The weight in a kite
We explain how to put weight in the tail of your kite to get that special balance during flight that enables all these incredible tricks.
There are many different ways to add weight to a kite, but we prefer to make the system ourselves.
1. Method with lead
The easiest way to add some weight to the tail is using a flat piece of lead. Put that between two pieces of Velcro and connect it with the Velcro onto the spine tunnel.
One of the drawbacks of this method is that it isn't adaptable to your needs. We know from experience that the lead tends to drop out of the kite.
2. Method with a thin copper tube
This system is better and cheap. We use pieces of copper tubing that slide over the spine.
In a DIY-shop (plumbing section) you should find copper tubes with a diameter of 10 mm. You could buy a cheap tube cutter there as well, or use a metal saw.
To change the weight according to our needs, we can slide different lengths of copper tube onto the spine. The base piece we start with is 42 mm long and weighs 10 grams. We can add more weight by adding pieces of tube from 4,5 to 5 mm long (each weighs 1 gram). Depending on how our kite reacts to the weight, we can then easily fine tune what we need: more or less weight in steps of 1 gram!
We use a small piece of plastic tubing to prevent the copper tubes from sliding up.
Watch Out: On this kite we use a 6 mm spar for the spine, so the copper tube is 2 mm too wide. We can fix that by thickening the spar with tape.
3. Method with bronze inside the spine
Recently we started using bronze solid bars that go inside the spine. We keep those in place by glueing them inside the splitnock endcap. You can have a couple of set weights like that in your kitebag, so you can adapt the weight easely to the windconditions or your needs.
4. Method with weight into the spine
Nowadays we use a method where we put a weight in the spine. There is a hole provided so that a continuous leechline can be placed. Every set of weights that you buy has three different weights, which also have separate rings to weight up if necessary. That way you can quickly adapt your kite to the wind conditions. To order, please send an e-mail to the address on the photo.