Hello.
I was at one point an avid kiter. I was out on at least a couple of days a week flying, and did land-boarding and a lot of buggy work.
I flew from 2000 to about 2010. Then I moved to a more inland location, Got rid of my car, and the kites went into storage. All of my kites have been mine from new. None have repairs, none were ever abused.
The storage method was kites in there bags, having been cleaned and dried. Lines wrapped to the handles or bars, and wrapped inside the kites. Then all of the bags were placed in the loft. It's been totally dark, Cool in winter and warm in summer for them. It's been 8 years since they have seen light.
I got the kites out because we are having a reunion of kite flyers in a few months. The kites have been checked over and look as good as when they went away.
The lines look as good as when they were stored. There is a mixture of branded lines. FF, PL, Ozone, HQ. Between the kites. Some of the sets have been flow a lot, Others are situational sets like a 40M set that was for slow summer wind with the 9.0M blade.
Does anyone know how Kite lines break down over time and what I need to look for in addition to the regular inspections. The fibres look good, And the lines are free of knots and discolouration. Non of the kites were ever used on water, but I did used to fly on the beach at every opportunity.
All of my kites have the correct safety features. Kite killers, QC loops on bars, So I'm not worried about just throwing them up. When we go to the reunion I doubt any of use will do more than fly a wind appropriate kite for the day. Probably either the venom since it can cope with just about any wind, or the 9.0M blade since it's the most gentle kite capable of creating traction in a knats fart, You could skud in 0 wind by walking backwards then looping it.
The kites I've dug out for the reunion are.
Bullet 2.5, Bullet 4.5, Blade II 4.9, Blade II 9.0 with crossover.
PL venom 1 13M.
I know all of the kites very well. So there is no need to warn me about how snappy the bullet 2.5 is, Or how the blade II 4.9 can be very dangerous. The Blade 4.9 was an absolute beast for dune riding in the buggy, More time was spent holding on for dear life and keeping it low than attempting to use it for jumps... An traction monster in the right hands.