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Untangling lines, is there an easy way!?

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Created by EvilElvi > 9 months ago, 24 Aug 2011
EvilElvi
WA, 6 posts
24 Aug 2011 11:24PM
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When self landing I pull the QR and reel in my front lines. this usually results in a massive tangle, the birds nest does my head in and I feel like a retard often making things worse! I'm sure there are some real clever bastards out there that have worked out the best technique ( for untangling the lines)...please share your wisdom with the "special needs" type like myself.


Peace

terminal
1421 posts
25 Aug 2011 6:06AM
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They are all loops tangled with loops, so keep pulling all the loops back out to make them bigger.

NickT
WA, 1094 posts
25 Aug 2011 6:42AM
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^^^ +1 pull the loops, try and sort it while it's still connected to your kite.
Instead of popping the release have you tried landing by pulling the top front line?

squidbert
QLD, 19 posts
25 Aug 2011 9:33AM
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untangling lines is not so bad, just takes a bit of time. start at the end where it attaches to kite and work backwards towards the handle. work on that one only until it is seperated then move to the next. you sort of just keep pulling it back through the tangle. hard to explain but thats how i do it.

GreenGriff
SA, 137 posts
25 Aug 2011 10:02AM
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I did this the other day instead of pulling the QR and letting the whole thing fly off in a mess i held it to slow it down letting it go once it had lost most of its spring tension not sure if this is the safest option, but for me avoided the 30 mins of untangling and it was only light wind

Chris6791
WA, 3271 posts
25 Aug 2011 8:43AM
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Always untangle on the beach, fingers crossed there is someone willing to give a hand. Take the mess home and the dog will keep you company but won't be much help.

25 Aug 2011 11:26AM
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Once the kite is safely landed and sanded, carefully pick up the chicken loop and reconnect it, taking care not to loop it through any of the loops of line.
Then just walk around the back of your kite and pull the lines slightly tight, straight downwind, there should be no tangles.
If you do get any they will just be loops in loops and all you need to do is loosen the loops up and then pull the bar and lines tight and they should disappear.

DO NOT disconnect the lines from the kite until you have done the above.

radman4
678 posts
25 Aug 2011 9:37AM
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EvilElvi said...

When self landing I pull the QR and reel in my front lines. this usually results in a massive tangle, the birds nest does my head in and I feel like a retard often making things worse! I'm sure there are some real clever bastards out there that have worked out the best technique ( for untangling the lines)...please share your wisdom with the "special needs" type like myself.


Peace


Sounds like you need to practice a new meathod of self landing ,yours is obviously not working,what type of kite are you using?

KIT33R
NSW, 1715 posts
25 Aug 2011 4:13PM
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You can self land without having to pull the Quick Release. Do a search on the web or ask one of the more experienced guys at the beach to teach you.

Other option - Ozone make lines with a stopper ball half way up. This stops your bar going too far in a QR situation with minimal risk of tangles.

suface2air
QLD, 701 posts
25 Aug 2011 7:33PM
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^^^^ yer i wish mine had the ball actually every kite should have the ozone set up with that . I dont qr any more (unless i really have too) because of this line tangle s**t . i wonder weather you can buy it seperate and fit it to normal lines like slide it on or do they have a special knot in the middel to fit them.

EvilElvi
WA, 6 posts
25 Aug 2011 7:54PM
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Thanks guys. It now seems so logical that the tangles can only ever be loops in loops as the ends have never left there original attachment points. my kite is a Naish yellow "Flag out" line has no stopper ball type thingy, so the front line rings let the flag out all the way through.......Can get messy.

How do you guys self land ?

Gorgo
VIC, 4993 posts
25 Aug 2011 10:45PM
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Get somebody who knows what they are doing to teach you to self land. It's easy and safe but you have to practice it to get it right.

As for untangling tangles ...

If it's a minor tangle then just tease out the loops and walk stuff out straight and it should pull out.

If it's more than a minor tangle then you will have to work each line through individually. There is no other way. [}:)]

Take a loose end and pass it through each loop. When you get a longish straight section then run it out straight, away from the tangle.

Continue working that single line through any loops and knots and making it straight. Be very careful you don't re-tangle your line or lose the bit your are working through.

Once it is done proceed to the next line and repeat the process.

The first line will take 15-30 minutes. Each successive line will take half the time of the preceding line (because there's less lines to be tangled in).

If you are patient and careful and methodical then it is easy. If you rush it you will get stressed and mess it up.

djdojo
VIC, 1607 posts
25 Aug 2011 11:19PM
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suface2air said...

^^^^ yer i wish mine had the ball actually every kite should have the ozone set up with that . I dont qr any more (unless i really have too) because of this line tangle s**t . i wonder weather you can buy it seperate and fit it to normal lines like slide it on or do they have a special knot in the middel to fit them.


