kite stretch

[SamPolish]

Hi all, what do you think/know of riding with kite depowered.
Does it stretch my kites and effectively shortening its life?
Don't know why but I ride depowered most of time.
TIA

[tautologies]

It probably doesn't make a significant difference. Intuitively I would assume that riding depowered stretches less because there is less stress on the canopy..unless it is super floppy....but at the end of the day I doubt it make much difference there are just so many variables involved.

[kiterocky]

[Bushflyr]

No, you're fine. Canopies very rarely stretch in any significant manner and just riding depowered definitely won't harm them.

[junebug]

If you are depowering because you are overpowered you should rig smaller. Flying depowered is less fun. The kite is less responsive.

[SamPolish]

I have short arms and if fully powered I struggle to hold down the bar close to me. Tried shorts harness, now on ride engine that does not ride up. Depowering helps me with arms fatigue if that makes any sense.

[jonysan]

Hi SamPolish, just adjust the depower to get the bar to where it feels best for you, create your own style .

[Bushflyr]

I have short arms and if fully powered I struggle to hold down the bar close to me. Tried shorts harness, now on ride engine that does not ride up. Depowering helps me with arms fatigue if that makes any sense.

Actually it doesn't. If you have short arms it should be easier to get the bar close to you. "Riding Depowered" means you are riding with the depower strap/rope pulled in. If you're doing that regularly you have rigged the wrong size kite. If. OTOH, you're talking about riding around partially sheeted out (with the bar) that's entirely normal. Trying to ride with the bar against your harness all the time means you've rigged too small or don't have enough wind.

[longwhitecloud]

On a side note, ripstop can stretch crazy on a kite, some ripstop way more than others. You can end up with a kite that is not the designed shape.

Some kites feel so much better new.

[SamPolish]

Thanks for all the input, I'll kite more, rig better and try to learn more from my sessions,
I have heard that some kites just are not fun after few years of use, my friends on the other hand are flying 2011,2012 and still loving every session.
I wonder if its some psychological factor that make us not like our old used kites anymore and obviously want to upgrade to nice and crispy canopy, who knows.