I bought myself a beamer 4 4m at the start of summer and id say ive been out with it about 15 times, only 2/3 or which were in what id call reasonably strong winds.
anyway i went out with it last week and let a friend have a go on it. There were 3 occasions where they had to let go of the kite and use the kite killers, and on the third time, one of the brake lines snapped ( right where its looped and connected to the hanndle )
I were wondering if this was normal after this period of time? or if the lines were faulty and i should be complaining to the manufacture and tryign to get myself some free lines lol
any adivce apprieciated

going to killers can really stress the brakes, especially if somebody doesn't let go of the handles at the same time and / or the kite goes to one line on the killers.

It's happened to my kites twice, both time it's broken old leader lines, once it ripped a corner brake bridle line right off the kite first, wasn't me flying tho...

leaders are lots easier to replace than lines, but it's way easier to do a quick fix for a brake line than a power line.

I would still contact HQ. Doesn't hurt to try. They replaced my broken KK on my old Crossfire. They are really good at helping customers

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Originally posted by dgkid78 I would still contact HQ. Doesn't hurt to try. They replaced my broken KK on my old Crossfire. They are really good at helping customers

call hq--i had a similar situation and they replaced my lines --no questions asked

Hmmm.. Definitely check with your dealer or HQ. But I also wonder respectfully about the wisdom of handing a kite to someone in conditions where they felt they HAD to use them three times. That is a a lot of stress on any kite. Out of the hundreds of demos I have given with Beamers, mostly to strangers, I have never had to have KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s deployed besides showing how they work (in mild winds as a demo). It's also a matter of how you educate the student as well as choosing the conditions.

Another issue that might not work to your advantage is you could've made a mistake I made myself early on. I had the brake lines and kite killers attached to the handle leaders in such a way that the brake lines would slide up the leader to the handle if I went to kite killers. If your kite is powered up in a way that would cause you to go to kite killers and you turn loose, the force and speed at which your brake lines slide up the leader towards the handle will essentially melt the loop of your brake line. You need to orient your brake lines and kite killers in such a way that the brake line remains stationary on the leader. The only way I've found effective is to have things in this order. Tie a second and third knot in your brake leaders on your handles about an inch from the end knot and each other. Attach your kite killers in the space between the knots closest to the handle. Attach your brake lines on the space between the knots furthest from the handle. This will keep the direction of pull from changing if you go to kite killers.

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Originally posted by acampbell Hmmm.. Definitely check with your dealer or HQ. But I also wonder respectfully about the wisdom of handing a kite to someone in conditions where they felt they HAD to use them three times. That is a a lot of stress on any kite. Out of the hundreds of demos I have given with Beamers, mostly to strangers, I have never had to have KS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s deployed besides showing how they work (in mild winds as a demo). It's also a matter of how you educate the student as well as choosing the conditions.

thats a good point angus, but remember--very few places on planet earth have smooth coastal winds like you have--for instance in ohio--its rare to not have any gusty conditions and i would bet england is the same or even worse--if you lived here, and flew fb, you would be using kS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s often or you wouldnt be kiting very often, if at all.......

Fair point Don. Actually I mis-read the original post about where the line snapped, and if it broke in the loop then I think Bobby has it nailed.

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Originally posted by acampbell Fair point Don. Actually I mis-read the original post about where the line snapped, and if it broke in the loop then I think Bobby has it nailed.

Thanks Angus. With your diagram, I realize my middle knot isn't really necessary.

Not sure as to the description of "broke at the point of the leader", so the pic bellow correct?

This was the power line after an OBE, on the handle end

yeah i figured bb's post was the general solution

Seems absolutely ages since i posted this so its quite shameful that ive stil not got a new brake line. Cheers for all the advice and ill definatly be using that second knot trick, im fairly sure that'll be why it broke.
As for what kitejumper said, hes right about the winds over here ( at least inland ) they tend to be gusting all the time, but the reason they used the killers alot was more because they were getting a little too close to some trees for my liking lol, not so much because the winds were too strong.

Could anybody tell me if its the usa hq i should contact because i cant seem to find a uk website or anything?
cheers

Contact Chris at HQ KItes USA and he should be able to point to where to get help in the UK.
chris "at" hq-kites-usa.com