I finally got my wife out to fly my Hydra yesterday, including some body dragging. She is hooked, which makes it a lot easier to convince her to let me buy new toys.

Bad news is when I was packing up and checking the kite I saw that the stitching on a seam has unraveled to make a hole about the size my thumb could fit in. Plus, a couple of other seams look like they might be about to open up too. I have been letting a lot of friends try out flying so there have been a lot of crashes lately. So question is, how to I fix it before it spreads? Do I go through the deflate zipper and sew the seam back from the inside? Buy one of the new iron on patches? Help me out here..............

The hole is at the very top of the leading edge (red is current hole, yellow looks like it is getting loose)



Below is an actual pic:

you can use sail tape and patch it from the inside and out side on a small hole like that .... or fixmykite.com

Pretty small hole... Best fix would be to open the trailing edge, and repair the seam through the hole using a sewing machine. Then you close the trailing edge again. Lots of work though, and you need to work very carefully. It'll be as good as new though, with no patches or other clearly visible fixes anywhere.

A patch over the hole will work just as good, but will be easily visible.

I would repair like Pulsar said. Sewing it up is the best.

Susan (npw goddess)

Band Aid! Just kidding, I would also tackle that seam with a sewing machine!

I am with Susan if it isn't ripped , sew it.

This almost looks like a warranty issue? How long have you had it ? It this coming undone do to abuse ? Doesn't look like it?

HQ are very good . If this isn't your fault I would contact them . I think they would at least want to know it is happening.

Check on your warranty like BR mentioned..............if youre keen with a needle and dental floss sew it yourself or fixmykite.com......................repairs guareented for life and fast turn around.................

As all have mentioned - sew it. It looks like a simple loosening of the stitch around the rib and outer skin panels and no ripped material. You can access it from inside and just do a simple re-stitch on that little curve overlapping into the existing stitching a little bit to lock it in place. if using a machine you need to access both cells either side of the rib so that you can sew through the rib and seam allowance overlap for the outer skin. Doing it by hand you can access from just one side of the rib and try to follow the the stitch line where the thread came loose.

needle , dental floss and your will to fix it. tape will do it stitches are worry phree. plus YOU own the kite, problem and the solution, and that alone is deeply satisfying and ..AND you'll pass on the the message of CONTROL to the friends who are slamming your kite carelessly and when the kite pops doubtful if any will be as willing to carelessly drop the cash on you.

a trainer really allows you to learn the sport , this is part of it.

good on you for DETAIL recognition on seams!

Yeah, I understand it's a trainer. That's why I'm not really upset about it. Right now I'm asking around to see if anyone has a sewing machine. If not it will be needle and thread.
And they actually aren't crashing carelessly, they just need a lot more pratice. My boss is getting better. We did some really long body drags down the beach last week and I don't think she crashed once.

needle and floss thats all you need.

its a small repair. very low stress. tact it before it grows.

I've got a sailmaker's sewing machine, but to be honest, something that small I would try to sew it by hand instead. You can probably "blind stitch" it from the outside, or by reaching through one of the vents, and then you'd be hard pressed to tell it was repaired at all. Opening up the trailing edge, although the right way to do it, seems like an awful lot of work for such a small hole. I'd definitely contact the manufacturer first. They might just ship you a new kite instead.