Well, can you?

Can you pump so much that you burst it (a kite, I mean)?

That would be when it goes BANG!!!!

can't say I have seen an over inflated kite in years. Todays kites can handle more pressure than the kite pump can deliver. Mind you I saw someone come in with a leak the other day and when he crashed the kite on the beach it was almost dead flat.

I just keep pumping until I reach that point were you can't make full down strokes with the pump. Then I give it the fold test, if it resists folding in half it is pumped up enough.

surfingboye said...

I just keep pumping until I reach that point were you can't make full down strokes with the pump. Then I give it the fold test, if it resists folding in half it is pumped up enough.

I give it the flick test. if she makes a 'ping' sound she's good to go

definitely possible! popped my 9m at nationals this year, one pump to many in an attempt to straighten a twisted strut resulted in a twisted strut + a gaping whole in both the leading edge bladder and the material as well.. this happened 10 minutes after my 12 exploded on the beach. wasn't meant to ride that day!

Something else i have heard is that if you have your kite pumped up solid in the middle of summer or when it's really hot, it is a good idea to let a little bit of air out if it's going to sit there for a long length of time because the heat will expand the air in the bladder risking it exploding.

jas73 said...

Something else i have heard is that if you have your kite pumped up solid in the middle of summer or when it's really hot, it is a good idea to let a little bit of air out if it's going to sit there for a long length of time because the heat will expand the air in the bladder risking it exploding.

Yes, if you are to live your kite on the beach (not recommended but well, some people do... ) deflate it a bit. if you have done some physics, then you might know
PV= nRT P. Pressure, V.Volume, n. number of mols R. a constant, T. temperature)
Basically, here, V, the volume of your bladder, is constant. n is constant too as no matter what temperature you reach, you'll still have the same amount of matter in the bladder (air molecules) R...is a constant by definition. so if T rises, then P, the pressure, rises too.

So basically, deflating it just a bit doesn't hurt, you'll have to give a few pumps to go back kiting, but it might save you the bladder

Same thing for beginners that don't inflate their kites a lot ("OMG if I keep pumping it wil exploooode") in summer, and have their kite sit (crash) in the water, a lot... the water being colder, you'll lose pressure and the kite will seem to have been deflated

Cheers

kiter zac said...

yes

HAHAHAHAHA, i laugh quite hard when i saw this

Shayne86 said...

Hi guys.

Glad i found this thread coz i was thinking the same thing. Im only new to kiting but have been for many lessons with the local IKO instructor and he always says that the pump will let you know when the kite is full, ie cant physicaly cycle the pump up and down.

Being a noob I understand that i know sweet F A so i just did this the 1st few times

HOWEVER, i now have North Fuse 10m and a 7m and the pump comes with a pressure guage. The "green" zone on the guage is from 4-5psi, "yellow" zone is from 5-7psi and everything after that is marked red. If i inflate it too the green it feels nowere near full enough so I use the pump technique which ends up around 6 or 7psi. Seeing it go into the yellow makes me slightly worry im overdoing it.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Cheers guys

Shayne, dont North kites have the inflation pressure printed on the leading edge at the inflation valve? Mine do. If you have a guage, use it to get the real pressure equal to the printed guidance.

LostDog said...

Shayne, dont North kites have the inflation pressure printed on the leading edge at the inflation valve? Mine do. If you have a guage, use it to get the real pressure equal to the printed guidance.

I honestly havent looked mate. Ill check it out next time i get out on the water. cheers mate

Great! Thanks for all the wisdom.