OK i was at the beach, just got on my board but forgot to check my way for kites. The kite sliced through my two right lines, (power line and outside line) luckily it sliced one foot from my bar above the leader line. Should i braid my lines together or re-sleeve them. I dont need new lines yet they are still good lines. :puzzled:

What should i do

-re-sleeve? ( and then lengthen with pig tail extensions)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ENUiyuxQZQ
-braid them together?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJrUhWzgayY

If you can splice new eyes that would be best. Sleaving is not as strong. You are going to have to do all your lines.
S

What the hell kind of lines was the kid using?!? :o

Quote:

Originally posted by Kamikuza What the hell kind of lines was the kid using?!? :o

yea!thats what i'd like to know--must have been one mean kite!:o

man it was just a five dollar stupid 7-11 kite. but it was not the cotton string it was the strong super thin dyneema line i belive. It cut through my lines like a hot knife through butter.

Well i dont know what splice is do you mean weave the two sides together? i cant belive that will not end up slipping apart!@

doesn't take much... I had a couple of the lines on my blade break after a collision with a single-line cheapo on a crappy cotton string.

if you had the old pansh lines, they were really easy to resleeve.

the newer ones are made differently.

you can try using the blood knot, but it is a bit chunky and you'll lose some line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufncs42S8G8

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXyviXntg4E

the braided splice the guy demonstrates in the first post can hold very well, but if you haven't done any cable splices or similar it can be hard to have confidence in your splice job. as the ropes tighten under use, the fibers of each rope tighten up on each other and spread out the load.

if you want to fly in a hurry, go with the blood knot, braiding / sleeving will both take a little more patience and planning.

The cheapo cotton lines don't melt, Dyneema and spectra have a very low melting point so the 20 lb. test cotton will win against 600lb high tech expensive stuff every time.

i have never spliced, but resleeving was pretty straightforward, and has held up well on a set of line i used... resleeving kits are around $5, if i recall

Quote:

Originally posted by Big Earl The cheapo cotton lines don't melt, Dyneema and spectra have a very low melting point so the 20 lb. test cotton will win against 600lb high tech expensive stuff every time.

Aah, I see ...

Cheap Dacron will win over dyneema every time
too.
No need to lengthen leaders. Just resleave all 4 to the same length and fly on shorter lines. I have sleeving kits if needed.

I have been told it has to do with the melting point + the fact our lines are under tension and the single line is not.

We lose pretty much every time if we tangle. :dunno:

yeah the time i sliced a line on on my 6.5 was not on a very high wind day, the single's line wasn't all that tight, i had actually thought that if i brushed up against that line it couldn't be a problem.

the cheapo cotton line ended up cutting about 75% through the power line (older flexi "extreme" lines) before the rest of the line broke off, i guess because the line was too weak to keep holding the kite. the two aspects of the break look quite different.

also i was trying to turn my kite away from the other kite so it was the power line on the outside of the turn that hit, i.e. the less loaded power line on the kite.

winds were maybe 8-12 mph.

so yeah, not that much force needed for a $5 kite to munch $75 lines!

so ok i wanna go ahead and resleeve my lines bar side , Can i just use the knot method (sleeve over line and tie) or do i have to get them sewn, the guy advertises you can just tie your lines as long as you have your sleeve on.

yes, you can use the knot method.

i think there is still a small extra advantage in strength with the sewn loops, but tying knots with the sleeve inside takes away most of the problem.

edit: or maybe tying a knot over top of the sleeved line is a better way to say it...

whatever, it will do the job: keep your lines from rubbing directly against each other and increase the radius of the bends in the line and thus their breaking strength.

ok great thanks , i will give this a go. i think i still am going to order some new lines. 80 bucks for 600 pound Slingshot firewire from www.kiteboarding.com .

Might as well, i can fix these lines and have them as back ups.

you could consider getting Q-power line, works very well by all reports and you don't need to sleeve it.

Quote:

Originally posted by furbowski you could consider getting Q-power line, works very well by all reports and you don't need to sleeve it.

i was thinking very similarly.... no sleeving necessary, and it probably wouldnt have been damaged by the cotton string, anyway

meh, i just order the slingshot set and some other repair products

they are only a few hundred miles away from me in chorpus so hopfully ill get my stuff mid week.

thanks for the advice people...



"i hate cheap plastic kites"