Bladder Repair. Any thoughts?

jon.cowan · Since 12 Jul 2008 13 Posts

Thinking of trying to patch an old 2006 Torch bladder that blew up. 20 bucks vs 200 to buy a new Octopus ready bladder seems like a solid deal. Anyone have experience working with bladder patches like this one?

http://www.kitefix.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=56&osCsid=a425882e7fe4900b07a597dcfc9982c9

Joshiebaby · Since 14 Oct 2007 569 Posts Vancouver, WA Addicted

I wouldn't put 200 bucks into an 06 kite. I would roll the dice and put 20 bucks into one though... Perhaps airtime has a similar patch that you could pick up and not have to pay shipping on.

pdxmonkeyboy · Sun Apr 25, 10 10:10 am

There is a patch material called type A or meybe it's type b one is for nylon but the other is for rubber. Totally bomber stuff. I once used a ton of it on a huge blow out and it held great. Take all your bladders out and clean all the sand out if your kite and bladders.
Sand is really tough on bladders. Always give your pump a couple strokes before inserting it in your kite when at the beach otherwise you risk blowing sand into your bladders

bajakiter · Since 16 May 2007 58 Posts

Airtime sells bladder repair patches. I have used them with great luck, once on a major repair when I crashed my old 19m into mangroves in Florida!

pdxmonkeyboy · Sun Apr 25, 10 2:05 pm

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0028443.shtml

type A. $8 and your golden

jon.cowan · Since 12 Jul 2008 13 Posts

Rad. Thanks for the advice.

dangler · Since 26 Feb 2006 1780 Posts WINDY SPOTS XTreme Poster

heres my method for large blowouts: You need blue painter tape, rubber cement, an old bladder.
1. tape the blow out together from the inside of the bladder(the tape will remain in the bladder) as neatly as possible
2.cut out a piece of used bladder to cover the hole with plenty of overlap and tape it flat to a table
3. apply an even film of rubber cement to both surfaces
4. when dry carefully place you patch over the hole
5.viola

It looks ugly, but I've used this method when repairing blown out leading edges that result in big blowouts. Haven't had one fail yet. If your not careful in keeping it all flat, it'll leak. Marc at kiterx repair. 509-637-3221