Standoff Pocket Repair

[ChessGirl]

My standoff punched through the bottom of the nylon pocket on my delta hawk and I would like to repair it.  Is there a particular type of needle and thread I should use?  Is there a sewing technique or knot tying technique I should use?  Do I need to use a machine, or can it be done by hand?  I will end up having a marginally more shallow pocket as a result of this repair.  Is that a really significant concern?

[Edmond Dragut]

sharp needles and polyester treads if you sew by machine or head and regular knots are fine. easiest and faster is with Ripstop nylon repair tape on both sides of sail

[Exult]

I'm all ears for replies to this. I'm curious about thread choice myself, though I have avoided the needle when repairing kites. The only exception I can recollect (during this millennium) being hand sewing the small hole of worn out nose of a Prism 4D. Then I used a "Goliath" polyester 3 plies thread (sorry no more info) that I happened to have available - would go for a slightly thicker one for other kites than a 4D I think.

I've resorted to Tedlar tape and CA-gluing (yes can be done) for sail repair (HQ Jam Session), To hold a permanent batten that is loose in one end I've used nylon ripstop tape (ITW Hydra). On a pair of punctured pockets for battens made of elastic band I got the advice (thank you long ago telephone "marathon" kite helper/guru) to fold a piece of dacron and put in the pocket so that the dacron was supported on the elastic band in the deepest part of the pocket on either side of the hole (HQ Maestrale). Though the image once again shows a punctured pocket this dacron mending lasted for a long time. I really asked for this by the way I used the kite. Wearing a hole in the repaired pocket was only a matter of time (number of sessions?). The battens are  the rearmost part of the kite - not the wing tips. The kite was pitch happy (and happy in general) and I had the habit of doing an exaggerated 2-point landing or a snap stall just above the ground and then bang it into the ground and immediately bounce up (by bouncing on the battens) in the air.

HQ Maestrale. Wing tip and batten with worn through pocket. Notice the folded seams (is folded seams the proper name?) "of the past" between the green and black area.

I don't know how a Delta Hawk stand off pocket looks like (perhaps an image would be good?). If it is just a pocket made of the sail ripstop, perhaps it would work with a folded strip of (thin?) dacron on the inside of the pocket (to distribute the load and not puncture the tape?) and tedlar or rip stop tape around the outside end of the pocket? 

[ChessGirl]

Thanks for the ideas.  I also emailed HQ for advice and got this reply:

 

As far as the pocket goes the best way to fix it is sew it back together. This is the only way to make sure it wont come apart under pressure.  Any type of polyester thread will work fine. The pockets do not need to be the same depth this minute change will not affect the performance of the kite.

[Exult]

If you would proceed with the repair and would have an opportunity to take a before/after photo I'd be happy to see it - no matter (almost) which method being used. Any experiences, good or bad, and ideas upon what to improve on the next time one would do something similar, would be a bonus on my wish list. The quality of the work doesn't have to be top notch for others to learn from (we are all here to learn and share I suppose). If there are others who know better they are free to share their view in my opinion. For an example of a non-perfect hobby repair (the split nock was cut to the wrong length) of a future possible kite builder wannabe see:

http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/7502-itw-hydra-leading-edge-tensioning/?do=findComment&comment=62181