So what is the most durable kite?

I ride Naish and still ride three year old kites but I keep hearing Naish kites are cheap and won't last. I want to buy new kites... Do you think any last longer than others?

I think this will be a very tendentious subject. People will probably like the kites they fly.

There are a few brands I know that have less UV coating on their canopy, less solid parts, no carbon in their bar etc..., but not really something I would go into here. My suggestion is to look at the small things...like the bridle lines. Pulleys? Kite lines? Pigtails? Bumpers? Trailing edge protection line? Trailing edge material? Solid stitches? All of this IMO is as high quality as can be found. To me there is is no way one can claim Naish kites are low quality.
Not that I want to start comparing with other brands, but the original versions of the Helix and Cults are still being used at my local beach, and by kites that use their gear.

I just pumped up a 2003 kite. Granted I have not used that kite much the past years, but only one strut was leaking. Not bad for 10 years old.

I mainly bring it up because I saw a 6m Ride rip today... Which was the kite I was thinking of getting.

The Naish Ride is a cheap kite made out of basic materials, nothing really durable...

Durable kites are made out off durable materials, like Teijin-fabrics.

Durable kites are: Mutiny Kites, Ozone Kites, Flexifoil Kites, JN-Kites, North Kites.

regards

As far as i know most companies use prety much same materials. Its more or less about the design of the frame of the kite + reinforcements placed at right places. For instance I can name two or three brands that Imho make very solid kites that will look crisp after year or two of use. And I know some that will look a bit worse but still fly and perform.

Add to the math that the way you treat the kite has also great influence - if you leave a kite flapping on the beach when the wind is strong - no matter how well built and solid the kite is - it will look like a wet noodle in no time and the trailing edge will liik sh!t. If you have only one bar - the lines will show some signs of use (ie. they will be less stiff and will start to tangle near pigtails/larkheads, the protection layer will be gone). If you crash the kite really hard - it might rip, no guarantees it will survive no matter how well the kite is built (of course better constructions have better odds to survive more hits).

Imo naish kites are prety well built. In terms of quality In my personal opinion there are some brands that have tougher kites. But I am quite picky, and the differences are minor.

This is based on my experience. I fly all year long, wet suit, dry suit, snowkite outfit - you name it.

Have you actually seen a ride up close?

I think the canopy is pretty much the same as every other kite? I have a ride, and to the touch the kite feels the same as my park. Though I have not really even thought of taking them side by side... It has the same high quality safety ronstan pulley, solid bridle. To me there are a few brands that stand out on making high quality kites..at least historically...for me Naish has always been part of that group.

I've been riding my...ehh ride as it were (yeah I know shitty pun) quite a bit....I had mine 10 get washing machined by waves, folded up by wrapped kite lines..hammered by nuking gusts...then drug over the reef, and finally gotten unwrapped by me in the water as my bar and lines were stuck in the reef...the kite doesn't even have a scratch on it, and I was fine to use it for self rescue back to the beach.

Now that isn't to say that the kite cannot be killed, because often on that reef it is more luck than anything else when the waves hit it. But at least that time the Ride held up fine. Maybe the kite OP saw had a flaw in it?

They have the normal bumpers on the LE, the line in the trailing edge, and a wide-ish panel of LE material on the trailing edge..

Thanks Tau... I really want to get a nice predictable 6m to replace my older cult. If you had the choice which you do, would you get a 2012 bolt or 2013 ride. I don't like how fast the 2011 6m park was had a hard time controlling it in jumps. It was fun in waves but want something just a little slower to action. Not sure if I'm saying that right but I got to fly the 8m ride and it just seemed a little slower to move which made it easier for me to keep in the power zone. Might just be that it flys further back in the window.

On another note... Why don't people just come out and say what brand? I know it's all opinion and that is what I wanted to hear.

well, all kites are made of polyester. so, how long do you think plastic bag survive in the wind and sunlight?
it doesn't matter what brand it is, polyester all the same.

for that money you'll probably can buy the high-end mountain bike that last for decades. but of course, the kite sailsmen will tell you the different stories...

Don't worry about seeing the kite you were set on buying ripping. I have split every single kite I own down the middle. If you tomahawk a kite hard enuf it is gonna split in two. Just get it repaired if that happens. Kites are all made of the same stuff, dyneema, spectra, technoforce t9600 or the equivalent, dacron support on the leading edge.

Durability of the kite is 90% on the user, self launching, tomahawking the kite, crashing it in a tree (I do all these things, lol). The only thing I don't do which is bad for the kite is leave it flapping on the beach for hours and hours.

I do think that C kites are a just a little bit more durable because wakestyle riders smash their kites so often.

For me the choice is reasonably easy. The Ride 6 seems more powerful than the Bolt 6, and it packs down to about half the size of the Bolt. Both kites seems to have a huge range. I do not know the top end of either kite tho...

Since we don't have many days on Oahu where the Bolt 6 is *the* kite, I'll get a lot more time on the Ride. I took out the 6 ride when my buddy was on a 9 park. I was on a 5'4'' he was on 5'11'' (both strapless) and he weights about 40lb less than me. He was lit tho, but I wasn't underpowered. I think turning speed is similar on those kites, but have not ridden them side by side. The Bolt does seem a tad more stable...I dunno if stable is the word tho, since the result is much the same...both kites are fun.

Personally I don't name other brands as much for two reasons. I'm in this for the stoke...it will get someone super upset and then it turns the discussions to something it shouldn't be about. Secondly I am not as familiar with a lot of other kites, so instead of what you've seen even earlier in this thread where some people just state something without knowing anything about the kite they are mentioning I'll avoid saying anything when the information is maybe not as solid as I feel first hand experiences are.