Question About Kitesurfing Lines..........

[damion_dark]

What are kitesurfing lines made out of? Dyneema or Spectra? I'm talking about the long 30-meter lines. And what diameter do they usually come in?

[ricki]

Both, I understand the terms are interchangeable. Dyneema seems to be favored in Europe, Spectra in the USA. Have no idea about diameter, also as they are woven, the diameter varies as a function of load and stretching. People usually worry about working strength which is on the order of 500 lbs but can be higher or lower in some cases.

[damion_dark]

ah ok. thank you.

[Todd RT]

I've always used the terms interchangably also.

Today I decided to google "dyneema vs spectra", the most detailed answer I found was here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_high_molecular_weight_polyethylene

Bottom line is:

"Trade names
Dyneema is a registered trademark of Royal DSM (The Netherlands). Dyneema was invented by DSM in 1979. It has been in commercial production since 1990 at a plant in Heerlen, the Netherlands. In East Asia, DSM has a cooperation agreement with Toyobo for commercial production in Japan. In the United States, DSM has a production facility in Greenville, North Carolina, which is the largest production facility in the United States for UHMWPE fiber.[4]
Honeywell developed a product identical in chemical structure, which is sold under the brand name Spectra. Though the production details are somewhat different, the resulting materials are comparable in properties.[5]
Other trade names for powdered or consolidated UHMWPE materials include TIVAR by Quadrant EPP, Polystone-M by Röchling Engineering Plastics, Tensylon by Integrated Textile Systems, GARDUR by Garland Manufacturing, GUR by Ticona, and UTEC by Braskem."


As far as sizing, here's all I could find on Cabrinha lines... as an example:

"Cabrinha Kite Lines

Sewn ends with polyethylene covering to protect the stitching. These lines are prestretched and sewn to an exact length. At a .04 inch diameter these lines will reduce line drag and get you upwind faster.

Sold in pairs.
Available in several line lengths:
17.5 meters
19 meters
22.5 meters"