Kumandalı Uçurtma İpi
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 4:07 pm
Arkadaşlar GWTW de aşşağıdaki röpörtajı buldum. Shanti Speed Line, tek ve kumandalı uçurtmalar için ip üreten bir firma. Sanırım en detaylı bilgi bu röpörtajda var.
GWTW : Today we find that most sport kites lines are either listed as "Dyneema" or "Spectra", aren't they really the same thing?
Shanti Speed Line: Dyneema and Spectra are not the same. Dyneema stretches 5%. Spectra 3.9%. Both are made from polyethylene but Dyneema fibers are about one third the size of Spectra fibers. For example, a 90 lb/test Dyneema line may have over 1500 filaments compared to a 90 lb/test Spectra line which has less than 500. When flying, the friction of wrapped lines breaks the smaller Dyneema fibers causing the line to become fuzzy and wear out twice as fast. Made in Europe and Asia, Dyneema is cheaper, so companies like to use it and claim it’s the same.
GWTW : Some companies coat their line. Does this make the line better?
Shanti: When we invented Spectra kite line in 1985, the rest of the industry was using Kevlar. Kevlar was a great line but it had to be waxed and you lost control with multiple wraps. On the other hand, Spectra line was inherently slippery and didn't’t require a coating. Today, companies coat Spectra because they’re making fishing line, not kite line. Coatings make Spectra line stiffer and less slippery. That’s good for fishermen and bad for kiteflyers.
GWTW : Some Spectra line is colored. Why is that?
Shanti : Again, companies that color Spectra are making line for the fish market and then trying to sell the idea back to kiteflyers. Fishermen want their fishing line to be invisible to fish so they like blue or green line. The problem is that you can’t dye Spectra, so color is added with a coating which adds friction. The irony is that kiteflyers (and fish) want Spectra line to be visible. For kiteflyers…white is good, blue is silly.
GWTW : What's the deal with Spectra "1000" and "2000"?
Shanti : Mostly it’s a marketing game. If you examine a braided line you’ll notice that there’s usually 8, 12, or 16 bundles of fibers in the construction. Honeywell Corporation makes these bundles in limited sizes or “deniers.” Spectra kite lines vary greatly based on how a company constructs a line from different deniers. However when companies started braiding fishing line there were no denier sizes small enough to construct a 30 lb./test fishing line, so Honeywell started making smaller deniers of Spectra “1000” fiber and calling it Spectra “2000.” The specifications of strength, weight, stretch and etc. are the same. You can check Honeywell’s web site and see for yourself. In short, Spectra, “2000” is great for making fishing lines less than 50 lb/test but is lousy for kite lines larger than 50 lb/test.
GWTW : The rumor in kiteland is that there will be a shortage of Spectra line as most of the Spectra fiber is going to the military. Is that true?
Shanti : Yes, that’s true. Spectra is used for making bullet-proof vests, helmets, and all sorts of high-tech military equipment. The Department of Defense gets first dibs on whatever Spectra they want. At Shanti we have a special relationship with Honeywell because we’ve been working with them since Spectra was an experimental fiber, so we can still get Spectra fiber for our braiding. That’s not true for other companies. That’s another reason why they’re switching to Dyneema and claiming it’s the same. It’s not.
GWTW : There is a great debate raging over the value of sleeving line. What's your view?
Shanti : I thought we settled this question 20 years ago. All high-modulus polyethylene lines such as Spectra and Dyneema have poor knot-strength of about 40%. Sleeving raises the knot-strength to about 65%. For example, a 150 lb/test line will break at about 60 lbs. on a raw knot or at 98 lbs. on a sleeved knot. That’s a big difference. If you sleeve your lines you can fly your kite on a lighter, thinner line and significantly reduce wind-drag.
GWTW : Isn't the line that comes prepackaged with stunt kite the best line for that kite?
Shanti : When kite manufacturers sell to the mass-market, they have to provide line because clerks in Costco and REI don’t know anything about kite line. Since most stunt kites are now made in China for the mass-market, that means they are generally packaged with what’s available and what’s cheapest. That’s usually Dyneema or some other blend of fibers. Unfortunately, a lot of this line is incorrectly labeled “Spectra” because it benefits the importers. Beginners don’t know the difference, but real kiteflyers know line performance dramatically affects kite performance.
GWTW : When you get right down to it, aren't most of the dual line sets out there really pretty much the same?
Shanti : How do I answer that? Last night, I watched an interview of Jesse James on 60 Minutes and they asked him if his bikes were different from Harley’s…he sat there dumbfounded and said something like, “Is this a joke?” That’s how I feel. Granted, we’re talking kite line, not motorcycles, but the flyers I know care about their equipment just as much as bikers do. Most of our competitors mechanically measure and wind their dual sets to save money. It’s fast. It’s cheap, but the fact is, there is no automated way to tie a good line set. I’ve been building machines to wind spools for over 30 years and I’m telling you the best line sets are done by hand – strung out, pre-stretched, precisely marked, sleeved, double-knotted and hand-tied in a figure-eight. That’s what we do at Shanti. We make our line sets so a flyer can walk directly onto a competition field and fly, no worries, no hassles. That’s important to us. We don’t care about the mass-market or the fish market or the cheap market. At Shanti, we make kite line for the kiteflyer. Period.
Our thanks to Daniel Prentice at Shanti for taking the time to share his views with us.
Shanti is located right here in Northern California. We have developed a very good relationship with them. They are very responsive to the needs of our customers. They are more than willing to make line sets to any specification. Need a set of competition lines for your 4-man team in 100, 105, 110 and 115 ft. lengths? We can do that. Do you really prefer to fly on 38 foot 90 lb line? We can do that too.
