There may be nothing more frustrating than broken gear. If you have never had any gear problems, you have not been kiting for very long. Kite gear only seems to break on the epic days, and the only way to avoid sitting on the beach is to fix the problem. I do about half of my kiting south of the boarder, very far from the nearest kite shop. If I break gear in Baja and cannot fix it, it ruins a whole trip instead of a single session.
Over the years I’ve learned what is important to have and what can be left behind. Here’s a look at the items in my kiting tool box that can fix almost any broken gear short of a shredded kite. Get a tool box that has small divided sections built into it. If you can’t keep your spare parts neat, you’ll never even be able to remember what you have.
- Spare screws for your footstraps and fins.
- Extra bladder plugs, one-pump hoses, and zip ties.
- Spare parts for your bar. Some items on your bar will never wear out, but keep spares anyway. If something breaks you might loose parts.
- 1/4-20 and 10-24 taps. You can use these to clean threads on almost any board and fin.
- Baby powder and line for installing bladders.
- Spare bladders. I only carry two spare bladders: one the size of the largest rib in my biggest kite and one the size of the smallest rib of my biggest kite. With these I can replace any rib of any of my kites. You can also carry a replacement leading edge bladder for your bread and butter kite, but I find I can usually repair them instead of replacing them.
- Extra fins, especially if you ride a surfboard.
- Spare kite leash. I don’t know why, but I loose these all the time.
- Replacement pump hose.
- A complete spare bar. I always have a spare bar with me and this is your most likely piece of gear to have problems.
- FCS installation kit and spare plugs. This item may seem excessive, but I can use it to repair fin plugs that have been ripped out of my board.
- Duct tape. It fixes everything. Don’t put it on your kite unless you absolutely have to.
- Spare straps for your harness.
- Sail repair tape. Good sail repair tape can temporarily fix tears up to about three feet long.
- Bladder repair material.
- Solarez. This stuff is available at any surf shop and is a great product that anyone can use to repair dings and chips on your board.
- Superglue. If you have it, you will find a use for it.
- Basic tools. You only need a few tools to work on kite gear. You should have screwdrivers, scissors, a razor knife, pliers, and vise grips. Also carry spare fin keys for your surfboard.
- Spare spectra line. Carry enough spectra to replace the leader lines on your bar.
- Spare chicken loop. This might be the piece of kite gear that fails the most.
- Spare lines.
The best way to fix gear is to never have it break in the first place. Take care of your gear and inspect it often. If you see a problem, don’t use it until it’s fixed. Build yourself a repair kit and always have it in your car – it doesn’t do you any good sitting in the garage at home. With the right repair kit, you can fix problems that would send other riders home for the day.
