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Nice to hear you had a good session, it's worth playing with the different bridle settings as they do make quite a difference.

The quality of the lines (and handles before you mod them), have been the subject of much hate by myself too. I've made numberous posts about them from when they first came out.

I was of the opinion they should sell kite only, like other makes do, and let you buy the lines and handles of your choice. Others were of the opinion, that you should consider the lines and handles as 'free' with the kite, and throw then away if you don't like them. I can't accept that line of though myself, as there must be a cost for them somewhere in the overall price.

To be honest, I always thought they were a bit short, as I normally use 30m lines, but as I've started buggying more and more I find they're ok, especially if on an open beach. The problem is, as you say, the quality...reminds me of parcel string...lol

While I've not had any give way yet, they don't inspire a lot of confidence. With crossing the lines over you'll notice you tend to get the cross over point the same distance up the lines from you, so it will wear in one point the most.

One thing you can do, if you don't want to buy new lines yet, and providing they haven't worn too much, is to turn the lines around. So the ends attached to the handles will be attached to the kite, and the ends attached to the kite will now be attached to the handles.

This will make the crossover point happen on a new bit of line, and the old cross over point will now be up at the kite end of the lines where they won't cross. It'll extend the life of the lines, so long as you so it soon enough.

For replacement lines, I've always used the normal SK65 500/300lb dyneema lines. They've been fine on all my other kites, and are a lot thinner, and stronger than the ones on the Busters.

Re Flexifoil Handles

When I first started getting my kites, I was going for Flexifoil handles on all my kites, thinking they were the best. Now I'm not so fussed on them. I find the Buster handles, very comfy to hold, and once you mod them as we mentioned above, they work fine. A final tweak might be to change the leaders totally like I did on the Kite Essential handles above.

My other preference is the Kite Essential handles. They have a nice neoprene grip, although not as soft to hold as the PKD ones. But good on a hot summers day when you have sweaty palms...which brings me to why I've gone off Flexifoil handles. I find in the summer that I struggle to grip onto them much more due to the slippy surface of them, and having hands that tend to sweat in the summer.

There' also the issue that the new Flexifoil handles (with the neoprene cap), have had issues with handles snapping unexpectedly, or the leader lines pulling through. It's usually preceded by a creaking noise from the handles, but not always.

Doesn't inspire confidence in them. Flexifoil do change them is it happens to you, but that's not the point. It's a safety issue, what if it happens to you mid jump, or under load?

The two most likely times they will go.

If you can manage it, I'd just re-leader your PKD handles, it's not that hard really. You can buy the dyneema line for the leaders from boat shop / climbing shops quite cheaply. Just make sure it's strong enough (at least 700lb). Take the handles apart, noting the lengths of the existing leaders, and make some up the same length. Make the bottom ones a bit longer if you want so you can add parking loops for the brakes on the back of the handles. Make sure you melt any cut ends with a lighter to seal them.