Just a note that gear doesn't last for ever. Noticed a crack under the grip on a mates Cabrinha Bar the other day. We both work where taking an X-ray shot is one of many tools at our disposal. We were very surprised to find cracking on both sides of the connection point to the centre of the bar. Looks to me like the cracks start where the aluminium tube is pushed onto the centre piece. Good idea have a good look at your gear, and to swap out equipment on a regular basis... Not sure how long it's been like this, just glad to catch it early before it may have snapped out on the water.

Awesome to have that tech on hand! I've only ever used it to keep a check on weld quality

A question for the seasoned veterans ... How long do you keep a new bar & lines in use before replacing? A friend of mine goes new every season but I don't have the same budget.

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raggedflyer said..
Awesome to have that tech on hand! I've only ever used it to keep a check on weld quality

A question for the seasoned veterans ... How long do you keep a new bar & lines in use before replacing? A friend of mine goes new every season but I don't have the same budget.

I'm not a seasoned veteran, but since no-one else answered, mine broke after about 200 sessions

I use the same bar on 3 kites and replace them every 3 years.
I used to buy one new kite at end of season run out models as new gear is released and replace oldest kite so have a 3 year rotation for 3 kites instead of dropping $10k in one go. Having said that my quiver has grown to 6 kites since my 14yo son has grown so much this year (had to buy 2 new ones) so might have to rethink that or replace 2 per year. Right now we have 7.8.9,10,12 and 13m light wind between us.

I'd used a 2009 version of that bar for 7 years and it still seemed ok with only depower adjuster breaking. Have had 2017/2018 versions and had lines and center line to chicken loop fail, and all the grip wear off both of them but can't see any cracks on the bars.

I remove all the bar tape from my bars, so I can see exactly what's going on inside. Yeah it happens. Nicely spotted

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raggedflyer said..
Awesome to have that tech on hand! I've only ever used it to keep a check on weld quality

A question for the seasoned veterans ... How long do you keep a new bar & lines in use before replacing? A friend of mine goes new every season but I don't have the same budget.

This bar was about 7 - 8 years old, so it's had a pretty long life