Bridle replacement

[mwp]

So you have some older kites that you love to fly but can no longer get replacement parts for. The bridle is about to break, what do you do?

[riffclown]

measure it out and tie new bridles.  It's not too difficult to tie your own with a piece of wood and some smalll dowels to make a form.

[makatakam]

Yep, buy some bridle line and tie your own. Not expensive and not hard to do. Take measurements and write them all down before untying the old one, or just loosen the existing knots to see how the original is tied together if it isn't obvious. Shouldn't take more than an hour the first time or two, much less once you've done a few.

[mwp]

wow ok cool. I had so much trouble just trying to tie a simple prusik that the thought even scares me but I guess there are not really any other options.  Any bridle line recommendations?

[makatakam]

44 minutes ago, mwp said:

Any bridle line recommendations?

Depends on the kite and your intent. Tell us what kite you're working with.

[Paul LaMasters]

100# hi-test bridle line by Laserpro,... it;s a 100# spectra core instead of a 40# dacron sheath.  You can tie and untie it!!!

The best knot is a figure of eight, it tightens from both directions and the center is four thicknesses.  Practice so you can "flip one half of the loose 8 OVER itself" pulling all the slack out in the opposite direction.  Doing this action allows you to place the knot very accurately (ike against the jaws of locked Forceps for example, the forceps are locked in place so you can see the sharpie marks from your bridle board)

I use a silver sharpie on black hi-test.  It comes in a thicker format 170# also if desired for a big dually or stacks

[mwp]

15 hours ago, makatakam said:

Depends on the kite and your intent. Tell us what kite you're working with.

cool. I just want to get it somewhat close to factory or better ;p  

Prism Fanatic, Dodd gross French Connection and my newly acquired sea devil 

 

[makatakam]

The LaserPro that Paul mentioned above will be fine. Most kite shops will have one or two colors. I believe it is available in black, grey, white and red. You can get it online if there is no shop near you. 100-pound test Spectra core in a 40- or 50-pound Dacron sheath. 100 feet of it weighs 3 or four ounces at most, so it can be shipped to you via first class mail.

[Paul LaMasters]

Long ago, I used to make custom bridles for folks off a board (the Ryv 1.6 bridle) , the fee was a 100 feet of hi-test (100# bridle line in ONE piece) and I mailed the finished bridle out in a No10 envelope.