Bought a second hand kite and bar today (Wainman Punch 2.0), bar had one line replaced by previous owner. I didn't really give it too close of a look because 1) I'm an idiot 2) It was windy and I wanted to hit the water. Later when I checked it more closely I saw that it's not sleeved, it's tied like this:





Not sure if that's what is under a line sleeve anyway... none of the shops here do any line sewing and I don't know anyone who has that knowledge. Is this setup safe? Will I explode in a fireball and be speared by a unicorn? I rode it all day and it seemed ok...

Anyway, the kite is pretty sick. Thanks all for your knowledge and input,
-Jared

Id ride it for sure. But for the sake of a cheap replacement line, just order one. Then when it's 30knots you'll feel safer.

Until then as I said it looks ok.

Disclaimer : don't blame me if you get smashed.

Hehe right on, that is the replacement line...just wondering if that tied off setup is good to go. I rode it all day, seemed OK even looping the kite a good amount. I'm just kind of a pansy and start worrying about this stuff sometimes!

I would be particularly worried if it was center line. With the tip line you just need to be ready to self rescue - would not go mile out with this set up and be ready for it to fail.

Center lines I think are more crucial as I painfully learnt. When the center line broke, the force of half kite was taken by the tip line only. The tip line torn off the end of my leading edge and bladder popped through this hole.

Annoying that center lines are the weak point of Ozone bar and you can't replace just them - gotta replace the lot.

Probably find that when the knot was tied that that bit of black anti wear protection was tight up against the knot.
With a bit of use the knot has tightened and effectively moved away and left a small gap so it is now a little bit vulnerable.
It won't break unless it looks like it is going to break. Just inspect it and replace it when it shows signs of wear.

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JKimbler said..
Bought a second hand kite and bar today (Wainman Punch 2.0), bar had one line replaced by previous owner. I didn't really give it too close of a look because 1) I'm an idiot 2) It was windy and I wanted to hit the water. Later when I checked it more closely I saw that it's not sleeved, it's tied like this:





Not sure if that's what is under a line sleeve anyway... none of the shops here do any line sewing and I don't know anyone who has that knowledge. Is this setup safe? Will I explode in a fireball and be speared by a unicorn? I rode it all day and it seemed ok...

Anyway, the kite is pretty sick. Thanks all for your knowledge and input,
-Jared

Hmm it's a dirty job, but it should hold.

The knot onto your green bridle or bar line, is a larks knot, which is safe as houses.

The bit at the end, just burn it so it stops fraying.

As long as all the lines are of equal length (see utube videos on how to check), you should be ok.

Ok right on, I was just worried about how he tied off back onto the line. Definitely will burn off the frayed end. Thanks.

If it's a front line then replace it. Is that knot in the loop, or just tying the tail to the main line? If it's in the loop (as it looks) then it will reduce the strength of the line by half.

If it's just keeping the tail tidy then it won't reduce the strength of the line. It's pretty sloppy and if you ever detach the lines the loops will slip and you will have to check your line lengths again.

The best thing is to learn to splice and just make up proper ends on all the lines.

It's a steering line, the knot is just tying off the end but it's tight as all hell and doesn't slip. I had the line off to check it out and it doesn't move. Going to call up the Maui Wainman dealer tomorrow and see if they are able to sell me one replacement line and ship it over here (O'ahu). If not I found a full set pretty decently priced, maybe just throw new lines on and retire these as spares. Thanks everybody for the help.

tieing a knot reduces your line strength by 50%

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Plummet said...
tieing a knot reduces your line strength by 50%

Tighing a knot increases safety by 100% than when it is untied.

This guy does good work at a fair price.

^^^ www.customkitelines.com/

I would ride it like that and have done many times before, the poor/lazy mans way of shortening lines ;)

I'm sure others would disagree.

It might just be that the core of the splice has come out.

Easy fix with a d-splicer or guitar string.

I wanted to see howcstrong a Brummel lock splice is (what we use on our lines) so I made a few pigtails V without tucking the tail into the core.
It held, it it isn't going anywhere.

If your really concerned just buy some dyneema and make one up. Splicing & rope work is an important skill to have. Its deff worth learning

Thanks for the replies guys, had the kite out in some good wind the other day and it was fine... I'll probably just run it as is until it's time to replace the lines. If I don't post anything for a while then I died.... Haha.

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Plummet said...
tieing a knot reduces your line strength by 50%

Try abseiling without a figure of eight