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spectra lines.
In article 34122@nntpd.lkg.dec.com, sasaki@sasaki.enet.dec.com (Marty Sasaki) writes:
>
>In article <1992Mar9.175354.20327@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>, north@kilo.egr.msu.edu (George M North) writes:
>|>Also spectra has a very low melting point and lines like Kevlar and Nylon
>|>will melt through spectra if they touch it. The dacron on the leading edge
>|>of a kite has also been known to cot through lines. Many of the kite teams
>|>will sleve kevlar into the last 10 to 20 feet of their lines so as to prevent
>|>other team kites from cutting their lines.
>
>Actually, the practice is to tie or splice kevlar on the kite end of
>the lines. This works very well and almost every team that I've talked
>to uses kevlar to avoid line breaking on kite-to-line collisions.
>
>Marty Sasaki sasaki@tle.enet.dec.com
Marty is right about teams weaving lines with spectra on the bottom 100 feet
and kevlar on the top. However there is an interesting (de)evolution going on
this year. Many teams (Air Art included) are NOT using mixed lines this
season. We basically have two weights of lines we use: 300# and 150#.
The 300# speed line is such tuff stuff that we have decided to use it 100%
of the length (i.e. no kevlar toppers). As for the 150#, we only use this line
with our ultra-light kites (1/2 oz sails) in winds under 4MPH. So the
lines are never stressed near the breaking point.
We tried 80#, but its designed with weight (or lack of it) in mind and not
durability. I'm sure someone (out there) will suggest weaving kevlar onto
the 80# lines. Well..., if you can find a way to do it (in less than 6 hours)
and you want to move to San Jose, you have a place on our team!
Darrin (Air Art) Skinner
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