Curious what people think about waxing lines to reduce wear and tangles. Does it help, or is it another urban myth? What sorts of wax and what application techniques work best?
Dont know how many sorts & techniques there are but my chicken loop rope is getting a bit furry so it wont be long before it could benefit from a full brazillian waxing.
hum, i suppose an even slightly serious response would be too much to hope for as soon as the word "wax" is mentioned.
Dj, stay away from sex wax for the lines - seriously - it causes sand to stick and the grit causes wear and tear. It is said that candle wax is the way to go.
Waxing your chicken loop rope will extend it's life greatly....here's how I do it:
melt a regular candle over a double boiler (a bowl with the candle sitting on top of a saucepan with boiling water), once melted put the chicken loop into the melted wax and use a wooden spoon to work the wax into the rope, season with salt and pepper and reattach to your bar.
As far as bridles and pulleys get yourself some sailkote (available from most ship chandlery's) and spray pulleys and bridles. Sailkote works wonders on pulleys, keeps sand out extends their life too.
i agree ....surf wax works fine ...rub it on ..leave it in the sun....problem solved
heard there are places in Sydney you can get a back,sack,crack and chicken loop wax for $30 !!!!!!!!! bargin
Go to the hardware store and get a stick of "Goss DryLube". Feels like a cross between wax and beeswax. Rub it on the lines. Not sure how long it will last, but it seems to be preventing the chicken line from going fuzzy, which is usually the prelude of it starting to fray.
Other thing is to make sure you rinse all the sand out of the line before kiting. That'll make more difference than anything.
I just got an old tin and melted the wax directly on the stove, then put the rope in and let it sit for a few minutes, the wax stays molten for ages. Then as you pull the rope out of the tin get paper towel, wrap it around the rope and run it hard through your hands to force it into the fibres.
If you don't mind spending more cash I would suggest using snowboard wax, its actually designed to repel moisture, especially if it is fluorinated.
But it definitely stops the rope furring up. Also make sure there are no sharp edges on your bar hole. I had some sharp edges and I'm sure they increased the rate of wear. I just used some Araldite to patch up the inside surface of the bar.
Don't worry about it, just go kite. The benefits would not be worth the trouble IMO.....
If you have continual line tangles on setup, then one day when there's no wind run your lines out and individually running them between your fingers a few times will help.
Problem with waxing your chicken loop is that stuff like dust, dirt and small sand particles get attached to it, I found silicon spray to work the best
