Hi All,

Just wondering how many used the the 2012 5th Element Trust Bar, and are now using the 2013 model? The reason I ask, is that I now know of 3 cases where the safety (and in one case both safety and depower line at the same time) have snapped due to wear on the lines from rubbing on the bar. I know the 2013 bar has improved on this wear by 20%, but has anyone had any issues with wear on the 2013 bar yet?

Two of the times when the lines snapped the kites fell straight to the water leading edge first and recovery was easy, however one was in a slightly offshore wind and I was lucky to get my kite back with only minimal damage about 2km along the coast at a rocky point before it went completely offshore.

Kind of sick of having to replace expensive north lines often when I have only had the gear 6mths (similar for the other two people I know), but want to make sure it is worth going to the 2013 bar and if they have fixed the issue with the lower friction material through the bar.

Thoughts?

I've got the 2012 bar for my rebel. The double mainlines through the bar and the safety line are fairly worn from about 20 good sessions. The wear isn't as bad as what I get on the two similar bars, the Best 2010 redline bars I use with my Kahoonas. The flying lines seem to last forever and I just replace the mainlines when I can tell they are starting to fray too much. As you know, you get to be able to tell after the mainlines snap the first couple of times. As for the safety line, I've done a few ****ty repairs on it and don't use it..much. It doesn't seem to wear compared to the mainlines if you don't use it, especially for landing.

2012 BARS WERE SH.. So far i am happy with 2013 bar still in good order, Note i kite a lot

There must be a sailing lub you can get that will do the same as candle wax but with less of the problem with sand getting stuck to it...?

I seem to remember a very similar post with a very similar solution offered. Was it on kiteforum, actually I think it was.

So I suppose I will say what I said then. A really great solution to a problem that should not, I will say it again SHOULD NOT have to be found nor implemented on a bar that costs so much. I'm sorry but this is how I see it. As a past suffer of changing depower lines and nearly losing my mind in the process I just gives me the absolute sh1ts that such a high quality product in every other sense is spoilt by this stupid piece of crappy engineering.

Will say again what I said, plastic sleeving,

I was then given a whole bunch of different reasons why it is not, etcetera. For instance Should change your depower every season anyhow, all the bullSh1T reasons under the sun why this is the status quo with north bar and lines, crapola this went on for three pages of drivel people justifying this state of affairs, infact some of the waxing solutions become quite elaborate and bordered on hilariously insane...north for the price you charge for what is a bloody good product other than this.

Wax up your ropes? WTF, I had a go on a mates I think it
was 10mt 2013 evo, really nice kite, but yea, the first thing I said to
him was to keep an eye out on the lines going through the bar.
They do look like they are quite small diameter rope, like eppo says why
doesnt the manufacturer
have them coated in plastic so you dont have to wax them up. I had a slingshot bar with the same dramas i had too keep on replacing them. Then switched over to a bar with a plastic coated line going through the bar, problem solved never have to worry about it ever again.
He did say the insert that the ropes go through has some anti chaffing tech.
Not sure how much Trust I would give it after a season or two.
2014 maybe?

Yes the depower length adjustment wouldn't be an option, the iron heart would not be an option and most stopper mechanisms on plastic sleeving don't work that well.

But...

I'd rather just a simple plastic sleeving that didn't wear than all those other features which are nice but to me not that necessary. Over engineering as usual.

Pretty sure from the 6 page post on kiteforum with all the voodoo waxing and sacrificial doll solutions, silica gets sand sticking to it eventually. One guy carefully explained how he waxed his lines by dripping a certain type of wax onto his lines at a certain temperature in a certain manner. Was a good 5 paragraphs. Wtf! Nothing you guys can say that can beat what rubbish I read on that post. But alas they rope depowers will wear some more than others so I suppose waxing is a viable option. I still need to make a strong point. Here it goes...

Why? Why does the problem exist in the first place. Answer that question to yourself and you will get close to some clarification.

I know I did after teaching my children every four letter one known to mankind on my third change. Not proud of that one!

All true my friend. But watch and wait for all the justifications coming in. Won't take long...

My 2013, is showing signs of increased wear compared to my 2011, il post a pic when I can.

The double sided Velcro on the plastic bar stop is the culprit,
I'm going to cut some smooth material or remove the Velcro.

The velcro just captures the fibers of the 5th line, it does not matter where it is positioned.

This seams like a pointless design feature, maybe inbuilt redundancy?

there are advantages and disadvantages with using the tubing around depower ropes or not.

In colder regions the tubing can break and the bar can get stuck on that point which could it impossible to depower. It happened to me before.
Generally you dont have to replace the depower rope as much as there is less friction and wear on the tubing.

We have had some feedback from people saying that they prefer the feel of the non-tube trimlines as you have more feel, feedback and manoeuvrability on the bar others prefer the stiffness of the tubes.

If you unhook or are you are a heavy user on the North Bars then i suggest to put some bow wax on your trim-lines. This will increase the life of your line heaps.

The wear on the new 2013 North bars is way less than previous years due to a new centrepiece through the bar.

Not wanting to go over old ground but now the 2013 bars have had a summer of use how did they stack up as I am about to rebuild my 2012 system or do I just dump it a buy the 2013

I am also interested in how the new line went if anyone has feed back as I beleive they changes them in 2013 also

I still got 2010 bar n kite and still ok, use it all the time never had prob same with my 2012 bar seems ok to me ?

pattiecannon said...
Hey tommyj,
what brand of "candel" wax did you use mate? Will surfwax do?

and Intheloop, what is "bow wax". and where can you get this stuff?
Cheers

I have a 2012 North bar that is showing fairly severe signs of wear of the depower ropes, and I will need to replace it soon. Bow wax is pure bees wax mixed with vaseline and can be bought from any archery store.
http://www.redbackarcherysupplies.com.au/product.php?id_product=12

I have the 2013 bar and was checking.it yesterday and.noticed the.depower line has the red centre.wire coming.out same.as.picture above kite has not.been.used that much