flying sliingshot since 2001 and have never had a problem with the trailing edge ... including my school kites which get A LOT of abuse.

For those interested in trailing edge quality I strongly suggest you compare whatever SS kite with whatever North or Core kite on the beach and make up your mind. You will easily understand that CaptainArg and his "reinforced trailing edge" is a joke. Kiteosphere doesn't give any example of "quality improvements" he sees, I don't see any comparing my 2009 rev & 2011 rpm, on the contrary the 2010 bar is worst than the 2009 ... See attached picture of my 6m trailing edge, this started to happen after say 30 or 40 sessions. See also picture of my 2010 bar, putting plastic there .. come on !


Once again it is important to understand that construction quality is not put to the test the same way on a 6m flying 30+ knots or on a 12m flying say 15 knots. You will probably not have trailing edge problem on bigger kites (I don't have any on my 9 rev). Please other users and fan of SS, don't forget to tell which size your are talking about, otherwise your advices are pointless ! Also true in terms of flying characteristics !! I had maybe 200 sessions on SS gear and especially RPMs, but I would certainly not recommend to buy RPMs ! Why ? because I don't know how 14, 12, 10 & 9 fly ! I only know about 6m & 8m, and I can tell that there already is quite a BIG difference ! e.g. I would advise the 6m every day as a wave kite, not so sure about the 8...

My advice to people looking for a new kite: beware with forums and don't put to much consideration on people who only have good things to say about a kite or a brand ! However, that 6m Rpm is by far the best flying kite ever !

same problem on the trailing edge on my 10m after 50 sessions
for now only on the right side of the kite but the left side looks bad to...too bad

Interesting theory. Can't say I can comment, I own a 7, 10, and 14 kite. I fly the 14 most often, than the 10 and then whatever small kite I own. For that reason I tend to keep the small kites longer because they get a lot less flying time.

I haven't seen trailing edge wear on any of my SS kites, but perhaps if I lived in an area with ballistic 30+ wind as the norm, it would be different. The original poster, though, is looking at an 8M. He's 120 lbs. He's not going to be flying it in 30+ winds routinely so I think yes, despite whatever theories you have going around, he is going to rock that 8M, love it, and not see this issue!

So this tangent is pointless. mdiggs, get the 8M you asked about!

A lot depends on how you fly the kites too. If your pulling of a lot of powered loops it will wear the kite; no doubt. I had an rpm and had this happen. If you're just boosting and riding back and forth, kite will not wear as much. For what it's worth...

I'm not seeing it- what's wrong the trailing edge in that picture? The repair seems to obscure what happened.

thanks.