Do high tech fabrics really make a better kite or hype?

[apctjb]

Was speaking with the technical editor for a kite surfing magazine which is currently testing 2012 kites. He mentioned that the new high tenacity fabrics (Teijin; I assume there are others) are making a noticable difference in the new kites.

So how important are these new fabrics and in layman terms how do they make for better kites? Which brands are using the new fabrics and how do you tell?

[laz]

The nemises hps with the cuban fibre do perform better in my opinion

[McAbe]

Surfing magazines are not exactly famous for their objectivity, they are kind of walking hand in hand with the kite company's sales department.
When I think about new high-tech materials I think better durability, but what can they say about that after testing a new kite a few hours?

[flybykite]

I'm flying 2011 Rebels and older 2009 non Teijin Rebels and I honestly cannot tell the difference in durability yet. Its going to take another season before we can make a proper call on this cause we will need to see how it holds up to UV after several seasons. I'm curently on a 60 day kite trip in Vitenam and flying Teijin fabric daily. It will be interesting to compare it to my 2009's after the trip is finished. I believe there is probably more hype in the "new" fabric than actual increased life line. The new fabric has 1 more ripstop thread but I have managed to rip my canopy just as easily as older fabrics.
So in short, I wouldnt buy a kite just because it has Teijin or use it as a strong pro over another kite.

[edt]

Was speaking with the technical editor for a kite surfing magazine which is currently testing 2012 kites. He mentioned that the new high tenacity fabrics (Teijin; I assume there are others) are making a noticable difference in the new kites.

Weren't the Teijin polyester fabrics invented back sometime around 1990 or so? If you don't use teijin t9600 you are left with options like dacron (another polyester fabric too heavy) or kevlar, which is no good for kites since it degrades.

Maybe North didn't use teijin technoforce t9600 a few years ago, but I think it was some other fabric almost the same I don't think there's much difference.

Before teijin high strength polyester fabrics (and copycat fabrics) that is before the mid 1990's kites were made of stuff like mylar which compared to teijin t9600 stretches more, is less durable, weighs more and is less uv resistant.

Go back to your technical editor guy and get him to tell you the exact materials he is talking about.

Sounds all very mysterious. Is he talking about cuben fiber? It's awfully rare to see a kite made of cuben.

[richswing]

I think the known brands are better because if you tkae two kites, one made with a know brand and the other a copycat of ripstop and weigh them, I bet the copycat brand will weigh more due to thicker material to get the durability out of it.

I've had a 13m well known brand kite weigh lighter than a 9m unkown cheap brand.

i think you have to take the weight of the fabric into account when comparing durability.

Cheers
Rich

[apctjb]

Thanks for the feedback.

So beyond durability is there something about the high tech fabrics (lower stretch, etc.) that allow for better kite designs and better flying kites?

It may all be hype but some companies talk about more ridgid canopies yet they have only three struts.... Is it the fabric?

[edt]

It may all be hype but some companies talk about more ridgid canopies yet they have only three struts.... Is it the fabric?

We have had high tech fabric for over ten years. Designing a three strut kite is more about thinking real hard than the fabric.

There's nothing new in terms of fabric even cuben fiber has been around for a decade. What is new is that the designs, they are incredibly safer, the kites fly so much better, they turn faster, they are more stable, the safeties are more reliable, the kites inflate and deflate faster. Experience has led kite manufacturers to understand where to double reinforce the kite, and where they can eliminate fabric to save weight.

[poldo]

hype. good materials are already here, take a look at an used Ozone 2007 kite. for me all the difference then is in design

high teck materials only to make price rise

[voodoospirit]

the one that can be noticed easly is the one on the flysurfer deluxe versus the regular fabric. well, hard to not notice indeed.
kite is very light (i don t remember but i think u get 30-40% less weight), loops are tighter, drift better, less inertia, in low winds, and stay in the air longer, and the price rises as well

now, on big kites u notice it, on kites at/under 10m, i don t see the point.

if a kite is designed for land as well, i can see the point of high tech materials that would allow the kite to survive hard impacts or sharp objects. otherwise, on water, the fabrics we have atm, are good enough. the LE is the weak point but if u reinforce that part, it might makes the LE too heavy....