A kite's useful life expectancy

[Young]

I think one of my main goto kites is finally coming to the end of its useful life. Its a 2013 9m cabrinha switchblade that has served me well for 8 years (maybe 40+ days/year) with no leaks or repairs other than a few pinhole patches. It has been well treated and I had forgotten how old it is. This season I am noticing it is slower to react to bar input but still usable, albeit with reduced performance. I assume this is due to gradual stretching of the seams, cloths and/or bridles.
Anybody care to offer a more definite explanation for this?
I never expected a kite to last this long. Pretty happy with it and it owes me nothing.
Nonetheless, I have finally gotten a new 2022 kite to replace it.

[CaptainKook]

Sounds around normal. Do you kite in tropics, or cold wet climate?

Do you have a 3 kite quiver with 9m in middle. If so is 40 a realistic number of sessions on the 9m compared to your bigger kites?

Even 20 sessions per year x 8.5 years is 170 sessions.

If you purchased the kite for $1200 it would work out at $7.06 per use. If you compare the cost to something like membership fees at a nice golf club, or owning/maintaining a sail boat, it's extremely good value for something as epic as kiting!

Congrats on the new purchase

[espana23]

Good topic. If you don't mind me adding to your question, assuming that someone takes good care of their kite (i.e. doesn't let them sit in the sun for too long, doesn't manhandle them, etc.) and has an average of 40 sessions/year, how long should they expect for the bladders to last without having any issues (i.e. glue on valves to fail, bladder material to deteriorate, etc)?

Thanks.

-Mike

[andyjiggs]

I bought a Naish Shockwave 9 m when they first came out. Loved them so much bought a further 3 used ones and just kept rotating them.
Thought they were superb and used them for 8 /9 years as I didn’t see anything I wanted to change them for.
Only reason I stopped using was the valves started lifting and it was a strong wind kite so couldn’t trust the kites integrity anymore and not cost effective to replace all the valves.
The kites material is still in very nice condition and bridles and pulley still all very useable.
I think being in the Uk and not dealing with intense sunshine was probably significant.
I’m still using the bar and lines from that era and it works very well for me.

[Sun]

Keeping a session journal is nice, and even nicer when it gives you stats. According to the Woo Quiver Insights, over the past four years I have kited on average once every six days, with an average session length of 2 hours 40 minutes. That is just short of 400 hours on the water. Of that, my 12m 2018 Dice gets the most use by far: 41.1% of the total with 157 hours used. I bet a good fraction of that time is in Brazil, where UV is killer. Cumulatively, the Woo claims the 12m has hauled me up 36.88 km, or roughly an 8m jump every two minutes of use. That kite is beginning to show some need for attention. The bridle is frayed where the pulley blocks contact, but still about 75% solid. The one-pump hoses are getting a little gummy on the outside, but not leaks yet. I have had to fix one puncture in a strut bladder that was not the kite’s fault. Some of the silkscreened graphics on the leading edge are peeling off. Some of the glued panel edges are lifting, but stitching looks good. Kite still feels great. Done mostly tethered/assisted launches and landings, with maybe 10% or so self launches/landings on sandy beaches. All of this in saltwater. I never rinse my kites.

Bear in mind, I have only been using that kite for three years as I bought it in 2019 as a new kite on clearance after 2019 gear was available. Last year the Dice was “North” before “Duotone”

Honestly, I should probably consider replacing the kite given my realatively jumping-heavy use. At minimum replacing the bridles is a good idea, and I should replace the one-pump hoses. I feel pretty confident about the canopy even if it shows some wear.

[Toby]

I wouldn’t rotate kites if you have the same several times. Fly the same one until it dies, then use the next.
This way the not used ones stay fresh.

[JakeFarley]

Life expectancy can depend on a lot of factors, such as:
1. Brand/quality of kite
2. Hours of use
3. Type of use (foiling, wake style, high wind boosting, TT, surfing, etc.), or abuse (crashing, leaving kite in sun on beach flopping in wind, dragging kite across rough terrain, etc.)
4. Environment (hot tropical vs. snow/arctic)
5. Maintenance/storage (hot car/trunk, A/C climate controlled)
6. Rider style/weight (i.e. a heavier kiter will put more stress on a kite)

There may be more. Please feel free to add.

(Note: not listed in order of affect on kite expectancy)

[nherbold]

I wouldn’t rotate kites if you have the same several times. Fly the same one until it dies, then use the next.
This way the not used ones stay fresh.

Couldn't agree more.
And when the old one breaks you immediately got spare parts

[Toby]

I wouldn’t rotate kites if you have the same several times. Fly the same one until it dies, then use the next.
This way the not used ones stay fresh.

Couldn't agree more.
And when the old one breaks you immediately got spare parts

exactly

[Kiterisland1]

I think one of my main goto kites is finally coming to the end of its useful life. Its a 2013 9m cabrinha switchblade that has served me well for 8 years (maybe 40+ days/year) with no leaks or repairs other than a few pinhole patches. It has been well treated and I had forgotten how old it is. This season I am noticing it is slower to react to bar input but still usable, albeit with reduced performance. I assume this is due to gradual stretching of the seams, cloths and/or bridles.
Anybody care to offer a more definite explanation for this?
I never expected a kite to last this long. Pretty happy with it and it owes me nothing.
Nonetheless, I have finally gotten a new 2022 kite to replace it.

I would be curious if you had a new bridle for the kite how it would fly. A big part of the reduced performance could just be the bridal is a couple cm short/long.