This is a running archive of repair notes originally published on our old kite repair blog, starting in January 2009. It's a mix of finished repairs, shop philosophy, material notes, and the occasional missive — kept here in order, oldest to newest, as a tiny sample of what's come through the shop over the years.
Kite Repair Blog
A tiny fraction of real repairs from WindFire Designs, since 2009
Putting an Ozone back together
An Ozone Access foil kite comes in ripped clean in half, ready for a full rebuild.
The golden Peter Lynn zippers
Tracking down nearly impossible-to-find sealed zippers for a Peter Lynn Venom repair.
The long way is the easy way
Why deconstructing a foil cell properly, instead of bridging over the rip, is the only way to get the shape right.
Perfect
A short, satisfied note on a particularly epic Ozone foil repair.
Best Waroo 9m strut
Repairing a Best Waroo strut failure right at the stiff fabric near the leading edge.
Really BAD kite repair
A cautionary look at a poorly executed prior repair job on a Cabrinha, and why sail shops aren't kite shops.
Car cover made from kites that were not worth repairing
Retired kite sails get a second life as a custom-patterned car cover.
Kite repair on a Cabrinha leading edge
Factory stitching versus WindFire's triple-step zigzag on a repaired Cabrinha leading edge.
Cabrinha Crossbow 2009 | Leading edge repair
Opening and closing a leading edge seam on a brand-new 2009 Cabrinha Crossbow.
Cabrinha Kite Repair | Featured as graphics
Turning extensive damage on a 14m Cabrinha Revolver into a deliberate design feature.
Best Waroo - juicy sewing goodness
Careful graphics preservation on a repaired Best Waroo canopy.
Ripstop kite repair tape
Why gummy ripstop repair tape collects sand and ages badly compared to a proper sewn patch.
Kitefix system - do folks actually like this stuff?
A skeptical look at urethane-adhesive Kitefix repairs versus sewn patches.
Leading edge repair | air pressure and adhesive
How unsewn adhesive-only patches slowly creep and fail under air pressure over time.
Heavily damaged Naish repaired
Rebuilding a Naish with two struts fully separated from the canopy and a ripped trailing edge.
Paraglider Repair - keep track of the dribs!
Careful cell and drib alignment while repairing a Mac Para Eden 3 paraglider.
Another fishbird back on the water
A quick, satisfying repair on a Best HP Waroo.
F-One leading edge Repair
A 12-foot leading edge rebuild on an F-One after a rock strike.
Truck Bike | The environment and our kite repair service
Hauling repaired kites by tricycle during a busy kiteboarding season, to keep shipping without burning extra fuel.
Woah there - Settle down
Redoing a repair gone comically wrong at the sewing machine.
Best HP - classic over inflation
Diagnosing a classic over-inflation failure in the cuben-fiber-reinforced leading edge of a Best Waroo Pro HP.
Kite repair graphics
A clean repair with graphics lined up nicely on the front side.
Another powered paraglider repair
Rebuilding a motor/prop-damaged cell on a Dudek 27m paramotor wing, entirely from the inside.
Fancy repair of an Ocean Rodeo Kite
Multiple simultaneous damage points on an Ocean Rodeo kite, repaired nearly invisibly.
Wainman Rabbit leading edge repair and shape test
Rebuilding both edges of a blown-out Wainman Rabbit leading edge seam and shape-testing the result.
Cabrinha kite repair | we have this weird color
Finally putting a rare strange-yellow Cabrinha cloth to use on a precisely aligned repair.
Cabrinha meets the rocks
An epic multi-rip repair after a kite was pushed against a rock wall in heavy surf.
Extensive Leading Edge Rebuild on Best Waroo Kite
One of the largest leading edge rebuilds WindFire does, on a Best Waroo.
Paraglider repair
A heavily damaged Pro Designs paraglider wing repaired internally, preserving factory alignment.
North Rebel 11 Kite Repair by WindFire Designs
Rebuilding a North Rebel with a destroyed wing tip and a fully separated strut.
Two tips completely ripped away from this North Rebel
Both wing tips torn away on a hard-loaded North Rebel, with full before-and-after documentation.
Repair of Dudek Nemo paraglider wing after a strike from the propeller
Macro photography of fiber-for-fiber alignment while repairing a propeller-damaged Dudek Nemo paraglider.