Hi all,
how far do you reckon I can let my lines stretch before I'm risking an imminent break?
my front lines are a good 300mm longer than the rear, and god knows how much the back lines have stretched.

No idea, but that doesn't sound great! I broke a pulley the other day and that went bad real quickly! Death loops and a lot of power! Eject kite and all ended well thank ****.

I'd be getting advice sooner rather than later. A new set of lines is much cheaper than time off work in hospital!

If lines are pre-stretched, what you are actually experiencing is lines shrinking. Sand and crap getting into the fibers....

So the story goes... If that's true then you would never have to worry about lines stretching at all.

Your kite will be flying a long way off how it's meant too, just get a new set, generally they'll have a small tab with line lengths stamped on, usually at the kite or bar connection point, pirate lines, flexifoil, and ozone lines are good quality European dyneema,or go to your local shop and get them to fit you a new set

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Kamikuza said..
If lines are pre-stretched, what you are actually experiencing is lines shrinking. Sand and crap getting into the fibers....

So the story goes... If that's true then you would never have to worry about lines stretching at all.

Initially I didn't think that it would be possible for the lines to shrink, but to my amazement it actually happens, which really goes against popular belief.

I started measuring the difference in length between a couple of sets of brand new lines of the same brand (which turned out to be exactly the same length between sets) and a couple of sets of used lines (1 season of use) of the same brand again. All used lines were shorter than the new lines, sometimes up to 20 cm. The center lines won't shrink as much since these lines are most of the time always under strong load, which is why most of the time center lines end up being longer than the back lines... As for why it happens, I was told it was due to hot weather combined with friction in the fibers.

I don't think there is any reason to change lines unless they start to fray. It's usually pretty obvious when this starts to happen it's time to change.

Thanks for measuring, I'll take that as gospel from now on bridle shrink on the Flysurfers is one if the major annoyances... and it was actually an article for them that stated it was shrink, not stretch.

No reason to change unless they're frayed - or you run out of adjustment...

not only do your lines shrink but bridles can be very prone, ive had a few dramas with aramid bridles on my last kite, doing a cross check with your other set of bar and lines quickly rules it out, a multi knot pigtail set up on steering and bridles can get it perfect regardless of shrinkage and stretch, also a good option to make the most of wind conditions

Thanks Christian,
you've nailed it.
that's exactly what the guy down at RPS (vic. local) said.
cheers

Awesome!