In the previous post we talked about some maintenance tips before a kite session in order to maximize your kitesurfing gear’s lifespan.
But there’s more stuff to take care of right after the kiteboarding session.
Normally, we finish kitesurfing and we look forward to relaxing and having a cold beer, but our loyal equipment deserves some simple caretaking before that.
This advice, combined with pre-session kitesurfing gear maint
enance tips, helps a great deal in keeping our equipment at its peak performance and consequentially at its highest economical value for a much longer time.
So here’s what to do post-session:
1. Let’s repeat this tip, it’s quite important: don’t leave your kite for hours on the beach under the sun and in the wind: its canopy will become worn before time, losing color and the original resistance.
2. Pay attention to how you wind back the lines of the bar: the better you do it, the quicker your next kite set-up will be and less worn they’ll become with time.
3. Allow your kite to dry completely before packing it to avoid mold. It’s better if you take your time and find a shady place for drying, as UV rays are harmful to the canopy.
4. Even if you are on the beach, try to pack the kite avoiding any sand on it (sand rubs against the canopy and stiches and wears them off), and make sure there are no sharp things on the ground while you are pressing the bladders to empty the air.
5. Avoid packing the kite on rugged concrete or asphalt surfaces, which will help to keep it clean, but will most likely scratch it easily. Soft grass is a good option.
6. Clean the pulleys to prevent the formation of sand fouling that will get harder with time, especially if packed into the kite.
7. Put back the kite in its own bag as soon as possible - that’s the safest place for it.
8. Don’t leave your kiteboarding gear, especially the kite, in a hot car for a long time: the valve glue is pretty sensitive to high temperatures and this might cause air leaking from the bladders.
Once at home, before the final storage, complete your kitesurfing equipment’s maintenance:
9. Washing the kite with fresh water is a controversial topic. I personally think that you will be exaggerating if you wash it after every kitesurfing session, but on the other hand, leaving it with salt and sand for long periods of time is not ideal either. Think about the pulleys which can be corroded and get stuck buy salt. So that’s my rule: when you think you’ll not use the kite for quite a long time, that’s the moment to wash it with fresh water. Of course, you want to make sure you wash it gently, not to affect the canopy. Then dry it well to prevent mold.
10. Always keep the kite’s valves open when un-inflated - that will prevent them from getting too big and possibly leaking air.
11. Washing the rest of your kiteboarding gear is actually very advisable: all the metal parts of kiteboard, kite bar and harness get rusty and corroded much faster with salt and humidity. So rinse them with abundant fresh water, paying more attention to metal parts. If you have a wetsuit, it also needs to be cleaned from salt, and I suggest to dry inside out, as the internal fabric normally dries much slower than the external.
12. When your kitesurfing equipment is dry, store it in a cool and dry place.
If you follow these simple tips, your kite’s lifespan will be way longer, and you’ll be able to resell it at a much higher price. I do follow these rules myself, and all my kiteboarding gear has been preserved almost as new for years.
