HowTo: pump up your kite properly

Kites are often not pumped up hard enough due to fear of damaging the kite. We’ll show you why this isn’t a good idea and how to go about doing it correctly.

Whilst it’s certainly possible to damage your kite by over-inflating; under-inflating is also not ideal.

If your under-inflated kite hits the water, the leading edge will bend easier and the struts are compressed more which leads to the seams being exposed to higher pressure. In addition the performance of the kite, in the upper wind range, is negatively affected as the kite will be less stable and precise.

But how much pressure is correct?

If you have a pressure gauge on your pump it’s easy – watch the needle and pump up your kite between 6-7 psi. With smaller kites, with thinner leading edges (LE), err towards 7 psi whilst with a bigger kites and correspondingly thicker LE err towards 6 psi.

If you don’t have a gauge just follow this simple test: hold the (floating) kite in front of you and flick your finger against the kite. If the kite makes a “Pong” sound the pressure is not enough and you’ll need to pump it up a little more. If, on the other hand, you hear a “Ping” the pressure is perfect and you’re good to go! If the “Ping” sounds a little metallic you have pumped the kite up too hard – and you’ll need to release some air from the kite.