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Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

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Cab Driver
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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby Cab Driver » Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:42 pm

DuoiQueen wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 8:53 am
Are there any other brands with new technology like the SLS or the Aluula in 2021?

I'm still about to buy the Switchblade 2021 by Cabrinha and I thought they made something lighter and stronger this year too.
Am I wrong ?

Thanks for any help :)
Lighter and stronger generally don't go together. Not to say it's impossible, but it's not typical.

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby Cab Driver » Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:44 pm

Greenturtle wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 2:32 am
I don’t think the le material makes a kite stiffer or softer. How hard you choose to pump it does. Last time I checked, any kite in good condition can be pumped rock hard. Maybe the new stronger material can be pumped even harder with less fear of bursting on a bad tomahawk, but more stiffness isn’t really something I personally have a problem achieving (haaaaa) or have a need for, even with the lightest of dacron le’s
LE material absolutely makes a difference in stiffness. It coordinates with some other factors, but for sure not all LE material is the same. It's quite complicated actually.

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby nixmatters » Mon Oct 18, 2021 5:43 pm

Greenturtle wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:00 pm
...
Is added stiffness for kites definitely good? Or just in order to reduce le diameter and have similar flex as before?
There is another important aspect of the 'stiffness' (technically correct - modulus of elasticity or just elongation/stretch).

Every inflatable LE has the closing seam on the inner side of the arc, heavily reinforced multiple layer construction which is way 'stiffer' than the opposite side of the LE. In addition, the seam additionlly shrinks the material.

As a result, when inflated, the outer curve of the LE stretches more than the inner which causes closing of the arc.
Every kite designer struggles to overcome this issue by designing a more open arc which will close when the kite is inflated. So when they change the LE dacron, they need to do some testing to determine the correction in the design needed. The 'stiffer' the material the less testing and correction needed.
And different pressure has less impact on the arc shape.

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby bjw » Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:00 pm

Eleveight also use the same fabric as the SLS in their OS (One strut) model.

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby iriejohn » Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:16 pm

bjw wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:00 pm
Eleveight also use the same fabric as the SLS in their OS (One strut) model.
You means that Eleveight one strut kites are also Stronger, Lighter, Superior? Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather! Maybe. :lol:

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby nixmatters » Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:50 pm

bjw wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:00 pm
Eleveight also use the same fabric as the SLS in their OS (One strut) model.
Maybe similar but not the same. SLS/PentaTX dacron comes from Challenge Sailcloth and is made in Thailand.

As per E/8 website the XT Extreme High Tenacity Cloth (wow!!!) comes from Teijin and is made in Japan (the latter I very much doubt).
Attachments
E8 OS dacron.JPG
E8 OS dacron.JPG (47.78 KiB) Viewed 1314 times

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby bjw » Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:05 pm

The 2021 OS used XT Light, which I understood to be the same as SLS. Maybe I'm wrong there, but I'd guess it has very similar properties. Not sure about the 2022.

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby dracop » Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:00 pm

At some point someone is going to pickup the original Dacron replacement: Cuben Fibre. The R&D to make it work was alrewady done by a now BK company and if I recall,Teijiin owns the rights to it?

We are seeing new materials from Ocean Rodeo, Duotone, Eleveight, and Crazy Fly. If they really offer a performance advnatage we should start seeing results on leaderboards and competitions. Personally I love this direction as I need a stiffer more reactive leading edge that enables bigger airs and bigger kiteloops at 10m+ sizes. Dacron craps out for KOTA style big air at the 10m marker. Even for Old School Big Air the spoeed and reactivity will help you get up higher enabling more tricks and landing loops.

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby leeuwen » Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:56 am

dracop wrote:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:00 pm
If they really offer a performance advnatage we should start seeing results on leaderboards and competitions. Personally I love this direction as I need a stiffer more reactive leading edge that enables bigger airs and bigger kiteloops at 10m+ sizes.
I think most competitions are not flown in 10M+ conditions.
The question is how much it will matter in the smaller sizes that they use during competitions.
Very high wind speed is probably a good equalizer in regards to performance of Dacron vs the new materials (that might actually need to be "down-tuned" in the smaller sizes to not be to quick/nervous).

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Re: Aluula\SLS alternatives ?

Postby purdyd » Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:10 am

leeuwen wrote:
Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:56 am
dracop wrote:
Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:00 pm
If they really offer a performance advnatage we should start seeing results on leaderboards and competitions. Personally I love this direction as I need a stiffer more reactive leading edge that enables bigger airs and bigger kiteloops at 10m+ sizes.
I think most competitions are not flown in 10M+ conditions.
The question is how much it will matter in the smaller sizes that they use during competitions.
Very high wind speed is probably a good equalizer in regards to performance of Dacron vs the new materials (that might actually need to be "down-tuned" in the smaller sizes to not be to quick/nervous).
I believe 8m would be a small kite for king of the air. With 8-10m being the normal range.

viewtopic.php?t=2398582

I guess we will see what happens this upcoming year.


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