[ricki]

Yes, the flat kites do offer a lot in better performance attributes but you don't want to have breakage or failures during operation. I have been speaking with some retailers who commented on some wear at bridle attachment points, i.e. the nylon straps. One guy mentioned that some of the pulley housings, likely a bad production batch, can sometimes fracture along lines of bubbles accidentally cast into the plastic. Not much you can do to avoid that aside from carefully examining the pulley housings along with everything else. We really load gear up in kiting and as a result it will wear out. Riders need to step up their PM to work to avoid problems.