What's the go with the North Vegas 06 Spars - I broke 3 yesterday in one small wipe out. Are replacements available and can you get stronger ones?

Matt

Yer, I have replaced about 14 now. Not going to bother replacing anymore.
I also have a demo Rebel. It came with broken battens. They are a lot thicker, plastic and bendy. Other issue is if the battens dont break they bend out of shape. Kind of like a wire coat hanger and you cant bend them back into shape. Whats the deal with that
But yep you can fit the rebel battens into Vegas 06.

Can I just add to that. The Rebel is a great kite but it's bag SUX! I have a 12m rebel and it folds away into quite a small compact size if you take the 2 big hard battens out of the tips. I can fold it away neatly with these battens but the bag is just a bit too small. It needs to be taller and round like the Slingshot Link bag. If anyone has a Rebel I strongly recommend that they take out the 2 big battons each time they pack their kite into their bag because it is if you fold it away the small cam battens bend. They are very flexible but if you leave them bent in a awkward position ie folded in a kite in a small tight bag the nylon spars bend out of shape over night when you leave it in the bag. A combination of impact on a crooked spar could result in it actually snapping. Also if you are a beginner or a person likely to crash the rebel alot. Just take your spars out it takes 1 minute and the kite flies fine without them in strong winds. I find the spars help in water relaunching and for light wind days but they are not a MUST.

Question to steve.

Can you put a sleave over the spars ie that black rubber heat melting stuff? I was thinking if you did this to the spars it'd hold them together and prevent them from cracking and stabbing through any part of the canopy etc?

Matt raid the van! Thats the only difference between the latest replacements and the stuff we sell, the new ones have heat shrink on them. Obviously go easy on the heat, and don't flew them until they are well cooled.

Be careful packing the kite up that you are not leaving them under tension in the bag as qfmike737 said.

Battens are a hassle, not sure if the benefits outweigh the advantages I think that is up to each user to confirm for themselves.

The main advantage I can see is in light or "holey" wind, they definitely make the kite more stable without rider input. They probably can help in some circumstances for relaunching too?
I agree that in strong winds they do bugger all.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve McCormack