Durable Hand Wing Material

[lakemichiganwingfoiler]

What are the durable wing materials out there now. Just yesterday, my foil came down on the leading edge of my wing and put a 1/2 cut through the material. My bladder didn’t pop or bulge out so I could sail in. I don’t have sharp foils the edges are pretty dull, but just got my thinking that this contact shouldn’t have been too big a deal and shouldn’t have cut my leading edge.

Are there new materials out that can hand that kind of contact better. I knew Alula is light and stiff, is it also tougher to handle more contact?

[B-Walnut]

I wouldn't trust any material vs a foil.

However:

The superfabrics are all harder to cut and most of them don't propagate tears/cuts so you can finish your session before doing the repair with no fear of the sail ripping to shreds.

Ocean Rodeo says the new Glide AA is extremely tear resistant for both leading edge and canopy I believe.

[PonoBill]

Alula is light and strong, but not particularly durable. I've seen a few Allula wings that appear to be delaminating. I don't know if that's the right word for what is going on, but it doesn't look good. The newer fabrics have a lot of promise but designers don't seem to be able to get the best out of them yet. I bought a new 4.5 F-One V3 when my V2 F-one disappeared. The new wing has some nice design features and lots of high-tech fabrics. But the center of effort is far forward that the wing can barely be depowered. I might push through and learn to use it, but I found my V2 4.5 and I'm back to using that so it isn't getting much of a chance.

[B-Walnut]

Alula is light and strong, but not particularly durable. I've seen a few Allula wings that appear to be delaminating. I don't know if that's the right word for what is going on, but it doesn't look good. The newer fabrics have a lot of promise but designers don't seem to be able to get the best out of them yet. I bought a new 4.5 F-One V3 when my V2 F-one disappeared. The new wing has some nice design features and lots of high-tech fabrics. But the center of effort is far forward that the wing can barely be depowered. I might push through and learn to use it, but I found my V2 4.5 and I'm back to using that so it isn't getting much of a chance.

The delam issue did happen with some of the original Aluula wings. I haven't heard as many issues with the newer ones. The biggest thing with aluula is that they cannot be packed up wet. That's a disaster for them. However, if properly dried and repacked they seem to be incredibly long lasting from all reports that I've heard. I just bought the 3m and 4m Ocean Rodeo Glide AA so I'll keep detailed wear notes on them and report back in a year!

I tried the small v3 strikes. 2m and 3m. The 2m was okay, needs a minimum of 35 knots to ride but is nice at that speed. The 3m though, least favorite wing I've tried. Incredibly twitchy with a narrow wind range.

[Vancouver_foiler]

Alula is light and strong, but not particularly durable. I've seen a few Allula wings that appear to be delaminating. I don't know if that's the right word for what is going on, but it doesn't look good. The newer fabrics have a lot of promise but designers don't seem to be able to get the best out of them yet. I bought a new 4.5 F-One V3 when my V2 F-one disappeared. The new wing has some nice design features and lots of high-tech fabrics. But the center of effort is far forward that the wing can barely be depowered. I might push through and learn to use it, but I found my V2 4.5 and I'm back to using that so it isn't getting much of a chance.

The gold material that is on the Allula wings has nothing to do with Allula itself. It is a " look at me coating"  to make the clear Allula material stand out.
I have had 2 allula wings now that I've had close to and over 100 days of hard use and while the Canopy bagged out, the air frame itself stayed about 80% as stuff and new. the 5m did have some flaking.
In comparison , at 40 days on my Unit, it was bagged and airframe was fffflimsy.

[StellaBlu]

I had an early Aluula Glide that started to delam under very normal (probably light) use.  I didn't notice any functional difference, but it didn't look good.

OR replaced it under warranty VERY easily. 

I have subsequently had three OR Aluula wings (including the warrantied one) with no delam or other issues whatsoever.  They haven't softened at all and have held up as well or better than any other wings I've had.  I think Aluula is an excellent product (other than cost) in my experience and doesn't require any unusual care other than what is normal with a wing.