Has anyone replaced struts with carbon fiber/fiber glass tent poles?

[mrandrewandrade]

I'm looking to ride C kites for snowkiting as I'm working on unhooked tricks/hitting features.

I am blessed with some (2005?) Best Yargas, but the old inflate system isn't working well for the struts (where the valve slowly leak). I don't want to have to fix these old valves because pumping them up individually in the cold is a pain, so I was wondering if anyone has replaces struts with carbon fiber/fiber glass tent poles?

Paraski Flex kites (and home made knock offs) use tent poles for the leading edge and it seems to work great for snowkiting, so I was wondering if anyone has done something similar, or think it would be a waste of time?

[apollo4000]

..ummm...no....but...there’s a gag in here about life’s too short....or...you’ll make it shorter if you try.
Each to their own.
Bon chance.

[jumptheshark]

No need To replace the struts at all. I routinely use an 11m fuel with three struts removed on snow for unhooked riding. I think most true C kites can fly great as 2 strut kites. Could never tell from watching mine fly. What they gain on the bottom end they sacrifice at the top .Just throw it up one day with just the LE pumped and fly it around a bit. It was dead obvious which ones were essential. Pumped them and flew it a couple times like that and it looked and behaved perfectly. Took em off and it made a very worthwhile improvement in light air. Will do it again when this one dies. I recommend going with a 5th line.

[mrandrewandrade]

No need To replace the struts at all. I routinely use an 11m fuel with three struts removed on snow for unhooked riding. I think most true C kites can fly great as 2 strut kites. Could never tell from watching mine fly. What they gain on the bottom end they sacrifice at the top .Just throw it up one day with just the LE pumped and fly it around a bit. It was dead obvious which ones were essential. Pumped them and flew it a couple times like that and it looked and behaved perfectly. Took em off and it made a very worthwhile improvement in light air. Will do it again when this one dies. I recommend going with a 5th line.

This is helpful, but please ignore my ignorance as these are my first "true" C kites (I run the Switch Nitros). The reason I am asking is the wind is super seldom and a couple hours drive on the weekend to a frozen lake), so I ideally do all the prep work (mental or physical) before.

Couple of questions:

1. When you say 2 strut kites, you are referring to (1) leading edge and (2) the top strut? The 17m has 5 struts (plus leading edge), but the 13 m stupidly has 7 struts (two are at the very bottom), so I don't imagine it would hold shape unless those are rigid.

2. When you say dead obvious, that's because it would flap a lot?

3. Why do you recommend a 5th line (is it only so the kite can flag out or some other reason?). For the 5th line setup, there are three attachment points at the leading ledge in the centre. Should I make a small bridal to distribute the load across those two attachment points and ensure that the 5th line is slightly longer than the rest of the lines (see imagine below)? My bar is a slightly modified 2015 Ozone bar with a large chicken loop, and Ozone dealers around me won't sell me parts, only a new bar (but I have made my own lines etc before, I just need to know what's required).

EDIT: I read this thread viewtopic.php?t=2392926 so I now understand how the 5th line helps. How much slack should I have in the 5th line for it to work well?

[jumptheshark]

I flew the kite with just the leading edge pumped and it flew but flapped at the ends of the shoulder struts. I pumped them and subsequently removed the centre and outer most struts (3 in total). It’s a pretty easy and quick experiment. 1/2 hour in 10 knots.

5th line tension depends on the kite. I have a torch, they have a pretty tensioned 5th line, where fuels fly fine on 4 lines so I usually have it pretty slack. Mine runs through a cleat so can be trimmed. When trimmed in it can shed a lot of power and flies further upwind. It is also the leashed safety line.