how long should a set of lines last?:puzzled:
i've had my ozone cult 4.5m for nearly three years?:puzzled:
cheers ali

It depends entirely on the amount of use, abuse, and storage that they get. For example, if you fly your kite with twists in your line, you will wear out the sheath on the lines and they will wear out faster. On the other hand, if you try to keep your lines untwisted, they don't rub against eachother quite as much.

Also, if you store your lines out of the sun they will last longer. The UV rays will degrade the material that the kite lines are made out of.

It is always a good idea to check your lines each time you fly. You have to lay them out, so you might as well. If you find weak spots, you should replace the set (it's a little extreme, but you won't run into trouble with lines stretching differently that way). You should keep an extra set of lines on hand so if a line does break you won't be out of luck.

If I was using my kite a lot, I would look at replacing the lines at the end of the season. You don't want to be boosting air and have a line break on you.

I'm sure you will get other opinions, but that's what I have to add.

-Mike

Wear will be apparent on the braids of the lines in the form of "fuzz" and the bright colored dyes used on many lines will fade to a muted dull hue. Yes, flying them twisted will increase wear, but you can extend their life by flipping them end for end from time to time to move the wear spot.

Unless you are flying with Q-Power lines, your lines do not have sheaths.

Dyneema and Spectra are UV resistant but kite fabrics are not, so worry more about your kite in the sun than your lines.

Flying on beaches with fine grain sand like we have on Jekyll Island can increase wear, as grains can work into the braid as they are dragged across the sand (Sheathed lines like Q-Power protect against this).

So look for the fuzz and the bleached color and change your lines at that time. I have made the mistake of not swapping them out soon enough, and found that a catastrophic failure under load can result in a bridle point being ripped out of the kite. Then you pay for a repair that can be as much as the cost of a line set (and you buy the new line set as well).

thanks mike and acampbell for the info! i'll have a close look at them this weekend.
cheers ali.:singing:

you can also rotate your lines so you're not wearing the same spot all the time.