We stock what we feel to be 'standard' length line sets, but Shanti is willing to make sets to fit your needs. Call or email us if you need a custom set of lines.
GWTW : Today we find that most sport kites lines are either listed as "Dyneema" or "Spectra", aren't they really the same thing?
Shanti Speed Line: Dyneema and Spectra are not the same. Dyneema stretches 5%. Spectra 3.9%. Both are made from polyethylene but Dyneema fibers are about one third the size of Spectra fibers. For example, a 90 lb/test Dyneema line may have over 1500 filaments compared to a 90 lb/test Spectra line which has less than 500. When flying, the friction of wrapped lines breaks the smaller Dyneema fibers causing the line to become fuzzy and wear out twice as fast. Made in Europe and Asia, Dyneema is cheaper, so companies like to use it and claim it’s the same.
GWTW : Some companies coat their line. Does this make the line better?
Shanti: When we invented Spectra kite line in 1985, the rest of the industry was using Kevlar. Kevlar was a great line but it had to be waxed and you lost control with multiple wraps. On the other hand, Spectra line was inherently slippery and didn't’t require a coating. Today, companies coat Spectra because they’re making fishing line, not kite line. Coatings make Spectra line stiffer and less slippery. That’s good for fishermen and bad for kiteflyers.
GWTW : Some Spectra line is colored. Why is that?
Shanti : Again, companies that color Spectra are making line for the fish market and then trying to sell the idea back to kiteflyers. Fishermen want their fishing line to be invisible to fish so they like blue or green line. The problem is that you can’t dye Spectra, so color is added with a coating which adds friction. The irony is that kiteflyers (and fish) want Spectra line to be visible. For kiteflyers…white is good, blue is silly.
GWTW : What's the deal with Spectra "1000" and "2000"?
Shanti : Mostly it’s a marketing game. If you examine a braided line you’ll notice that there’s usually 8, 12, or 16 bundles of fibers in the construction. Honeywell Corporation makes these bundles in limited sizes or “deniers.” Spectra kite lines vary greatly based on how a company constructs a line from different deniers. However when companies started braiding fishing line there were no denier sizes small enough to construct a 30 lb./test fishing line, so Honeywell started making smaller deniers of Spectra “1000” fiber and calling it Spectra “2000.” The specifications of strength, weight, stretch and etc. are the same. You can check Honeywell’s web site and see for yourself. In short, Spectra, “2000” is great for making fishing lines less than 50 lb/test but is lousy for kite lines larger than 50 lb/test.
GWTW : The rumor in kiteland is that there will be a shortage of Spectra line as most of the Spectra fiber is going to the military. Is that true?
Shanti : Yes, that’s true. Spectra is used for making bullet-proof vests, helmets, and all sorts of high-tech military equipment. The Department of Defense gets first dibs on whatever Spectra they want. At Shanti we have a special relationship with Honeywell because we’ve been working with them since Spectra was an experimental fiber, so we can still get Spectra fiber for our braiding. That’s not true for other companies. That’s another reason why they’re switching to Dyneema and claiming it’s the same. It’s not.
GWTW : There is a great debate raging over the value of sleeving line. What's your view?
Shanti : I thought we settled this question 20 years ago. All high-modulus polyethylene lines such as Spectra and Dyneema have poor knot-strength of about 40%. Sleeving raises the knot-strength to about 65%. For example, a 150 lb/test line will break at about 60 lbs. on a raw knot or at 98 lbs. on a sleeved knot. That’s a big difference. If you sleeve your lines you can fly your kite on a lighter, thinner line and significantly reduce wind-drag.
GWTW : Isn't the line that comes prepackaged with stunt kite the best line for that kite?
Shanti : When kite manufacturers sell to the mass-market, they have to provide line because clerks in Costco and REI don’t know anything about kite line. Since most stunt kites are now made in China for the mass-market, that means they are generally packaged with what’s available and what’s cheapest. That’s usually Dyneema or some other blend of fibers. Unfortunately, a lot of this line is incorrectly labeled “Spectra” because it benefits the importers. Beginners don’t know the difference, but real kiteflyers know line performance dramatically affects kite performance.
GWTW : When you get right down to it, aren't most of the dual line sets out there really pretty much the same?
Shanti : How do I answer that? Last night, I watched an interview of Jesse James on 60 Minutes and they asked him if his bikes were different from Harley’s…he sat there dumbfounded and said something like, “Is this a joke?” That’s how I feel. Granted, we’re talking kite line, not motorcycles, but the flyers I know care about their equipment just as much as bikers do. Most of our competitors mechanically measure and wind their dual sets to save money. It’s fast. It’s cheap, but the fact is, there is no automated way to tie a good line set. I’ve been building machines to wind spools for over 30 years and I’m telling you the best line sets are done by hand – strung out, pre-stretched, precisely marked, sleeved, double-knotted and hand-tied in a figure-eight. That’s what we do at Shanti. We make our line sets so a flyer can walk directly onto a competition field and fly, no worries, no hassles. That’s important to us. We don’t care about the mass-market or the fish market or the cheap market. At Shanti, we make kite line for the kiteflyer. Period.
Our thanks to Daniel Prentice at Shanti for taking the time to share his views with us.
Shanti is located right here in Northern California. We have developed a very good relationship with them. They are very responsive to the needs of our customers. They are more than willing to make line sets to any specification. Need a set of competition lines for your 4-man team in 100, 105, 110 and 115 ft. lengths? We can do that. Do you really prefer to fly on 38 foot 90 lb line? We can do that too.
We stock what we feel to be 'standard' length line sets, but Shanti is willing to make sets to fit your needs. Call or email us if you need a custom set of lines.