16 would be fine for a small kite that you will run fast with. The larger the kite and lighter the wind, the more strop you need up to your ability to reach both handles at full pull.

The proper length is no longer than the length of your arm from shoulder to wrist. That allows the most control and will never put the handle out of reach.

Quote: Originally posted by bigkid

Also the diameter of the strop is determined by the size of pulley you are using,

So Jeff,... What sized pulley will I be using?

I have bad shoulders. Make that I'm OLD.
So I use a very short strop (380mm between the foam tops) on "xxtreme grips".
The tops of the handles don't get tangled at all as the knot is inside of both handles and right up the top. I use 35cm handles on small kites and 45cm on anything above 5.4 m2.

Once set up the constrictor knot won't budge, but allows the 6mm line to flex between the handle and the leader or strop so there is no wear at all.
All my handles have the same tops as they are hassle free.
The top line (on my converted handles) is all, one piece 6mm starter rope and I have yet to wear one out.
The nice thing about this set up is, all adjustments are done on the bottom leaders and this minimizes the loose leaders on the top so they can't get tangled at the wrong time.

Check these out. A lot of thought has gone into their construction and they are very comfortable.
http://www.xxtreme.nl/xxproducts/xxgrips/
......and no I don't work for them. But wished I could.:D

I'll be at JIBE and splicing is what I do. If you want some help with the strop I'm always ready to help. Hollow core
line is easy to splice, and you can make your own tools. Yale Cordage has a line called PhD that is spectra with each strand sheathed that anyone can splice in less than three minutes. Don't be shy, look me up and you'll be stropped!

I'll have my sewing machine at JIBE in case anyone needs to stitch a spliced line. That's why I'm bringing. I'm going to do some bar construction. A 5mm line might be a bit much for it to chew on but I'm not averse to trying.

Chris, any chance we can sip some 120v AC from the kite fort?

Philip