Hi there
A few days ago, on my local, there was an incident as a result of a brand new North kite lines breakage.
The incident happened when launching the kite. The line snapped at mid air, the kite looped and fortunately didn't go far.
No injuries.
Post Mortem:
After the line inspection we've found a quite big overstitching knot exactly after the protective plastic sleave at the line end. It is in our opinion that the line snapped as a result of poor workmanship.
This reminded me to inspect all my lines, particularly where they are stitched. My older kite suffered of this as well:
Be safe.
Damn!
I purchased a couple of new north EVO's 2010 in 2011 got ripped off I beleive had a rush of blood and just needed them. green and brown
One of the centerlines snapped on the second use in the same spot as you mentioned whilst just edging upwind, kite spiralled down and had to buy new lines.
I took a picture if post is still going next week I will post, at work now
they are still my stapple kites but have had no problems with my cabrinahs and there all secondhandies from 2008, think I will buy a cab or ozone for next kite might leave the norths alone
When ever i hear of lines breaking i also hear the word "north" associated with it.
Im not having a dig at North, but fark make your lines stronger!
Oh was that north you heard or chinese - and not aiming to bag a manufacturer but it always seems that there are Monday mornings and Friday arvos - maybe country of origin.............. ??
Funny how years ago Made in Japan was a item to avoid - now for the time being it seems that chinese is the new crap mantra - sorry to hear of the gear failures.
Nice one North - great image for the sport ( ok flame me but it just isnt sport??)
... hey Dean,
Just curious, not sure if I get it, the pic you show doesn't show the line but something else, can you show us the line in question?
cheers,
Robbie
ps I buy and pay for all my gear, sponsored by the missus so stfurpmyd, its just a general question!
pps you coming to Bali this year?
Hi Robbie,
Correct, the photo is an example of overstitched kite "reinforcement" which broke (other brand tho).
Will try to get a photo if I see this guy again.
Not sure about Bali, finally started working:)
Full time work, oh no, does that mean less time for board building??? 
But, finishing one as we type this:) Scratches resistant one!
I can tell you this is not a nice thread to read. I am a day or two away from ordering new 7m and 10m 2012 North Fuses.
Were there any North recalls in the past related to this issue? If there wasn't, you would think that these line issues would be either isolated issues, or user error from wear and tear? Surely such a large company would not let these things go on without a recall (hopefully).
lines break- it happens with pretty much all brands. We had only a few North lines break over many years. The reason for lines breaking will differ from case to case.
Generally NKB's quality and quality control is really good and their support and warranty dealings outstanding!
^^^
Overstitching on the lines with an old or damaged machine needle will certainly weaken the line
... my thoughts are that a line break is usually extenuating circumstances such as impact damage, rubbing against something, or IMO majority of the time overstress from higher than normal loads.
Interestingly, all the line breaks that I've had are all in the same place, right before the sheath. My lines were usually a year old and I've overloaded them, snap and swim. Brand new they may have had a breaking strain of 400kg but over time, maybe its only 200kg???? Pure guess here.
I had all 3 front line snap in mid kiteloop while I had my back to the kite and kite was on its way up, then bang and splash, swim again. Its almost as if the 5%(guess) stretch or spring if you will, can handle it over the entire length but at the points where it can't (the stitched sheath end) stretch its alotted 5% is beyond what it can handle.
I reckon when you run your lines out and its windy, the ends seem to knot up and with kite fever, you pull and yank the ends abit, putting stress on it and with no re-enforcing, it wears the line out just that little bit more each time and right at point it can snap due to its lower ability to stretch, maybe on a micro level you are cutting tiny fibers each time weakening it.
Anyway, what ever, just a few thoughts.
cheers,
Robbie
