line is specifically designed for kites. In order to be connected to your kite and to get the best control you need a line that is super strong
when under tension and has zero stretch. The best materials for this type of application is Spectra fiber. Unfortunately Spectra is also has many
other uses, including the reinforcement of bullet proof vests. Spectra is a very well used line for specific applications and therefore the price can
be much higher than one would expect for a kite line.
A small amount of history...
Spectra is a brand name, owned by Honneywell Corp. here in the U.S. They own the patent and the right to produce it. It is a synthetic fiber based
on ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, 15 times stronger than steel and up to 40% stronger than Kevlar. There are other brands of polyethylene
fiber on the market but only Honneywell can claim the use of the "Spectra" label. Dyneema line is one of these off-shoot brands and is made overseas
(China eg.) Dyneema is the closest thing to Spectra cord but unfortunately Dyneema doesn't have the same characteristics that Spectra does. The main
difference is that the individual Dyneema fibers happen to be much smaller in diameter than Spectra. Because of this, Dyneema has slightly more
stretch and can break down faster than Spectra. A Dyneema line needs to be larger in diameter than Spectra to be the same strength. Spectra line has
zero stretch and a unique slickness characteristic which is perfect for kite line. There are a couple of manufacturers in the U.S. that make a 100%
spectra line, two of the most common brands are Laser Pro Gold and Shanti (Shanti is the actual inventor of Spectra Kite Line). So how does one
invent kite line? The fibers were there already, Shanti developed the technique of weaving the fibers into a square-style braid that works perfectly
for kite flying, thus the inventors of Spectra kite line.
The braiding process of any line is actually more important than the line itself. Using different braiding technique will give different results.
As mentioned above, Spectra has zero stretch....but some will say "Hey, my lines are 100% Spectra and they have stretched!!! What gives?" The fibers
in Spectra line do not stretch, what you have is called "line creep". Just like a Chinese finger trap toy, the braiding in the spectra line comes off
the machine somewhat loose. As you fly this braid will pull tight giving you line creep. Some braids may be slightly looser than others which will
allow one line to "creep" slightly more than the other. Once all the "creep" is removed from the line, it will cease to change in length.
One feature of Spectra (and dyneema) is that it has a very low melting point. What this means is that if you apply abrasion to the line from a coarse
object, it will melt very easily. That being said, if someone on the kite field is flying a cheap 10 dollar kite from a toy store with cotton line,
watch out! That 2 dollar cotton line will cut right through your 80 dollar Spectra lineset like it was butter. Cotton and Poly line have a very high
melting point. A problem from the low melting point of Spectra is that if you put a knot in the line, under tension it will actually cut through
itself. A knot in spectra line will weaken the line by as much as 50%. So if you have a 200# line and you put a knot in it, the line may break uner
100#'s of force. To fix this problem, most Spectra (and Dyneema) linesets are sleeved with a dacron or similar material. The sleeving has a very
high melting point so that when knotted, you only lose about 4% - 8% of the line strength of the Spectra.
Q-Powerline has taken the Spectra line one step further with applying a linear wrap around the full length of the Spectra core. This allows
Q-Powerline to be knotted without the need for sleeving. This linear wrap also helps reduce line drag giving Q-Powerline the least amount of drag
with the highest strength (weight per weight) of any line on the market. Q-Powerline is (to my knowledge) the only line to ever be wind tunnel tested
and proven to give less parasitic drag through the air, giving your kite the highest performance possible. More can be found on the Q-Powerline
website. IMO, Q-Powerline is also the longest lasting line you can buy, we have some buggy pilots here that have been using the same Q-Power lineset
for over 10 years without failure. And that is being used on our harsh desert lake bed conditions.
Anyways, a good quality 100% Spectra lineset will usually run $50.00 to $150.00 depending on the length and strength of the lineset. As always, you
get what you pay for. Next time you are thinking about purchasing line, just ask yourself if a Nascar team would put those $39.99 radials from
Discount Tire on their car instead of the $900.00+ tires that Goodyear specially formulates for that specific track. If you want your kite to
perform, you can't put it on crappy flying line.
Also be wary of some kite shops that claim their lines are 100% spectra when in fact they are cheap knock-off line or sport grade line (sport grade is
Spectra fibers mixed in with other line). Another thing to be careful of is fishing line. Although fishing line is also Spectra line, the braiding
process of fishing line is much different. The braids of most fishing line are double and triple looped throughout the line to allow the line to have
extreme amounts of stretch in it while still providing the awesome strength characteristics of Spectra. Fishing line does stretch!!! Ask anyone who
has hooked the big one and they will agree. Stretchy lines on a kite doesn't work! Fishing line can be purchased very cheaply in bulk. Because of
this, some second hand shops and e-bay sellers are purchasing fishing line, wrapping it on a winder and selling it to uneducated pilots as 100%
Spectra Flying line. Don't get screwed or scammed by this. Fishing line is not kite line! Just like a bias ply tire for your car is not a racing
slick used on a track! Yea, they're both tires but made for completely different situations. Buy from a reputable shop that you know will give you
100% Spectra Kite Line from Shanti or Laser Pro Gold. There's a reason that all the top pilots use it.
I have rambled on enough about line and there is so much more that has been left out, but anyways, hope this helps you out a bit.