Lineset Recommendations

[watercamper]

I am looking for some recommendations on linesets. I am a first year foiler, 3'6" 2020 SS micro, Lift classic 150, 36" mast. 67 kg. I mostly fly 6m though I use the 5m and at times the 4m. Almost always over 20 knots here in Baja this winter. Swell, chop, waves. I currently use 20m lines with SS SSTs. The bar is a LF Mission Control. The lines on this bar are equal length.

I also use the same bar with the directional. Either the 7m or 8m usually. No jumping.

This summer, I will be kiting in the gorge and hopefully some on the Oregon coast. And maybe some light wind foiling on some Idaho reservoirs (think 9m SST).

I am intrigued by the QPower pro lines purchased by the spool. I could make up lines for my 2 bars and my wife's 2 bars. And play around with lengths and extensions. It also appears that this line would work as a light weight foiling line while at the same time work for the directional. I wouldn't have to worry about pre-stretching it from what I've read.

I am concerned about a couple of things. The knots. Nice splices just look so much cleaner. Won't the knots catch on things a lot? And someone said the lines are noisy. Noisy would be an issue for me. And then I read don't get the pro but just the regular QPower. Why? And then there are some that say the knots reduce the strength tremendously while others say no.

I am a DIY type of guy and I wouldn't mind learning to splice or sew if there is another line recommended for my uses.

Please give any pros and cons. Or recommendations. Thanks!

[downunder]

Hi,

Do not know this lines but ride Airush race lines for years. And jump a lot, 60kg. Very very thin lines, can be spliced no problem.

No issues. No noise that I can hear.

D.

[t_huebs]

I'm off Q-power after the cover died and the core was exposed right at the base of a sewn termination, after not much use foiling. I was thinking about trying the knots just to see but after watching the pull tests, I think I'm going to skip it. Watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b16Z0YzsfeU

I started building my own lines and have been fully happy with Marlow kiteline. I built 24m and 27m setups out of 1.3mm Kiteline Race. I noticed a significant improvement in response and light wind relaunch from stock lines. I have more spools on hand to build some 1.5mm setups and play around.

Splicing is easy, start here:
https://www.marlowropes.com/video/kitel ... bainbridge

He doesn't do it in the video, for time, but does mention tapering. I HIGHLY recommend tapering the bury in any splice, it avoids creating a stress concentration/wear point. That's what killed my Q-power and I've seen other issues with untapered splices in BRM CCS systems.

[watercamper]

thanks t huebs! How do you pre-stretch your lines?

[t_huebs]

Never bothered beyond loading up as much as possible to even things out once I have everything rigged on the bar. If you're happy to adjust with pigtails or with trim/bar attachment you don't have to be super specific on making sure your spliced lines are EXACTLY even. With the BRM CCS system, you can adjust at least one power line connection to even them up and I usually run adjustable steering line leaders to both match the length of throw and even out steering lines if the spliced length winds up imperfect. This system is weird in that there isn't a depower control with the bar.

My process has been more or less like this:
Build template for splice length (as simple as marks on paper, since I'm US I use 4" tail and 1" loop)
Mark out all 4 lines (1 end on each line)
Splice up 4 eyes
Measure out the length of one line + a little bit and mark it up (splice template for sure and I've been playing with a mark below the splice bury to see it that will help with the next step)
Hook all 4 eyes to a tree or something
Tension the other three lines up with the marked line.
Mark them all the same (exact length is less important to me than the same length if I wind up at 19.9 or 20.1m I don't care)
Splice 4 eyes on the remaining ends
Check lengths (hopefully you're spot on)
Rig all 4 lines on bar and anchor the kite/pigtail end to a tree or something
Hook in and back up to put a little tension into center lines to check that they're even
Adjust if needed
Put center lines under moderate tension
Trim bar in and see how even you are
Adjust steering line leaders so bar is even and bar throw is where you want it
Put center lines under moderate tension and then bar under moderate tension
Once I'm happy with everything I put as much tension into the system as I can while attached to a tree or something to stretch/bed it all in as much as I can.

I feel like that generally loads the system up more than I do foiling.

Usually takes a couple beers of time on a light/un-kiteable day.

[edt]

"Noisy would be an issue for me."

q power is very noisy you need regular 12 strand.

[airsail]

And think about your front line safety system, will the knot pull through the chicken loop hole?
Qpower are the noisiest lines I have ever used, gathering dust now. Ozone SK99 race lines are serving me well on the foil.

[geokite]

I recommend getting SK99 by the foot at greenhat kiteboarding, and learn to splice. It's not hard, just time consuming.

[watercamper]

I like the SK99 and will probably pursue that. Once I started looking around, I found a lot of comments on how to splice Dyneema. Everything from locking Brummels to not and opinions all over the place. It even seemed the names for the same splices were different

Is there a video or site that you've found from a reputable source that shows how to make a splice? From what I read, you don't have to sew a splice or need to sleeve it.

[AndersDenmark]

Is there a video or site that you've found from a reputable source that shows how to make a splice? From what I read, you don't have to sew a splice or need to sleeve it.

https://www.marlowropes.com/video/kitel ... bainbridge