I've just torn my 9m- not sure if i pumped it up enough. Any one got any ideas?
The wind was pretty seriously gusty. The kite kicked up over my head and dropped out of the sky. I looked up and the leading edge had collapsed half-way down into the kite. I pulled the side line to pick it up and it twisted over and spun like a pin-wheel in the power zone before it slammed into the surf. I re-launched but the leading edge had rolled back over itself so many times that the kite was only half its normal width. And the side panel was ripped.
I'm thinking maybe not enough air in it?
Sorry to hear about your kite 
Any kite that is depowered to the max and/or in gusty conditions can be made unstable by wind hitting it at a downward angle, and it will drop out of the sky. Leading edge pressure has nothing to do with this kind of crash, and there is little you can do about it apart from selecting a smaller kite so that it is not always at the top of the depower range.
That being said, you might not have closed the valves properly and/or developed a leak, and then the kite seems to fly normally until it gets in to some gusty air and/or you load/unload the lines and the kite then looks like it is trying to turn itself in to a taco.
Either way, once a kite spins up or luff-bangs through the power zone you always run serious risk of doing damage to the kite.
How was the leading edge pressure after you got back to the beach?
Seemed ok at the time but i wasn't thinking about the air pressure so didn't really notice- it hadn't been leaking.
I'm thinking now that maybe there wasn't enough air which let the leading edge fold in on itself. Hadn't had much depower on. It had done the same thing a few minutes before without the leading edge collapsing - it was gusting pretty wild
Kites can react crazy in the air when way under inflated ,but usually they have to be way under inflated,if your unsure of how hard to inflate,grab a pressure gauge for your pump,they are only about $20.
Hey Gordnot 
Its not the Kite or pressure..... Its just the gusting wind 
Say you get a 20 - 30 knot gust then theres a pocket of 5 knots in between
the kite cant fly - the leading edge drops a metre then another 20 smahes the kite down bending it ... and depending on your reaction and bar line tension and angle
the kite falls back, powers up to the tightest sideline, spins and goes arse up 
Sound familiar 
Winter wind sux dude - drink beer watch Porn
sounds like you been there. that's pretty much what happened
still, it was worth it till it tore... the beer and porn will always be there
yep sounds like a gust problem rather than a leading edge problem.
If your kite is sitting at the zenith or edge of the wind in gusty conditions your in danger of pushing the kite out of the wind window.
heres what happens. The wind window is approximatly 180degrees. But it shrinks and grows several degrees as the wind degreases/increases.
So a gust hits and your kite shoots forward to the to the edge of the new wind window. then after the gust a lull hits. All of a sudden your kite is now outside the lull wind window and it luffs and starts to fall out of the sky. Worst place for the kite in this instance is at the zenith. Can twist and fall back into the powerzone all stuffed up.
The fix?
when ever your kite is parked. get it as low as possible at the edge of the window. let the bar out when the gust hits. as soon as you feel the lull pull the bar in hard. this will stall the kite and let it drift back into the wind window.
After a bit of expereince you can do this automatically without even looking.
Gusty wind is difficult but can be very rewarding. my best session this year has been in 20-40 knots of gusty crazyness. difficult as hell but loved every minute off it.
PS having a stable low aspect storm kite for these days is a good idea. i use an ozone 8m light for these days. on cleaner days i'm rocking the c4 and edge but reach for the light it silly silly conditions.
Yep Plummet sounds right to me your kite would have to be only 1/2 inflated to react that badly,on gusty days your best off with a small kite bigger board combo,and yea never hold your kite at the zenith,its way easier to feather the gusts at 45 degrees or lower,was out last night on the 10m 15-25 knots ,went west and was 8-30+ kite was drifting back and forth in the window 15-20 feet on the landing surging with the gusts,but thats the norm round here in winter westerlies its as gusty as it gets.
Narrrhhh, Pugwash... she just be wearing a few more scars
You NZ guys seem to have a pretty good handle on these conditions. Thanks for the advice on the shifting wind window and keeping the kite low, it makes a lot of sense from what i've experienced. I really like those wild conditions, so will be staying out there
Might need to look into a low aspect kite. I'm using revs, but will take a look at the light
Also worth getting a demo on a Chimera 8 or 6.5, i have both and in gusty conditions they excell,last ride on my 6.5 was in 20 gusting 43 knots ,was a sweet 4hr session with explosive gusts well worth a test fly.
i thought i had a good handle on these conditions and went for a kitesurf yesterday morning at 8.30 am. 20-25 knot onshore sqaully rainy. hell side current. trees and logs floating around in the sea, 3-4 meter swell....
little did i know a freak tornado had screamed past my flying site 4 hours earlier..... found that out later on.
if that tornado had come through 4 hours later.... i don't want think what would have happened.
