Please post here your tips and tricks to repair kites - add your experience and share with other kiters from around the world.

Anyone use duct tape to repair bladders? I've heard it works well.

Cant say I have heard of it.

We use bicycle tube patches.

Works very well.

So far looking for some hose to replace the perishing hoses on my fuel

I went for the automotive hoses but cant seem to get what I need .
Went Medical and they have great hose but is $3.00 p/ft.

Now to repair the valves that have delaminated from leaving the damn kites in the car.

HA

Slingshot sells a hose replacement kit, along with the clips.

You can probably find similar rubber hoses in a hardware store.

For repairing bladder valves, urethane glue works well, but it takes about 6 hours to dry.

Hi Toby ,

Before , i repair my kite with all kind of stock (tape, canopy for repair boat Sail, Aquaseal, etc) . Both now i only use kitefix .

Inside this repair kit , you can fix everything , canopy, dacron, bladder, valves . The GlueFix , dry faster then other glue and it's develop for the kite.
Add this GlueFix, with Color Fiberfix and you can fix your kite with a permanent and almost invisible repair.

www.kitefix.com

So sorry, now i do not have any more .. HomeMade Tricks.

Only old Addons , see this web page , for M.Bricole Section.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kiteriding/Bricolage

Bye Wave

I know I can get a kit to fix but I am an hour to 2.5 hours from the nearest kite shop.

Thank though.

Hardware store is a good lead. I will give that a shot.

Respekt

the kitefix kit is great, but now that I've used it, the only thing I would buy again out of it is the glufix. You can get the dacron super cheap at any boat store. The fiberfix, or so they call it, is nothing but drywall tape, the kind you can get a 50 ft roll of for about 3 bucks at any hardware store. Magic marker, 99 cents, plastic bag, free, add some mini zip ties for re-attaching your hoses, alcohol swabs, a couple bucks for a large box of them. I might mick up some more of the bladder patches only because the large size is good for full blowouts, where tire patches only work on small holes. Get a brush and a credit card to apply the glufix and you're golden. Another tip, when removing the LE of a 1 pump kite, leave the hoses attached to the LE bladder, not the struts, or you'll have to find a way to plug the valve stems. It's way easier to just slide the clamps on the hoses so you can fill the naked bladder. That's my 2cents. Hope it helped. Oh, and if you forget to attach lines to the end of your bladder before removal, an extension cord works well to feed the line through after removal because it's easy to feel where it's at in the dacron. Peace.

Always have some spinnaker tape, Mcnett Aquasure and some plastic material for the bladders (always used those in the repair kit sold with Cabrinha kites). Together with Aquasure, the kite is ready the next day in most cases. Always smart to sew if big holes, but not always needed. My kite (photo attached) works as new, cost me 45$ to fix, Aquasure (20$), two rolls of spinnaker tape (20$) and 5$ for the polyester thread. Oh, and 0$ for the woman who helped me stitch it

www.sailrite.com sells dacron repair tape in lots of colors, dacron thread, ensignia stick-on fabric, spinnaker fabric...basically all the professional sailmaking stuff. The thread and fabric are not expensive. Sailrite will also answer your sewing and sail fabric questions. I have used them for years doing my own sail repairs.

You can use a home sewing machine to sew around the repair tape (look out for the bladders), go slow. Most canopy rips leave a strip of thicker fabric next to the bladder so it is relatively easy to use repair tape to get the edges back together exactly, then sew around the edges and along the rip. Note: rinse the kite off in fresh water and let it dry completely before using the repair tape.One other little note: when sewing through sticky repair tape, the needle will gum up. I use WD-40 or mineral spirits to clean the needle every couple of feet of sewing. If you can get to a sewing machine, you can do it yourself. The main benefit is not having to send the kite off.

Tear-Aid type A will fix almost any bladder hole or blow out.

Im a huuuge fan of Tear-Aid Type A, fixes all bladder messes, no matter how bad.

And its so sticky/strong it works amazing for patching tears...to a point, you need something non-stretchy for bladder covers (Kitefix).

Only problem with Tear-Aid is its hard to get cheap locally...if you buy direct its $68/ 30 feet (less in bulk), but once its trickled down to my local kite shop its $12/ foot

Im going to make a smart bet and get a big roll...