NORTH PLEASE RESPOND>>>

[5score]

Re: Cam Battens

Yeah, I've broken a bunch of these in my Rebels as well. At first I thought it was how I was folding it, but then I started checking and nope it was when the kite hit the water. My kite hit the water a lot when I was a beginner, then it didn't for a few seasons, and now it is hitting the water again as a go for more and more advanced tricks.

My shop was really supportive and gave me a bunch of replacement battens no-cost, but there's only so long that will work. So I took things into my own hands.

The North Rebel and Rhino battens are Nylon 6/6, near as I can tell. Nylon is nice and stiff but it has low impact strength - it shatters. Especially when stressed (bent around the LE) and struck (hitting the water).

I think a better material would be ABS - similar stiffness as the Nylon but much higher impact strength. So I got some 3/16" ABS plastic welding rod from McMaster-Carr: item 7889A97 at http://www.mcmaster.com. (~US$17)

This comes in a continuous coil. I cut it to length with side-cutting pliers, round the ends with a file, and presto: all the cam battens I want.

They aren't indestructable - I've broken these as well, but I have as many as I want, whenever I want, and they're nearly free, so who cares if they break?

[mat1234]

Being reading the last 6 pages with interest and quite amazed that the rest of the world has a problem with spares. In the UK I have never had a problem, just go on http://www.northkites.co.uk and order, turns up within 2 days ! Think they post world wide. I also had a problem with my intial rebel battens during the freezing conditions of early 2007,think the cold made them brittle, have now brought replacements from the quys above and never broken one yet. The orginals were white, now they are milky.

[jimalexandergriffiths1976]

Have been promised all spares sent to me here in Brazil, by Doug at North, so hopefully all will end well.
James

[MeafordBoarder]

It does seem ridiculous that these companies don't have a representative on KF.
This is one of the things ive realized about Best, people may bitch and rave about shoddy product, but if you come on here and bitch about a Best product that failed, or on the Best forum, theyll set you right in a hurry.

Other companies not so much...Something they should perhaps consider, so they don't get 6 pages of bad reviews that totally turn people off their product.

As for me, I own Best kites, but goddamn, I think Id take a North kite over anything else in the market...seriously, they look good, fly good, and (seemed) good quality. Now, I am almost definetly going to go with another manufacturer...most likely SS Fuel or Cab SB2.

North, you were amazing, but you blew it...

Good luck for those 2 guys with North problems.

[Bowman]

seriously, they look good, fly good, and (seemed) good quality. Now, I am almost definetly going to go with another manufacturer...most likely SS Fuel or Cab SB2.

Friend of mine had exactly the same bladder problem 3 weeks ago with his brand new Rino 14 and Vegas 12 . He was stocked in Egypt without being able to use his kites. Kind of experience who make you think about other brands..even if you love your North kite. Actually he changed now all his quiver to SS Fuel...

This kind of problems could happen to every manufacturer but you better sort it out seriously if you don't want to loose to much customers....

[blowhard]

What to do when a product is inferior and you sold a boatload of them !
I think company policies are fucked up when they rush a product out and don't recall them

(GIVE THEM THIER MONEY BACK AND A $100) holy shit all my money!!!!

Battens have been around for quite sometime now and it's known to produce a lot of wear on the adjacent areas ,In my opionion kites will not support this type of construction with making the kite so heavy it won't fly .
Of course unless you don't mind them looking like a Porcupine with all the prickers sticking out
If a canopy won't support the loads without them there is probably something wrong with the design IMO
Everyone is trying to best ,BEST and not totally copy them .
These psuedo copies are going HAUNT these guys for a long time .
Why not go back to the earlier mindset (Naish copies ,Wikipa, Slingy copies Naish etc)and just straight up copy them !
Everybody gets a decent product and everyone gets thier logo on the thing they love
When the dudes from Slingy came to our beach for some R&D on the T-1
I asked them if it was a new proto (when after 3 days it still wouldn't fly right
one of them said ya we only got 3300 of them out there
the customer test bed has not been all that great when you hear of so many upset customers
And yes I flew the T-1
It went like this,
got a launch ,
walked out to the water ,
reached over to put my board on and it inverted ,
then I let go .
session over
The dealer sent all of them back !!! 20 + kites !!!

[Axe]

Maximum.. shamless Best pimping and brand bashing.. total utter Bull sh1t.
You obviously know nothing about the kites or the brand.
Jim is so lucky there are people on this forum to give such good advice and help?

seeya looser

[ahiburger]

Hi Jim,

Those bladders went out to your address in Brasil a couple days ago. Here is the UPS tracking number. 1Z96E3576747538985. You should get them in a couple days, let me know if there are any problems.


Thanks,
Doug

[Darktanyan]

Bummer ... maybe a lesson learned is never to travel with untested gear.

On my vacation to Mexico last winter I saw no other kiters, and no kite shops anywhere. I became paranoid about losing or breaking anything ... even worried about my pump hose! Always be prepared.

[ian c]

It is unfortunate that some accessories that are designed as profit consumables on kites are often the reason it is so hard to fix up your kite in a difficult travel situation. Depower ropes are one classic example. The old wipika classic depower (7 years old?) in the garage is better designed to last than nearly all designs out there today.