9 replies to this topic

[Jynx]

Today I spoke to a fellow kiter at our local flying field who stated that a kite shop owner told him that braided kite line, like Spectra, can be mended by cutting the filaments at different lengths at the brake, then twisting the lines together... and that it holds (unseen) like a Chinese finger trap.

While I told him I had never heard of such a mend technique, and felt it would be highly impossible to accomplish (and a bit crazy) I wanted to double check with you veteran fliers out there who may know or have heard anything like this.

[awindofchange]

I know you can put a knot-less loop or splice in the end of the line and it holds no problem with nearly zero loss in line strength. it is actually stronger than sleeving and knots.

I never have heard of this being done in the center of the line though. I imagine that if it was done over a large section of line, and you were able to re-duplicate the braid perfectly that it would hold....but there is no way that I could ever duplicate the braid the same way. with a 90# line, you are talking about a hundred plus strands of spectra, all interwoven in an exact way to reduce binding while giving zero stretch. I do know that any change in the braid from one line to the next will cause excessive binding or will even cut the lines. This is why some lines don't mix well with others.

[Khal]

I have never done this or even seen it done, but I have read that it can be done and even works well. Supposedly it is much stronger than knots (which create stress concentration points). See here for info.

[Jynx]

I have never done this or even seen it done, but I have read that it can be done and even works well. Supposedly it is much stronger than knots (which create stress concentration points). See here for info.

WOW!

He mentioned seeing info on a Pittsburgh shop site (which didn't ring-a-bell with me)... I guess IT IS possible! ...next they'll be sending a man to the moon!

Thanks for clearing that up ...(though I think it would be a difficult/tricky fix)!

[makatakam]

I've done this with other braided line, like fishing line. It will not let go because the spot where one line goes inside the other jams up against the other one. You trim the ends just a bit shorter than where they exit, and when you pull, they slip inside, so there are no tag ends hanging outside the line. You can be double safe if you put each tag end through a second time after coming out the side and then trim it. This repair can be done in the field if you carry a needle with you, with an eye big enough to thread the spectra through. The area with the splice is about twice as thick as the original diameter and very clean. You can't tell it's there unless you look for it. The splice should end up being about two to three inches long.

Don't forget to shorten the other lines appropriately.

[Baloo]

Not tried it, or even thought of it with kite lines, however as previously stated it is a tecnique that has been used for years with fly fishing lines. I have not looked at LPG but thinking about it the makeup is similar to braided fishing line.

I DO know it works with braided synthetic winch ropes. We use rope as strong as 4000KG + on winches. And splice them together with no loss of strength if needed.

The trick is to use a fid, in our case with kite lines it would probably need to be as small as a needle, as above.

You need to sort of push the line back on itself, till the threads start to open up, so that you can thread the fid down the middle of the line. No matte if it comes out of the side you can just thread it back in again. With the winch ropes we thread about 4" the out then in then out then in to make it VERY secure, you can imaginr if a land rover breaks loose it is a bit more dangerous than a kite, which would still have 3 lines holding it anyway :-)

It can be done very neatly with a bit of practice, and as Jynx mentioned the line is a bit like a Chineese Finger Trap, once it has been pushed down on itself it will never let go.

Hope this helps to explain how to do it. Still not sure if it will work with LPG though. Worth a try.

Personally I have at least 3 sets of lines and 3 kites with me if I go flying. Dont want to spoil a good wind just cuz of a line break.

[hyzakite]

I never thought of repairing line, just the though of getting 2 different size line sets was ok for me, but wow working with spectra under a microscope making it as strong as it was, by making each fiber a matching length to the line on the opposite break, under a microscope putting together 100+ strands might take awhile, if it's raining out you can do it in a day, I'd probably just dip it in bleach and use it for dental floss for the rest of my life.

[Khal]

I haven't done this myself, but apparently all that's required is a sleeving needle and a few minutes in the field. No microscope or rainy day needed.

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[Baloo]

You dont have to link each fiber to another. You sort of open the whole lot up, just like a finger trap, then thread the other end of the line through the middle, if you get what I mean. Once you have pushed the open bit down along the threaded bit it just holds on, there is more chance of it breaking elsewhere than the repaird bit.

I have never tried it, not realy looked at LPG n stuff, but it is supposed to be made up in a similar way to the fishing line that you can do it with.

Neither it it a thing I would fiddle with in the field, just that it might be possible is all.

[rexracer]

I just made a bunch of linesets, and I'm a little suprised more people dont know about this splicing technique. I got a Shanti spleever to sleeve my lines, and it has instructions with it on how to do this. They say that 200lb test is about the smallest you can splice. I tried it on a couple of peices of sleeving and I'll tell you, it won't budge. Might be usefull on a power kite. You basically just sleeve the 2 ends into each other.