Kite gear maintenance: best practices for a long life of your kitesurfing equipment

Have you just started in the sport and still don’t know very well how to keep your kitesurfing equipment in the best conditions?
Your Kitesurfing equipment is very important, and if you love it and you want it to last for a long time, you must maintain it in the best conditions. For that reason, we are going to all the tips to maintain your kite gear during and after each session

Yes, today we are going to talk about kite care. We have worked for days collecting information from the internet, professionals and amateurs regarding the maintenance of a kitesurfing kite and the truth is, we found several discrepancies. However, according to our experience, here we give you some tips about how you should maintain your gear if you want that it last for a long time.

How to keep you kite gear safe and with good health

The first thing is to always set up the equipment in the part of the beach that is cleanest to avoid cuts and others. When you inflate the kite, make sure that it is hard, if it is not, it will deform, and the material will suffer.
Another point to keep in mind is when parking it on the beach. Always put sand or something that will keep the kite glued to the ground and avoid fluttering. Please do not keep your kite gear under the sun and the wind unnecessarily, mount it when you go to the water and collect it once you go out.
When you pick up, make sure it is well folded, wrinkle-free and dry.

Negative consequences of the sun to a kitesurfing kite

The sun has two facets to consider.

– Ultraviolet rays: Ultraviolet rays are a consequence of the sun and in the long term, degrade the fabric of the kite. We do not recommend leaving the kite for long hours in full sun or on the beach sand once you have finished your sailing session. Another example is when we are going to eat, leaving the kite on the beach. We know that it is uncomfortable to assemble it and disassemble it again every time we do not use it, but it is what you should do.
– The heat: Leaving the car parked in the sun makes it warm. If the kite is inside the vehicle, it will suffer this high temperature, affecting the sticking of the valves and the long-term maintenance of your kite.

How the wind affects the maintenance of a kitesurfing kite

Leaving the kite resting on the sand with strong gusts of wind is harmful to your kite. Why?
Very easy. It is possible that the wind hits the front of your kite and ends up deforming and degrading it. We must prevent the kite from flapping in the wind.

What should we do to prevent the kite from suffering in this wind?

Put sand. We must take the front of the kite and direct it towards the ground. “Squashing it” against the floor. On top of the fabric, we will put a little of the sand from the beach. In this way, we will avoid that the kite gets up with the wind and flaps as little as possible. It seems silly, but it is key to the excellent conservation of your kite.

How does sand affect?

With the sand, we find discrepancies. Some say that you have to clean the kite and not leave sand on the fabric after storing it and others that nothing happens with said sand. As it is sand with rounded grains, it does not affect the material of the kite.

The truth is that it depends on the grain of the sand. As you know, the sand on the beaches is not the same. Some are thinner, and some are thicker. It is best to clean the sand if possible. But if we can’t, it’s not a drama.

It is necessary is to clean the sand that remains between the edges of the ribs and the edges of the leading edge. Sand often accumulates in these areas and seeps between the edges and can be a long-term problem.

We can use a brush or similar to clean the edges of the kite as you can see below. This process must be done with the kite deflated.

Rope pulleys

Another critical point is the pulleys, we cannot prevent the pulleys from jamming, but the rope does suffer as little as possible when it touches the pulley. How do we solve this?

With wax. We can make ourselves with special wax or by merely taking a candle and rubbing the wax along the strings. In this way, the friction temperature will decrease by sliding more fluidly through the pulley, extending the useful life of the ropes.

Kite drying

It is a critical element in the maintenance of a kitesurfing kite. Everyone agrees on this. It would be best if you dried your kite once you finish the session. In the event, you can not keep the kite dried, because it is raining or for any other reason, it will be necessary to remove it the next day and dry it properly before storing it again.

The reason why it cannot be stored wet when storing the kite wet this moisture does not disappear but remains for a long time.

If we keep this humidity in the backpack, the possibility that fungus can grow in the kite, the paint peels off, or the fabric degrades.

Effects of salt on kite gear

How to clean a kitesurf kite?

Indeed you think it is convenient to clean the kite with fresh water every time you finish sailing. The truth is that this information is incorrect.

At most we must sweeten the kite once a month, that is, we must not clean it every day or every four months … but once a month is enough.

Let’s not forget the backpack that keeps the kite. it would help if you also washed it quite often. The reason is that the kite bags store the salt that the kite brings with it.

How to inflate the kite properly

The kite needs to be fully deployed and wide before starting to inflate it. The kite cannot touch anything nearby during inflation.

You cannot inflate the kite without unfolding it and waiting for it to be extended by itself while it inflates with air.

Another critical moment that can mark the conservation of your kite is the moment of landing. Even if you are a machine making it go up and down, we recommend the help of another person.
One of the risks of lowering the kite is dragging it through the sand. And in that drag, however small it may be, it can be damaged by a stone, branch or crystal that is in the sand.

MARGARITA KITE SCHOOL SRI LANKA