Slingshot Comp Stick Safety Fail

[Coopes]

Just broke my second safety line in three years on the Slingshot Comp Stick bar. This time was a fudged landing in light winds, nothing violent and when i pulled the safety the safety line just snapped! Previous time was a genuine oh shit moment in strong winds, but again it just snapped. Bars always gets a rinse after every session, and I replace the safety line every time I replace the central core line (approx 2-3 years).
Am I just unlucky, or is this common? As watching my kite speed up a beach towards the cliffs is not my idea of fun.

[StellaBlu]

Was it the bungee component that broke? In my experience, that piece is pretty weak and needs to be replaced more often than 2-3 years. It isn't meant to bear any significant load. In order to add longevity, don't store it with that piece stretched (cinch down on the depower before you wrap the bar).

I haven't done this... and others can chime in as to whether it is safe.... but I have thought about replacing that with a non-stretch piece of cord. The trouble is that the leash attachment would dangle if you pull in the depower.

[evan]

Replace more frequently or test if it is still strong enough before you really need it.

Bars and components need regular maintenance and inspection, you can't rely on them to keep functioning forever. Also impossible to give a fixed amount of time to change any part as the riding conditions, amount of power and care can have more than 5x difference in wear-rate between riders.

Bad thing about flagout lines is that most of them only get tested when you need them. Unsurprisingly snapping them as they are more often than not already too worn out...

[iriejohn]

Rule of thumb: when safety lines lose their stretch then they should be replaced,

(Edit) I omitted to say "should be replaced with an identical replacement part" because I thought that would be self-evident, but it seems not!

[knyfe]

Oh now I will check mine ...

[Foil]

if you remove or replace the stretchy part of any quick release system then you are inviting a serious problem, I did this many years back along with a few others, and we suffered big time, our kites were C kites so brutal power houses, what we did not factor in was that the elastic bit built in to the quick release and /or the safety leash was there to act as a shock absorber, so that when you had to release due to needing to dump the power that was just about to launch you up the beach, then what happened to us was the sudden snatch force from the released kite just snapped the line as it had no suppression offered by the built in elastic parts,
try snapping a 300 kg kite line with a sudden hard pull back force from a solid fix point, its so easy to do with just one hand on the bar, shockingly easy!! just try it, it makes you think a bit more about the care of your lines

[iriejohn]

if you remove or replace the stretchy part of any quick release system then you are inviting a serious problem, I did this many years back along with a few others, and we suffered big time, our kites were C kites so brutal power houses, what we did not factor in was that the elastic bit built in to the quick release and /or the safety leash was there to act as a shock absorber, so that when you had to release due to needing to dump the power that was just about to launch you up the beach, then what happened to us was the sudden snatch force from the released kite just snapped the line as it had no suppression offered by the built in elastic parts,
try snapping a 300 kg kite line with a sudden hard pull back force from a solid fix point, its so easy to do with just one hand on the bar, shockingly easy!! just try it, it makes you think a bit more about the care of your lines

Have edited my post ...

Rule of thumb: when safety lines lose their stretch then they should be replaced,

(Edit) I omitted to say "should be replaced with an identical replacement part" because I thought that would be self-evident, but it seems not!

[evan]

if you remove or replace the stretchy part of any quick release system then you are inviting a serious problem

I highly suspect that your lines where just too worn out if they snapped from releasing. The bungee in your leash + flagout will max out way before there is any tension high enough to break your lines. If your lines can't handle these shock-loads you should have replaced them months or even years ago.

[Foil]

if you remove or replace the stretchy part of any quick release system then you are inviting a serious problem

I highly suspect that your lines where just too worn out if they snapped from releasing. The bungee in your leash + flagout will max out way before there is any tension high enough to break your lines. If your lines can't handle these shock-loads you should have replaced them months or even years ago.

just do the test as above, use a new line like I did, one end fixed on a solid object, the other end wrapped around a lump hammer shaft, use just one arm to snatch back hard, 300kg new line, snaps easily.
same if you wrap new 300kg line around a kite bar and snatch back hard with two hands, its the shock load that can be replicated by a kite that's about to suddenly power up after a total slack line situation.
I remember back before safety systems were any good in early 2001, and I was in my first year learning, on a very windy day my kite fell right into the power zone from a total hineberb slack line situation, i was on the beach and dropped to the sand and dug my heels in the sand and braced for the massive yank downwind, when it hit three of my lines just snapped, unbelievable but I was happy they did, cant remember the make now but all lines were around 274 kg back then i think, and cheapish, surprised the bar didn't snap as well, as i had quite a few that did in the early years

[evan]

just do the test as above, use a new line like I did, one end fixed on a solid object, the other end wrapped around a lump hammer shaft, use just one arm to snatch back hard, 300kg new line, snaps easily.

Really curious about what type of line it was then as I am not able to reproduce it on the lines i have here and I pulled hard on a lot of lines. But maybe I am still too gentle, or not strong enough...