Make kites in the USA?

[brcastile]

There are plenty of sail lofts in the US that I'm sure could make kites if they wanted to.

Hobie Cat factory in CA:

[sflinux]

I would be psyched to see experienced kite designers release and/or sell kite plans (CAD, Surfplan, etc) for the home builder. Board shapers release "plans" for building surfboards. Why not for kites? This would be killer to have plans available for classic kites that are no longer on the new/used market.

[Bille]

On a side note here : a water kite is WAY more complicated to build
than a sailboat sail.
I could easily, make a new sail for my Hobie 21se, but wouldn't want
to try and reproduce my LEI or ram-airs !

Bille

[eree]

no Bille,
sail boat sail is not a flat 2d sheet of cloth. it is same 3d shaped as the windsurfing sails and the kites are.
the 3d shape of the sail boat sail is not just so articulated and visible.
not so hard to reproduce actually...

[laz]

Brokiteboards are hand made in Texas and are way better than any imported production board I've ever ridden.

[saildawg]

Of course kites can be made in the US of A, and a handsome profit could be made. The question is: What is a reasonable profit? Manufacturers making 500% profit? Retailers making 100% on their investment? Unfortunately corporate, even the small kite corporations, idea is to maximize, maximize, maximize. When you see a new, still in the ziplock, 1 year old kite being sold by a retailer at 40% discount you can rest assured a reasonable (in my mind) profit is still being earned. They are not selling the kite at a loss. As competition increases one would hope pricing would become more reasonable. There is a boom in the kite industry and I think a made in North America kite as well as harnesses, has potential.

[William Munney]

Brokiteboards are hand made in Texas and are way better than any imported production board I've ever ridden.

I think making boards in the US is more feasible. Would love to see Never Summer do a kiteboard line.

[soul19]

I honestly believe if that it was financially feasible for kite companies to produce their own products in house or at least states side, they would. Just the added benefit to be able to closely monitor all aspects of production would be invaluable. Not to mention the ability to slow down the amount of black market kites that are being sold of their designs. The last minute changes to production and costs of flights back and forth from china (or wherever in Asia) have to be minor in cost to having things produced back here in North America! I would love to see production done here but I think that in all reality it is no more than a pipe dream! I know if it came down to decreasing my production costs to increase the amount of profit that I could make on an item, I would do just that.... it's business, and business is about generating a healthy profit margin! Anyone who claims anything less than that isn't going to be around for long without a steady flow of income.

James

[samsam]

So the kite companies would need a factory in the USA, a factory in Latin America, another one in Europe, another one in Asia, Maybe one in Aus as well ?
Hey, Lets take it to the next step- why not build a kite factory in each state ?!

What amazes me each time is how US residents/civilians are still sure that they are the center of the universe.

[Bille]

no Bille,
sail boat sail is not a flat 2d sheet of cloth. it is same 3d shaped as the windsurfing sails and the kites are.
the 3d shape of the sail boat sail is not just so articulated and visible.
not so hard to reproduce actually...

...

COOL Video !!

It took a while ; but i kinda see what your talking about now.

Bille