How do you dry your gear?

[Chillbay]

Hi all, now the wet and cold weather has settled in the UK, I find it very difficult to dry my gear properly, have any of you guys got any great ideas that works for you, I want to keep my gear in the best condition possible, don't want anything rotting, gears not cheap. Thanks in advance

[Kamikuza]

I made some DIY kite loop things; a webbing strap that loops under the struts and can be hooked to a clothing line. There's a product you can buy, made in the UK but I can't remember the exact name now

Ah, here you are!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b77i3OMoRU

Kitangas!

[jedi1]

Just lay your kites flat on the ground. Should get dry sooner or later. Drying your gear on the beach is the best choice when possible though.

[Chillbay]

Thanks for that, great idea. Simple is always best, problem I have is I don't have a washing line (yet). I have a shed but I've put stuff in there in the past during winter and they took weeks to dry. I guess if I ran electricity to it but that will cost loads, cheaper than replacing rotton gear I guess! Thanks for the link its given me some options

[fishy]

I never bother to dry kites out completely, they won't rot if in sea water. I find that by the time I've wound up my lines the kite is fairly dry anyway, I then roll it away in it's bag and often leave the top open, I leave everything in my garage. I do give my harness and bar & lines a good blast off with the hose though after every session, then just hang everything up to dry in the garage, if I'm lucky it's dry for the next session!

[Tio]

Simple and very effective.
Cheers
Tio

[Peter_Frank]

Aaaah, c'mon you guys - the kite is not "almost always dry"

Some less experienced, or those doing hardcore freestyle, will get the kite in the water/waves just before the end of the day.

Other days, it is raining, so the kite is really wet....

And placing it on the ground to dry up, is only an option in the summertime - now when it is cold and soon winther in Europe at least, this is NOT an option


If my kite is wet, I keep the struts inflated (can be done with any onepump or multi pump system) and just roll it up from the sides.

Turn on the aircondition in the car if you got one, on the ride home, as it will dry the water up slightly....

When back home, I simply put the kite into the shower standing LE up on the pumped struts.

(and just hope there are not too many who wants to take a shower now he hee)

If the shower has to be used, I put it the same way in the room where the washing machine is (it has a drain on the floor, right ?), and just let it dry this way, before I eventually fold it together in the bag

Drying it outside is NOT possible, as it is too cold and too moist now, so it will in fact get more wet, if I put it out in the shed or something like that.

On VERY sunny autumn/winther days, one can try to dry it outside on the pavement yes, but not always a success because of so few daylight hours


This is my way of drying the kites, when wet after rain or being in the water just before the end of the day

Even if your kite is dry when you go ashore when the sun is fading, it will very often get wet in the short time you rig down, because of dew, and this is one of the worst factors to ruin your kite regarding looks

Dont know what others do - but this is my way...

- Peter

[JamesVegas]

I've got a small utility room, I just leave my kite struts pumped and put my wetsuits etc on hangers. I bought an oil heater which is very economical. I just leave all the gear in my room and stick the heater on over night and by the morning everything is nice and dry even if it's gone in dripping wet.

I love the winter in the UK, far less numbnuts in the sea and when it gets too cold I'll be on the plane to Vietnam.

Ride hard.

[OzBungy]

When I started kiting I made a rectangular drying frame out of a length of 50mm plastic conduit and 4 corner joints. I just taped it together and hung it from the garage roof from two hooks with some old nylon rope.

The frame is about 500mm wide and 2.5m long. It hangs from a single point so it tilts a bit making it easier to put thing on it.

It's really simple and something I just put together to try out. It's still there 10 years later and still very handy for drying wetsuits and stuff. I have even dried out paragliders when they get wet.

[Peter_Frank]

When I started kiting I made a rectangular drying frame out of a length of 50mm plastic conduit and 4 corner joints. I just taped it together and hung it from the garage roof from two hooks with some old nylon rope.

The frame is about 500mm wide and 2.5m long. It hangs from a single point so it tilts a bit making it easier to put thing on it.

It's really simple and something I just put together to try out. It's still there 10 years later and still very handy for drying wetsuits and stuff. I have even dried out paragliders when they get wet.

Could you show us a picture one day you have a kite "hanging" ?

Peter