Posts Tagged ‘Kites’

Bridle Line Bonanza

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

About a year and a half ago, the bridle line industry in the United States dried up.  Came to a screeching halt.  Died a sudden death.  And all the kite flyers, windsurfers, and backpack makers (bridle line is used as tensioners on backpacks, did you know?) were suddenly faced with a dearth of a crucial component of their equipment.  Bridle line is a spectra core with a dacron sleeve.  It is strong with minimal stretch and often comes in different colors.

During the past year and a half, Goodwinds has been searching for a cost-effective solution to this problem.  While we are working with a braider in the US on production of bridle line to our specifications, the process is long and fraught with difficulties.  We suspect that the bridle line we had been stocking for years was so severely underpriced that the manufacturer could not sustain production.  Regardless of our willingness to pay a bit more, the original manufacturer could not be convinced to reenter production.  We hope to see the new braider producing bridle line sometime within the next year or two, but in the meantime, we have located a German source for bridle line.

That’s right.  Bridle line is back!

In addition to stocking 150ft rolls of 100# and 170# bridle line in a few colors, we now also sell bridle line by the yard.  Visit our website www.goodwinds.com or click here for the bridle line page.

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What a Great KTAI

Monday, January 25th, 2010

After a long trip from Seattle to Las Vegas, a harrowing, bumpy descent into Nevada, and a mad dash over the rain-soaked freeway, we finally arrived in Primm to attend the annual Kite Trade Association International show. 

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We set up a marvelous booth with the focus on ourselves and our two computers – after all, porting endless amounts of carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes to the show was inadvisable, and the kite stores and manufacturers know all about our products without needing to see them.  We demonstrated the ease of ordering through Goodwinds.com, but the most fun and important part of the trip was putting faces to names and building relationships with our valued customers.

Not only do we provide carbon, fiberglass, connectors, flying line, fabric, tapes, and other kite parts to kite retailers for repairs and kite building, but we also supply several manufacturers with carbon and fiberglass as raw materials.

We had a great time, and we enjoyed meeting some of the greats in the kiting industry.  In two weeks, we’ll head to the NW Model Hobby Expoin Monroe, Washington, and we plan to attend iHobby in Illinois in October.  Not to mention the American Kitefliers Association’s convention in Seaside, Oregon in October and perhaps the Washington Kiteflier’s Association Fort Worden event in March.  Phew!  It’s going to be a busy year.  Perhaps we’ll see you at a show?

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KTAI, Here We Come!

Friday, January 15th, 2010

There’s something we can all count on in America: if the weather is bad, it’s probably nice in Las Vegas.

While we haven’t seen the below freezing temperatures of most of the country these past weeks, we have been hit with rain, howling wind, flood advisories, and the winter blues up here in Mount Vernon, Washington.  Fortunately, the Kite Trade Association International’s trade show in Primm (outside of Las Vegas) is next week, and we’re going to give our bones a chance to warm up.  We’ll be out of the office from Tuesday through Friday, January 19 through 22, but we will answer emails and return urgent phone calls.  We will have limited capacity to ship orders, so be sure to tell us if you need something right away.

If you’re planning to attend KTAI, we would love to meet you.  It’s always great to put faces to names, and we look forward to learning more about the kiting industry and seeing all the ways in which the carbon we supply is used in the industry.

And, hey, it’s Roger’s birthday on January 20th!  He’ll be sixty years old, and Leland and I are planning on celebrating dad’s six awesome decades with an extra day in Las Vegas.  We’re going to let him choose all the activities, which means we’ll be going to every car museum and eating loads of buffet food.  A great time!  Happy birthday, dad.


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