Harness hook broke during kiteloop

[drone]

Crazy, how many new hook are breaking. No warning, no recall. Hook per season it`s not normal.

[metrox]

Unfortunetly everything in kite boarding has a finite life. I change my lines every year on my ozone bar, And now changing
my flag out line every year after having it snap where it is knotted at the top of the PU line. Thankfuly it snapped as i was going up and snapped at 3 meters up. Hooks are no different especially if your regularly doing kite loops/mega loops. Im sure crack testing would most likely pick this up.

Agree changing lines etc because it has contact with sand and friction between each other. This is normal.
But I will never accept that I need to change hook every year!
What the problem to put enough material? Does every other industry change parts every year after some load? I do not think so.
And I am not talking about only Mystic harness ... This is for every manufacturer today. Every hook looks thin and not safe. Ok make it 100$ even more expansive, but please, put stronger hooks.

[happytrees]

Agree. Coming from windsurfing(still do it) have broken a few. On the kite seems crazy!
Take your hook into good local Machining - Welding shop.
I've never done it for a hook but they can fabricate for marine and test.
Probably cost similar but stronger/reliable for a bit more weight and peace of mind

[Mse]

Hi, I designed the dynabar some years ago avoiding welded parts. If the hook is made of aluminium then it's explained why it brakes. If stainless steel, the heat needed to weld the hook modifies the metal structure making it easy to break.
To avoid this issue I used nuts to fix the hook, i suggest Mystic to do the same. However, i'm surprised this known problem is still there after 20 years the kitesurfig was born.

[Matteo V]

Unfortunetly everything in kite boarding has a finite life. I change my lines every year on my ozone bar, And now changing
my flag out line every year after having it snap where it is knotted at the top of the PU line. Thankfuly it snapped as i was going up and snapped at 3 meters up. Hooks are no different especially if your regularly doing kite loops/mega loops. Im sure crack testing would most likely pick this up.

100kg, when I started using a closeout Dakine Vega guessing in 2014??? Maybe 2015???? 110kg now, and no issues with the spreader bar... except the fabric and straps have been replaced or patched multiple times. Stupid origional strap material barely held up for a year. Had to sew/glue the seams a few times and add reinforcing fabric. Saltwater and freshwater use. I'm just amazed at how the hook has held up.

But I have broken windsurfing harness hooks, and bent out 1 Ozone Acces SB hook.

So, yes, it's possible to have a wire hook hold up. But only if it's done right, and if your engineers actually do the calculations, and your quality control people in china are doing thier job. It boils down to competency being expensive.

[kitesurfpro]

Interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

[Johnnyrotten204]

Unfortunetly everything in kite boarding has a finite life. I change my lines every year on my ozone bar, And now changing
my flag out line every year after having it snap where it is knotted at the top of the PU line. Thankfuly it snapped as i was going up and snapped at 3 meters up. Hooks are no different especially if your regularly doing kite loops/mega loops. Im sure crack testing would most likely pick this up.

Metal fatigue is the technical term you're looking for. It's different than rope wear, plastic or fabric. If designed with appropriate materials and safety factor there's no way that these things should be blowing up in a year. They're either trying to save weight, money on materials, or quality and skimping on safety factor. Probably they're designing them to last as long as the webbing that supports the spreader bars. Would have to ask the tech support guys. I'd like a bulletproof spreader bar personally- webbing that is dying is easy to spot. Metal fatigue can be tricky, which is why NDT techs get paid boatloads of money.

Note on metal fatigue: when you stress metal beyond a certain point, fatigue cracks (microscopic) start to form and over time get larger until the material fails. If you never reach this level of stress due to appropriate design/strength, no fatigue cracks, metal doesn't fail . Which is why people still drive cars from 100 yrs ago and people still shoot guns in use since 1911. A properly designed and maintained (no corrosion) spreader bar should be able to outlive you.

[nherbold]

What is the big deal here....stuff breaks; get used to it or don't use it!

Accepting the above will leave you two choices: you ride it until something breaks and deal with it or you periodically replace old gear so you hopefully don't have to deal with it.

Personally I ride it till it breaks

[Havre]

Exactly. Might as well make the hooks from plastic.

[Johnnyrotten204]

^^ A+ forum post right here. Thank you for your service