It’s not easy to buy a secondhand kite because we are always afraid of getting screwed.
For this reason, I interviewed “Aurélien Cassou”, founder of Rép’ Kite. Aurélien is one of the best repairers in Montpellier and the South of France. He has been very nice to detail me the correct procedure to follow before buying a kite.
The list does not include the search but is intended exclusively for technical inspection of the equipment.

You can follow the steps below:

SUMMARY

Inflate the kite

Step 1: Inflate the kite with high pressure, then close the One-Pump pipes to isolate the struts. This will give the kite time to lose pressure if it leaks.

Check the condition of fabrics and seams

Then check the condition of the fabric and seams for potential tears or repairs:

  • Leading edge: there must be no tears or unrepaired scratches, because at the slightest overpressure (kite crash or even a big gust) it can explode. It is also necessary to inspect the seams and check that there is no beginning of hernia. And finally look for possible repairs. They are usually quite visible, however, when in doubt, look symmetrically at the other side of the kite to see if it is identical. On the leading edge it is not always obvious if a repair has been done properly, so judge the quality of the repair by the cleanliness of the seams; in general this is a good indication of the experience and professionalism of the repairer.
  • The fabrics: in order to simplify the detection of possible tears, place the wing against the light, you will see the smallest hole “light up”! Inspect the entire canopy, but pay particular attention to the area along the leading edge (about 50 cm wide). Then check the condition of the trailing edge, there will inevitably be some marbling (stretch marks) on the fabrics, but these should not be too large and should not extend more than 40 cm (16 inches) towards the leading edge. Finally, you should look for possible repairs ( sewn or not). In general it is assumed that a tear longer than 1 cm should be repaired with stitching, for others a simple adhesive patch is sufficient