KITESURF TIPS – TAKE CARE OF YOUR KITESURF EQUIPMENT
Kitesurf Equipment can be quite expensive and sometimes not lasting long enough. My name is Petar Pavlovic, I love sharing my kitesurf experiences with you and in this episode I will give you some tips on how to handle your kitesurf gear so it may last longer.
I will teach you how to take care of:
- the pump,
- your wetsuit,
- the harness,
- the twin tip board,
- the bar.
KITESURF EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE – PUMP
You should not carry the pump by the pipe. This is the main reason for it to suddenly break. Not even for the tube.
Always hold it for the external plastic part or for the handle if the pump is locked with a pump line. Don’t leave the tube out of the pump when you are not using it, especially on a sandy beach.
Therefore put the tube completely inside the pump and possibly lock it with the pump line. If it is possible keep the pump in the shadow or in your kite bag when you are kiting.
Believe me, this will avoid you from making dirty repairs on your pump with silicon spray or other products which for me never worked perfectly. Nothing better than a pump which was taking good care of!
MAINTENACE TIPS FOR THE WETSUIT
It’s important to always rinse your wetsuit with sweet and cold water after every session. Do not wash your wetsuit with hot water. This may cause it to loose the flexibility and melt the glue.
Avoid drying it on the sun. If possible always choose an open air space in the shade. I like to use a hanger for drying my wetsuit faster. I always keep my wetsuit drying inside out. By doing this you will avoid having humidity in the wetsuit which can become stinky and itchy.
Once it is completely dry on the inside I like to turn it back around so my wetsuit is completely dry on both sides before I store it. I am making sure to not leave it hanging for many days and I use a hanger with large tips.
Hanging the wetsuit for too long can cause damage on the shoulders. Especially with thin hangers. However when you store the wetsuit the best is to just have it laying flat. Or fold the wetsuit over a hanger.
Some of the long wetsuits have a Velcro strap on the bottom of the leg, make sure to stick the Velcro together every time you are not using it, to avoid the Velcro sticking all over your wetsuit. This can easily ruin a brand new wetsuit.
If you see a small hole on your wetsuit, make sure to immediately fix it with this kind of glue, because a 2mm hole can fast become a 5cm hole!
KITESURF EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE – HARNESS
Always rinse your harness with sweet water after every session. Make sure to not let it dry directly in the sun. If possible choose an open air space in the shade.
I have to share with you the best harness I experienced so far. The Stealth Waist Harness from Mystic.
It’s mostly made out of hard foam attached to it’s shell (ignore this plastic, it is a Sail Video System mount which doesn’t come together with the harness. I added this to make cool kitesurf shots).
Even after using this harness non stop for almost 2 years now, it still looks quite new. Unlike many other harnesses I had where the neoprene would be completely destroyed after 6 months. This harness is also drying super fast.
MAINTENACE TIPS FOR THE BOARD
Rinse it with sweet water after every session. If you have Velcro straps, honestly I recommend not opening them too often, as they can loose their grip.
If you are keeping your board to dry outside just make sure the straps are not directly facing the sun.
In case you are traveling with your board, it’s definitely better to unscrew all the fins, pads and handle, not just for saving space while traveling but also to prevent screws from getting stuck and rusted.
This would be a problem when you want to change any part of your board one day.
So if you are never traveling with your board I recommend unscrewing all the screws at least once a year.
KITESURF EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE – THE BAR
When you are going for a kitesurf session on a sandy spot make sure you clean the sand from your trim line or on some bars center line before going for your session.
In case there’s a lot of sand when you are pulling or deepowering the bar or constantly using the trim line it could really damage the rope and even break it after a while.
There are no wrong ways of how to roll your bar, just make sure if your center line is wrapped with plastic. Keep your bar completely deepowered while rolling the lines.
By bending the plastic too often it may brake after a while. Always wash the bar with sweet water, especially the chicken loop quick release safety system. You want to open it and close it every time before, during or after your sessions to make sure that it’s s always working perfectly.
Never let it dry directly in the sun. In general avoid having your bar on the sun as much as possible. The sun is really bad for the lines.
Make sure to not have any knots on your lines, after some period of flying your kite with the same knot, the line could easily break.
On my Patreon you can see the best method for undoing super tight knots without damaging the line.
