May sound silly seeing as my kite is simply made up of nylon material, thread stitching and nothing else, but if a power kite takes enough nose dives can it be broken?

yup. the trick is to avoid slamming it directly nose-down so all the cells get over-pressured at once.

When the kite crashes leading edge / cells first the internal pressure of the kite can exceed the stitching strength forcing the cells to pop like a paper bag. When other peoples kites slam into the ground I always think it makes a cool sound...

... then a shiver runs up my spine and I'm glad it wasn't my kite.

some kites now build in blow out valves to help reduce the chance of cell blow out.

Quote:

Originally posted by B-Roc some kites now build in blow out valves to help reduce the chance of cell blow out.

Also serves as a good emergency exit if you close the dirt-outs with the cat still inside the kite.

The over-pressure valves were one of the nicest additions between the Ozone Access XC -> XT.

Flysufer's testing of their blow-out/over-pressure valves included repeatedly slamming a kite onto asphalt. :o



Is it time to go home yet. Having an "oh no" moment at work.

ATB,
sam