I went for my first kites in about 9 months the other day and yesterday (sigh) but anyway, I realised that the newest kite I own is a 2010 Airush Lithium. My other kites are from 2008 and 2009.

Has anything interesting happened with kite design in the last 6 years or are they all still the same? They don't look like they have changed much. I love my Lithium so not looking to upgrade but just wondering if I'm missing out on anything.

Cheers.

Kites have not changed at all in 10 years, much like computers they never change, my commodore-64 is going great, i don't see any reason to upgrade....

I'm assuming you haven't kited since 2010?

The only real change is people buying $4000 race kite and foil boards.

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Underoath said...
The only real change is people buying $4000 race kite and foil boards.

This is pretty much what i thought...

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KiteDesigner said...
Kites have not changed at all in 10 years, much like computers they never change, my commodore-64 is going great, i don't see any reason to upgrade....

Kites are nothing like computers. They are fabric and stitching. Clothes are fabric and stiching and they havent changed at all in six years apart from the wedgie shorts that the girls wear these days.

Oh... I see you make kites for a living...

Better fabrics, faster inflation, different bridals (switch just came out with their spider bridal this week), better bar safety, constant curve leading edges on switch kites that are a result of better computers and applications, years of iterations in design...

Cars are metal, metal has been around for thousands of years. Therefore cars must not have changed in the last thousand odd years.

Just go demo a kite and see what you think.

In the last 4 years I don't see a lot of huge changes. However the consistency is better. Its fair to say all kites over the past few years now are pretty good.

I don't think we can say one brand is significantly better anymore.

If there all about the same this would mean Switch is the best because all their kites are $700ish 1k new.

I have a 5 kite switch quiver and the build quality is as good as my Ozone V8 .

I would say things are more refined and more specialised these days. Back in there day there were a few different types of generalist kites high, medium and low aspect. sle, and C.

EG Back 2010 there wasn't any dedicated wave kites. Now you can get different several different types of waves kites for different wave riding styles.
The list goes on for other genre's of kites.

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flyingcab said..
Cars are metal, metal has been around for thousands of years. Therefore cars must not have changed in the last thousand odd years.

Just go demo a kite and see what you think.

This is troll, yes?

The main thing that will be better about a new kite is that it will be a new kite and not some 10 year old stretched out deteriorated piece of junk .

Just exaggerating bletti's flawed logic

Watch this space. I'll be coming up with something new and exciting. And no more bladders!

Hi Matty,

We are having a demo day at Pinnaroo Point this Sunday from 12pm. We will have the latest kites from North, Core and Ozone and latest boards from North and Shinn.

Around about 20 different kites and about 15 or more boards including surfboards.

Yes there have been some major improvements in kite design and technology in the last 5 years. You should come and try for yourself and see what has changed.

DM

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flyingcab said..
Just exaggerating bletti's flawed logic

Ironic thing is, for the amount technology has evolved in the last 100 years, cars haven't changed much at all...

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sir ROWDY said..

flyingcab said..
Just exaggerating bletti's flawed logic

Ironic thing is, for the amount technology has evolved in the last 100 years, cars haven't changed much at all...

Yeh right on - a Model T Ford and a Tesla both have 4 wheels and a steering wheel ! Not much difference at all...

I don't follow what I assume is sarcasm flyingcab and how it relates to my examples

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Hausey said..

sir ROWDY said..

flyingcab said..
Just exaggerating bletti's flawed logic

Ironic thing is, for the amount technology has evolved in the last 100 years, cars haven't changed much at all...

Yeh right on - a Model T Ford and a Tesla both have 4 wheels and a steering wheel ! Not much difference at all...

Only just now have things started to change... over the last 100 years car technology has remained quite stagnant, especially if you were to compare it with other industries. Tesla still isn't the norm and the driving principle behind most car manufacturers really hasn't changed much at all. I stand by my comment.

p.s. Also ironic is the fact you mentioned Tesla, when I actually read an article with Elon Musk recently saying the same thing.

