I called Ben, and I have a nice new bridle now. Customer service excellent as always. This post is a PSA, in case anyone else out there has a similar problem and just hasn't realized it yet. Ben went to check out the spool of bridle line used for my kite, and he said he saw no stretch when he hung a weight on it. He theorized that there was a bad section in the spool and I got it. But who got bridle made from the line before and after mine on the spool? And I'm wondering what if it's a bad spool, where it performs fine in the factory but becomes stretchy with use? This was the light grey/beige color.
But whatever color you have, you might check it just to be sure. I'm talking about quite a bit of stretch, not just a mm or two. I'd hate for people to be calling the company over nothing. To give you an idea, there were 2.5 cm (1 inch) of stretch in the longest section of bridle, from the center to the first knot. ie, if I just pulled it straight, versus pulling it straight and as taut as I could, the measurement was an inch different. If you just pull on it, you can feel the stretch. Of course bridle line, like any line, will stretch with use, and that's okay. I have no doubt that if you were to measure your bridle on the day you got it and again after you'd flown on it a bit, you'd get different measurements. That's fine, don't worry about that. The problem here is elasticity.
Now I'll be interested to see how the kite feels with the new bridle. Better in low wind I'm sure, but what do you want to bet that stretchy bridle was actually HELPING me in higher wind, smoothing everything out?! Now everyone will want one.
I hope this post will just fade into oblivion because no one else has this problem. But posting it just in case.
