2012 North Evo ripping apart.... bummer

[FabsPH]

My Evo is ripping apart. Nooooooooo!
Trailing edge, between dacron and T2, the T2 is ripping.
This sucks. I know kite has been well used, but this blows.
It's just tearing , like it is cheap non T2 stuff.
Did not take pix yet, but does anyone else have this problem?
Sucks, cause a new one is 1400 bucks

[tautologies]

Oh man...sorry to hear that.

[hightimes]

Dont know about the kites but the boards suck as well.
Wam and Freerace board have finbox and delamination problems.
First and last time North products for me.

[davesails7]

I have been loving my North kites, but I too have had more problems with them than any other kites I have owned.
-2011 Rebel 11m ripped for no apparent reason in two odd locations that are not suceptible to abrasion during launch or land. Also, the strut bladder blew out on the end for no reason (known issue). Never had these issues on any of my previous 20 or so kites that i have owned.
-2012 Rebel 7m is practically brand new but has started pulling to one side. I've never had this happen before on any of the previous 20 or so kites that I have owned.

Amazingly, the 2011 Dyno 18m I have which is supposed to be built light looks brand new after about 100 sessions

Obviously, these are very small samples of North's quality, but it does have me questioning future North purchases... My Best kites were always bulletproof, but I know many others have had issues with Best kites, so who knows!

[davesails7]

Trailing edge, between dacron and T2, the T2 is ripping.
...
Sucks, cause a new one is 1400 bucks

Sound like an easy repair for a sail maker to stitch up for you. $100?

[przemj]

I was planning to switch from Best Kahoonas quiver to North Evo quiver.

Bought '13 9m and '12 5m. After only several uses on the water both got huge stiches breakages. '12 along the main tube, '13 along the struts. Got to repair brand new kites on spot! I saw Vegases with the same stitching problems and heard that this is a general problem with North gear from '13 and '12.

My local North distributor replaced these kites, so big thumbs-up for them, but this still leaves the question about North gear quality. I'm waiting when these new ones start to break (this is ealier batch that the one that broke on me). My Kahoonas are ugly, cheap-looking but I bought them cheap ('10) and they withstanded serious battering when I learned on them and after 3 years still no single stitch went off. That saying their bars are pure crap that I don't trust anymore. I was perceiving North as a prime quality producer, worth spending this extra money they charging, but not anymore.

Just to be honest: despite the quality problems I LOVE how these Evos fly. And their bar (despite the EVA foam breaking and coming off almost immediately) is the best I ever tried. That's what makes me even more angry about the quality issues

North, wake up, because more and more examples of bad quality are given by people on spots...

[supachip1]

i had nothing but trouble with my evos, i would't have minded so much if they got lots of use and i didnt look after them, but i hardly used them and rinsed them out in clean water, stored them cool and aired,..everything broke....harness straps, spreader, foot straps, lines, floats, bag zippers, clips easier to list the things that didnt fail...iron heart and board were the only thing that didnt give me problems.....my north kitemares are a standing joke with my kiting friends!!!

[FabsPH]

i had nothing but trouble with my evos, i would't have minded so much if they got lots of use and i didnt look after them, but i hardly used them and rinsed them out in clean water, stored them cool and aired,..everything broke....harness straps, spreader, foot straps, lines, floats, bag zippers, clips easier to list the things that didnt fail...iron heart and board were the only thing that didnt give me problems.....my north kitemares are a standing joke with my kiting friends!!!

damn, thats a lot of problems...
What I think sucks is, that the T2 is failing the same way my SS Octane with "normal" material is failing. So, what's the point of having it? I guess when it's new and you have a tear it will hold up better. But when it's a year old and well used, it fails just the same. And that sucks.
Further more, they knew it will fail there and thats why they changed the design . Scallops in the trailing edge
But hey, my taping job is holding up so far...

[UKSurf]

I have seen more Evos tear on impact the any other kite. Maybe it is to do with the shape and not the material.

[ben newman]

North gear is supposed to be the most durable, guess it's not. so why is it so overpriced ?