Kitemare - Slider Rope

Jonpnw · Sat Jun 22, 19 8:13 am **Kitemare - Slider Rope**

I was enjoying yesterday's nuking winds up by the green buoy on a 6m & surf board , seen a nice clean slab to slash , looped the kite and BOOM !! Wave

there she went . I knew immediately that my slider rope had snapped. In my mind i was thinking about a recent Reed Brady story as he turned his harness around backwards and attached the chicken loop to the handle pass attachment on the back of the harness but I am not Reed and the swell was dunking me and my surfboard was gone so i started to wind up my lines , made it to the kite and was able to make a sail , Thank you Slingshot for having the rescue loops on the wingtips (shameless plug) made my way to the white salmon sand bar . Shout out to Ken Lucas (Cabrinha Kites , Kiting Professional ) for saving my surfboard. Shout out to Jason Watts (Free Agent ! congratulations! ) on giving me a lift across the bridge back to Hood River . Check your ropes ! Inspecting mine the rope is still in decent shape , the knot was sheared off or I kook tied my figure 8 ? I would rather not experience that again , back to the fixed hook ? Crying or Very sad

Windian · Since 28 Apr 2008 892 Posts Newport, OR NEWPORT OG

If you never need to untie a rigging knot and never want it to loosen up and fail, try using Marine Goop and smear and squeeze it into the knot. I do this with my slider bar knots in particular and other knots that I never want to untie or have them fail while riding. Once the knot is gooped up, then it is permanent and will never come undone on its own.

Question

Jonpnw · Sat Jun 22, 19 8:56 am **Thank you !!**

Thank you for the advice . I am going to try that .

Nevo · Guest

Nah not back to the fixed hook. Just add in a safety check.

I look at my slider frequently and replace it yearly. This year I noticed abnormal fraying and discovered a cracked grommet on the actual spreader bar that was cutting my line.

tonyg · Since 27 May 2006 20 Posts

I am hooked on the slider rope and failure like this could be very bad. Frequent checks is good (which I need to do more of) but it would be nice if there was an easy way to rig a backup rope, slightly less tension than the primary, able to take over in case of failure. Need to play around with it on my RE harness.

Wind Slither · Since 04 Mar 2005 2588 Posts The 503 METAL

My Dynabar has holes for 2 ropes (maybe even 3?) Any way I have 2 which seems to work well for backup safety, plus it seems like they wear much slower with 2.

snowbunny · Since 05 Nov 2013 54 Posts

I had success with the oysterman knot (originally suggested by Gman in this thread), no slippage or failure after maybe 30 sessions so far:

http://nwkite.com/forums/t-43676.html

FWIW I had the hook snap off the bar from an old harness (weld failure) on the west side of Wells island a few years back... similar situation to the broken slider rope, so hook is no guarantee that won't happen.

It was a slog back to the ES using my spare leash to hardwire the CL to the side of my harness in a way that would still allow me to flag the kite. Took a pretty long time to get that done while trying to hold onto my board; fortunately (for me) not super windy that day (12m), not sure if i could have done it in 30-40 kt wind + swell

-e

earthsurfer526 · Since 11 Jan 2009 55 Posts Hood River, OR

Jon,

Try this rope. Super strong and works amazingly
https://www.fisheriessupply.com/new-england-rope-sts-wr2-sk-78-synthetic-life-line

Never had this line break and I tend to put a bit of force on it.

surfer · Since 02 Aug 2012 51 Posts westport, wa

LIke a Dual depower rope I make my slider a dual slider rope Very Happy

mamann · Since 16 Jul 2007 76 Posts Gorge East

I had the rope break last season, even though it did not show any significant wear(check before each session). Unfortunately I had my 8" short leash on a ring on the rope(I knew this was not a good idea, but the rope looked to be in such good shape, I couldn't imagine it failing), so it all went and nothing to reattach the kite to.

Now I run 2 ropes on my dynabar and have my leash attached to the center of the bar. I'm not worried about having them identical length, just close enough, so that the rings ride on one rope and the other rope is the redundant backup, that allows for finishing any session without worry.

This was tested the other week when I had been noticing a knot slipping very slowly for a while. When I came in from my session, I found the knot had finally slipped through and I had been riding on the other rope and hadn't noticed the failure.

I have been using the simple overhand knot with varying results(some tend to slip while others lock in), and hadn't been using long tails on the knots.

I now leave long tails and tie and extra knot behind the knot to stop the knot slipping. I figure this way the rope will break long before the knot slips out(plenty of time to notice a slipping knot). Time will tell.

ldhr · Since 21 Jul 2009 1487 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

I have 3 seasons+ and over 300 sessions on my Ride Engine with a slider rope.
I replace the rope every spring ($7.00) and I've never had an issue.

But just in case I tie a backup cord around the spreader pad.

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4909 Posts Portland Unstrapped

Slappysan · Since 13 Jun 2012 309 Posts Obsessed

I tried a few different slider setups and didn't like any of them but I'm a big fan of the Cab Fireball, might want to give it a go before going to a fixed hook, especially if you like to boost.

SalmonSlayer · Since 27 Nov 2005 648 Posts Addicted **CGKA Member**

Or do something recommended by no one. I am rationalizing this by pretending it is to see how long the frayed line lasts.

Nevo · Guest

oliver19 · Since 25 Jun 2019 79 Posts

I use the Dakine Options slider bar....has 2 ropes for added security. I think the durability of the rope also depends on what you use to attach to it. With Slingshot Talon system, I replaced the rope for the first time recently after over 200 sessions, one of the ropes was getting pretty frayed.