^^^Yep.
Computers: Moore's law.

Cars: basically the same with a few computer parts added. same stock internal combustion engine, with a computer "carburettor".

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Electric cars have been around for a lot longer than "just now". Technology bought out technologies by oil companies etc.? General Motors sabotaged it's electric car program developed in the 90's? Have a look at this:

www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com

Sure the internal combustion engine and diesel technology have been around for a century or more - though cars have still (like everything else) come a long way in the last 100 years!

I remember my parents car when I was a kid - a Morris minor minor with wood trim - had to varnish the outside of it .... In the 1920's my grandfather took one of the first cars to China - not even 100 years ago and it was unrecognisable to anything on the road today - ancient! Go have a look at a car museum or better - try and drive an old car and you'll probably change your mind?

Hats off to Elon Musk anyway!

I agree with everything you said and I never denied any of that. I was talking about "cars" in the sense of an everyday production norm, not of the technology that is possible or available in limited numbers... the same thing this thread was talking about in regards to kite design.

Just as cars change from one model to the next, so do kites.

The changes are in small details, like valves pulleys where panels are sewn together etc. Just like cars that just drive on four wheels, kites still just have 4 lines a bar and blow up struts.

Most important, the colours change, and every one can see from a mile what model you fly, and be identified by, theres that guy with the such and such kite.
You dont need a new car every year and probably not a kite, the dynamic flying improvements are actually hardly measurable.

But having said all that, theres just nothing like a new kite, I replace every year, pulling it out of the bag first time is like a birthing, pull away he plasic wraper, foam protectors, rubber bands.......

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SugarQube said..
You dont need a new car every year and probably not a kite, the dynamic flying improvements are actually hardly measurable.

True. That is until Electric cars are available/ affordable option, then you will update for sure.

I don't really see the same kind of disruption happening in the kite market, but who knows maybe in the future there will be some amazing stuff we can't even fathom yet. That's the exciting thing about the future I guess .

Rowdy it's nuking out there WTF are you doing in front of a screen? Unless kites have evolved to a level that you can be on seabreeze while shredding, now that would be a real advancement.

My contribution to the threat - less bladder leaks, the most obvious improvement (well some brands). Better marketing too

I need body function to advance to a level that can sustain shredding for all available daylight hours... . I'm kited out.

p.s. It's crazy windy out there, I'm sure it will drop by tomorrow though, just in time for the big race .

As in getting old? I thought the other reason could 've been you didn't have cash to feed the pond parking metre

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RussKraut said..
As in getting old? I thought the other reason could 've been you didn't have cash to feed the pond parking metre

Older or smarter... one of the two (possibly neither).

p.s. I don't have cash for that, I walk across the road .

I know that feeling (walking across the street) to kite

Regarding Tesla and Ford T model.
Electric cars were flooding streets before internal combustion engines. Principle of both cars remained the same and never actually changed.
Specialized fuels (today's regular fuel options), turbos, compressors, variable valves, transmission... They are all just tweaks. Tesla is actually least changed thing. (newest thing inside is touchscreen)

Regarding kites.
I got 09' and 10' kite, didn't ride newer (or older ones) kites (i bet they handle really good) but nothing has "evolutionized". Yes, tone of refinements which change how the kite is acting (safety, pulling, stability...) but nothing significantly new in kite design. Not that i am aware of.

Maybe the question is: "what are newer badass refinements that make so much difference?"

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Just2807 said..
Electric cars were flooding streets before internal combustion engines.

I wouldn't say they were exactly "flooding" the streets . Yes they existed but they had many problems that needed fixing to make them a viable option at the time. Ford worked on the combustion engine which was an easier prospect and the rest is history.

A Tesla is just as changed as any combustion car from that era if you only consider the key principle in it's operation, which to me seems a bit silly. I mean if you use that same logic, doctors haven't changed in 100 years either, neither have a lot of other things...