The profiles on my first parawing were all bare laser cut fabric. At some point the edge of one of the profiles tore a little bit. It was easy enough to tape up, and parawings take a bit of a beating when you're learning, but it's still annoying.
A new parawing was delivered today and the leading edge of all the profiles are reinforced with binding tape.
I'm curious if other brands have stayed minimalist, or put in the extra effort to improve the quality and durability of their products, and whether this is a new development as parawings improve?
Select to expand quoteGorgo said..
The profiles on my first parawing were all bare laser cut fabric. At some point the edge of one of the profiles tore a little bit. It was easy enough to tape up, and parawings take a bit of a beating when you're learning, but it's still annoying.
A new parawing was delivered today and the leading edge of all the profiles are reinforced with binding tape.
I'm curious if other brands have stayed minimalist, or put in the extra effort to improve the quality and durability of their products, and whether this is a new development as parawings improve?
without mentioning brands, I can tell you that you will see several v2 with tape reinforcements on the trailing edge close to the lines attachments which are often reported as too fragile when only laser cut and sewn.Several brands have active riders' feedback group and I noticed that trailing edge stress at connection points has often been reported. I have not seen many issues on the leading edge though.
It's a catch 22, we all want the lightest weight, most packable parawing, but any extra taping or reinforcement more than is absolutely necessary goes against this.
Just looking at my repaired wing and the main suspension profiles have binding. The profiles supporting the branch lines don't have binding and one towards the tip has torn.
The new wing the outer edge of every profile has binding. Not sure about the total weight but the new wing is made of lighter fabric and feels lighter overall.
Select to expand quoteFaff said..
Are PWs susceptible to stretch as well?
With so many supporting lines and battons you would hope not, and less of an issue if there was. Inflatable wings have way less support leading to stretch being very evident.
Select to expand quotehilly said..Faff said..
Are PWs susceptible to stretch as well?
With so many supporting lines and battons you would hope not, and less of an issue if there was. Inflatable wings have way less support leading to stretch being very evident.
Agree, I think it's less of a concern. I also think that there's still mixed opinions on if the frame was deforming, or if the canopy stretching, was the issue with inflatables. The PWs might have line stretch but I'd also expect that to be minimal since we aren't talking about full length kite lines.
As far as profile construction goes, the parawings are definitely more fragile than wings. That area on the Pocket Rockets is just on the sides, not the leading or trailing edges. Pretty easy to DIY reinforce if nervous.
Dyneema lines are known to shrink, but the percentage is relatively small and the actual length over short bridles would be tiny.
I know of at least one wing with Liros Technora lines which are aramid/kevlar. They are very length stable.
The most likely source of degradation would be simple wear and tear from being stuffed into pockets and scrunched up and explosively re-inflating and bashing on boards and all the rest.
Apart from getting weaker the coatings on the fabric will wear off and the wings will become porous, stall prone and more likely to get waterlogged.
