hi all,

All things being equal (kite brand, amount of flying time, same owner, etc) will a kite last longer in cool dry climate or wet hot (tropical) climate?

This question came to mind after talking to a few kiter who claim that the glue used by kite manufactures doesn't stand up well in a country say like Thailand. One kiter says he uses a "special glue" when making repairs.

This does not seem logical since most kites are made in South East Asia and most (assumption) kites are flown in air that is warm and humid.

So, what is your experience? Do kite valves, for example need to be reset more often when you travel south to a warmer, humid climate?

Thanks in advance for your input.

w_ndr

Yes and Yes.
Storing the kite wet/humid and in warm conditions will shorten life of bladders/valves. Some brands are much worse than others.
The 'special glue' you mention is Aquaseal, 3M 5200 also works.

Dry your kites before you put them away and keep a tube of Aquasel handy. Cheers

besides bladder valves in higher temperatures issues there is UV radiation, which is higher in the tropics where sun is higher. UV ruins polyester, the stuff kite cloth and lines are made from.

more UV more polyester deterioration

My mate always reckoned that salt water actually preserved the kite rather than degraded it. I always liked that theory

Nice theory, I'm guessing the notion is that you're less likely to get mildew from salt water or something?

My theory is that salt crystals left behind after the sea water evaporates will wear the kite faster by abrading the fibres in the weave.

What about cold and wet?

well when it is cold and wet it is probably not in the tropics, but not in the subzero temperatures.
so less UV anyway and no bladder glue melting. best conditions to the kite!

welcome to my world!

O.K. so kite is dry before putting them away, is it still your opinion that warm conditions (tropics) will shorten life of bladders/valves on some brands.

And will Aquaseal stand up as well in either warm or cold climates or will heat and humidity break the product down faster than normal?

Again, thanks for your opinion.

cheers,
w_nd

Now this is just my theory as i used to live in a very very cold climate. I think that the only time youd have any issues is when you go to fold up the kite in a cold climate. I know when we used to fold tarps up we would use the same ones for winter since we would use one tarp for the snowmobiles and others for 4 wheelers. The 4 wheeler tarps rarely wore out but the snowmobile ones would since when they are cold they dont like to bend much and they fray at fold points very easily. I would think a kite could be the same way.

Well, I lived in Hawaii for a few years and had no issues with my bladders/valves/kites, etc...and I kited ALOT!

Where I HAVE seen problems, is storing kites in the garage in the summer. I lost EVERY single valve on both of my kites in one summer b/c of that. I didn't realize that was what was doing it until sometime later. Case in point, when we do a repair to replace faulty valves, we soak the valve seal in hot water and it peels right off.