Canopy repair..

[kitesafe1]

Dr.Tuba (http://www.drtuba.eu) has cool repair tapes too.

I have a small 10x10cm L shape tear in the center part of the canopy. Is this tear-aid.com products ok to use for canopy repairs? or do I need find a some spinnaker tape and stitch it through?

[tautologies]

..because I am nervous about rips, I always get my sewn by a pro. I am lucky to have one close by.

[Janus]

I have a repair kit from Kitefix, never had a tear in my canopy but the kit goes with me every (holiday) trip so i can repair straight away.

repaired a 5 cm rip in my LE with Kitefix. it still holds perfectly.

Spinaker tape both sides and some stitching (machinery) will do fine. (very good) and probably the cheapest fix.

Used some tear-aid on my wetsuit.. it holds but thats all. Probably wrong usage.
Tear-aid also travels with me.. (A and B)

[windmaker]

Tear aid A is a unique product and ideal for repairing bladders.

Kitefix, kite aid, Dr tuba etc just a bunch of companies re-branding and re-selling stuff you can find for the fraction of the price in any hardware store or shipshandler.

[robertovillate]

Tear aid A is a unique product and ideal for repairing bladders.

Kitefix, kite aid, Dr tuba etc just a bunch of companies re-branding and re-selling stuff you can find for the fraction of the price in any hardware store or shipshandler.

If so, could you provide the exact product names of the glue that matches Kitefix's glue and where it can be purchased.

The mesh is readily available I realize that, but the glue is different than anything I've used before.

Thanks

[windmaker]

Tear aid A is a unique product and ideal for repairing bladders.

Kitefix, kite aid, Dr tuba etc just a bunch of companies re-branding and re-selling stuff you can find for the fraction of the price in any hardware store or shipshandler.

If so, could you provide the exact product names of the glue that matches Kitefix's glue and where it can be purchased.

The mesh is readily available I realize that, but the glue is different than anything I've used before.

Thanks

I personaly would never use glue on a kite as I feel that it devaluates greatly the re-sale price looks bad and makes it harder to fix professionaly in the future. If dacron or ripstop patches can't do the job it needs stiching.

On which part of the kite do you "normally" use glue and why ? Sure, it is not specially made for kitefix/aid etc and sure they would'nt want you to know what glue it is anyway... My guess, probably a marine silicone seal available in any regular do it yourself store.

[robertovillate]

Tear aid A is a unique product and ideal for repairing bladders.

Kitefix, kite aid, Dr tuba etc just a bunch of companies re-branding and re-selling stuff you can find for the fraction of the price in any hardware store or shipshandler.

If so, could you provide the exact product names of the glue that matches Kitefix's glue and where it can be purchased.

The mesh is readily available I realize that, but the glue is different than anything I've used before.

Thanks

I personaly would never use glue on a kite as I feel that it devaluates greatly the re-sale price looks bad and makes it harder to fix professionaly in the future. If dacron or ripstop patches can't do the job it needs stiching.

On which part of the kite do you "normally" use glue and why ? Sure, it is not specially made for kitefix/aid etc and sure they would'nt want you to know what glue it is anyway... My guess, probably a marine silicone seal available in any regular do it yourself store.

I'll agree (as I said before), some kite damage absolutely needs a professional stitch job to maintain the integrity if the kite. However, in many cases an expensive professionally done stitch job is cost prohibitive....and time consuming. It just does not make a lot of sense to stitch together an older kite that may not be worth much more than the repair job. And often times the overall fabric condition is bad from sun damage and deterioration from general use.

I sometimes wonder how people attach value to a kite. I still have "serviceable" kites that are 5+ years old, but their value is pretty much "sqwat" due to advancements in kites, a glut of availablity, etc. So for anything other than a brand new kite I find it hard to justify adding 20% cost to repair a kite that will be worth 50% of it's original value withing 1-2 years. But everyone feels different about this. I'd rather spend an hour of my time and $20 materials and "do-it-myself" than to hassle with sending it out, waiting for 1-2 weeks, and paying far more than seems worthwhile. In the end I am just wanting to get back out and ride.

In all honesty I do not see any "negatives" about applying glue to the canopy. It does not effect performance, is incredibly strong, and if applied properly is almost invisible. I do not believe that applying the proper glue to a kite will harm it or reduce value. I've repaired kites in all different ways - pro sail loft/kite repair, dacron tape, rip-stop tape, Kitefix - and for function and value I would rarely go with a sew job - unless absolutely necessary. I've actually seen kites hacked pretty badly if it's done poorly, on the wrong machine, wrong materials, or by the wrong operator.

I've sold a few repaired kites and so far I cannot see that anyone balked at a kitefix repair.... or paid a higher price for the professional sew job. I know I wouldn't...there's no extra value in it really. That said, and to be clear, there are some repairs that I would tell people "you need a pro sew job" and Kitefix isn't the first choice.

as for the answer about the "rebranded" glue products...that's what I thought you would say. You seemed pretty convincing that you knew what the products were - so I asked. Thanks for the response anyway.

PS...if it matters to anyone (and hopefully it does) a kite that can be repaired simply with tape or Kitefix or Kiteaid leaves a much smaller carbon footprint than UPS shipment of a kite (or even a short car trip) to/from the sail loft. There are only a few sail/kite repair shops that I trust to repair a valuable kite and it usually means sending 500 to 1000 miles. Many people do not have easy access to a good sail loft that can do good kite repair.

[windmaker]

Lots of truth there. It all comes down to the sometimes excesive price of pro repairs and whether they are localy available or not.

We have a top notch repair center that delivers over night and at very reasonable prices. Most times you can't even tell the kite has been repaired hence glue and patches are not so popular.

[Gigi;)]

Hi,

as you may know we have both, our own repair product line and pro repair service, servicing most of the brands. We simply can't make all raw products by ourselves, but we do choose them carefully and with the best quality available in EU. Our bladder tape is unique product which is made in our production facility in Slovenia. Our OEM products are used by many pro repair services.

With our repair products and kits we 100% support DIY guys since we came out from hobby/custom kite world (remember kite-stuff.org and our open souce work in the old times? Kite-stuff.org archives link here).

Stay tuned for upcoming how-to video manuals on our Vimeo channel on how to safely repair your kites with a loads of cool tricks.

We always advise to leave your kite to a PRO repair if you are uncertain/unfamiliar with self repair OR the damage is really big/in heavy load area.

We are not just "rebranding", we are making the product usable!



@windmaker - feel free to contact me, we can discuss where we can help you in Cyprus

[tmcfarla]

I have fixed a number of fairly large leading edge repairs by sewing on a patch of dacron sail tape. Usually I use a layer of dacron tape on the insiden and outside. Make sure you use a good UV resistant thread designed for sail repairs. I've never had any massive damage done to kites, but I don't think I've ever spend more than about 2 hours hand sewing repairs and none of those have come out yet.

if you are not a professional how do you define low or high stress zones?

If it is on the leading edge, it is very high stress. If if is near the leading edge, it is high stress.