I just got my Peak 1 kites and am a little worried about the stiffeners. How tough are they? I want to pack the kites as small as possible and know stuff will be thrown on top of the kites when I pack the car.

Can I crush the kite or break the stiffeners?

Chris packing a Peak.... don't think you are going to get it much smaller.



ATB,
Sam

I don't know where the stiffeners are so I can't tell if he bent or bowed stiffeners or rolled around length of them without and flexation or folding of stiffeners(flat platic wands).

Probably a folding technique to do exactly the latter in origami non parallel folds.

The stiffener material may well turn out to be "string trimmer" cord. Nothing wrong with that; but that may well be what it is. Try not to fold it in half and crease it.





"most single skin traction kites use weed whacker cord to stiffen their leading edges"

http://www.peterlynnhimself.com/newsletter/Feb_Nl_15.php

Ha, I have always suspected that's all it is when I feel it through the fabric. I don't worry about hurting those at all, but I have worried about the bottom stiffeners poking through at the "hinge point" Chris reinforces is. I keep mine in a baseball bag so I don't have to make that second fold.

The stiffeners are a monofilament much like the weed wacker material. In fact that is what is used here in the states when a stiffener needs to be replaced.

Depending on who you speak to there are a couple of positions. One says you can bend them pretty much anyway you want. Another (and this is what I subscribe to) is that they are very resilient but should not be bent at hard angles. You can imagine what would happen if you bent a sharp angle in weed wacker filament.

When packing it's easy enough to pack the kite down tight without risk of damaging the leading edge battens.

If you haven't reinforced the hinge points on your Peak one I recommend that you do. We haven't seen any catastrophic failures in those hinges but we have seen some high wear after a season of heavy depowered riding. A little tape does wonders.
:D

Excellent advice. Thanks everyone.

You stop cringing after the 5th time packing it, FYI