The Ozone stopper ball is split halfway so it just slots onto the line and tightens with a grub screw. Any Ozone dealer should have them or be able to order them.

NickT
WA, 1094 posts
26 Aug 2011 6:39AM
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Just be careful if you go the stopperball option to ensure the kite depowers.
From memory a 9m kite needs 9m of fifth/safety to depower 7m=7m etc.

someone correct me if I'm wrong

26 Aug 2011 9:11AM
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NickT said...

Just be careful if you go the stopperball option to ensure the kite depowers.
From memory a 9m kite needs 9m of fifth/safety to depower 7m=7m etc.

someone correct me if I'm wrong


The Ozone stopper ball is not available as a spare part at the moment, I'll see if I can get some, in the meantime I'm fairly sure that there is a slingshot version that is available.

The distance from the bar, that the ball needs to be fixed on the flagging line, is the length of the leading edge of your kite +1M.

GalahOnTheBay
NSW, 4188 posts
26 Aug 2011 3:22PM
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^^^ Steve's on the money, but make sure it is the length of the leading edge of the largest kite you want to fly on that bar + 1 meter

As for the trick to untangling - simple:

28 Aug 2011 1:44PM
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Kitepower Australia said...

NickT said...

Just be careful if you go the stopperball option to ensure the kite depowers.
From memory a 9m kite needs 9m of fifth/safety to depower 7m=7m etc.

someone correct me if I'm wrong


The Ozone stopper ball is not available as a spare part at the moment, I'll see if I can get some, in the meantime I'm fairly sure that there is a slingshot version that is available.

The distance from the bar, that the ball needs to be fixed on the flagging line, is the length of the leading edge of your kite +1M.




The Ozone stopper ball is available, and will be in stock when the next 15 Reo's land, in approx 2-3 weeks.
9 times out of 10 if you walk around the back of your kite and pull the lines out down wind behind the kite you will have zero tangles.

radman4
678 posts
28 Aug 2011 1:33PM
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Dont see the point of the stopper ball,i have a ton of them in a box anyone can have for free,A-by clamping one on your line you seriously reduce the line strength,B-even when you release your kite flops onto its back with you left reeling in the lines till you get to the tip so whats the friggin point? learn how to park the kite by pulling on the top inside line or by hooking to a teathered line,makes life a whole lot easier.

28 Aug 2011 4:27PM
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radman4 said...

Dont see the point of the stopper ball,i have a ton of them in a box anyone can have for free,A-by clamping one on your line you seriously reduce the line strength,B-even when you release your kite flops onto its back with you left reeling in the lines till you get to the tip so whats the friggin point? learn how to park the kite by pulling on the top inside line or by hooking to a teathered line,makes life a whole lot easier.


The Ozone ball does not weaken the line. Ozone would not put something on a line that weakened it.
The point of the ball is to stop the bar sliding all the way up to the kite, and to allow easier relaunching and reloading of the safety IF it is released in the water.
The ball will not stop the tangling issues that have been mentioned in this thread, however it may reduce them slightly.


radman4
678 posts
28 Aug 2011 3:22PM
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^^^yep i dont think its a solution to reduce tangles ,wasen't targeting the ozone system just stopperballs in general,a lot of manufacturers have used them in the past and given them away as they can compound problems,if your gonna add one to your existing lines i would put the line under tension first then attach the ball,and make absolutely sure you set it up properly,have seen guys add them in the past and kites going into death loops cos they havent allowed enough leeway for the length of the kite,just something else to potentially snag,personally i would flag them totally.

KIT33R
NSW, 1715 posts
29 Aug 2011 9:07PM
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Kitepower Australia said...

radman4 said...

Dont see the point of the stopper ball,i have a ton of them in a box anyone can have for free,A-by clamping one on your line you seriously reduce the line strength,B-even when you release your kite flops onto its back with you left reeling in the lines till you get to the tip so whats the friggin point? learn how to park the kite by pulling on the top inside line or by hooking to a teathered line,makes life a whole lot easier.


The Ozone ball does not weaken the line. Ozone would not put something on a line that weakened it.
The point of the ball is to stop the bar sliding all the way up to the kite, and to allow easier relaunching and reloading of the safety IF it is released in the water.
The ball will not stop the tangling issues that have been mentioned in this thread, however it may reduce them slightly.





I fly Ozone kites and once accidently released onto the safety when I was 100m off the beach. The bar went out to the stopper with the kited flagged onto the water. I slowly pulled in the single line that was attached to me until I had hold of the bar again. I then reloaded the safety and relaunched. Easy. If the bar had gone all the way to the kite I would not have been able to do this. Stopper balls are a good idea.

radman4
678 posts
30 Aug 2011 6:09AM
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^^^^^thought we were talking about self landing not releasing to sfty on water,stopperball when correctly fitted can help on water,but not really much help self landing ,however even on water dual line flagout is a way better option,with a single line flagout in the surf kite will get rolled real easy and thus more prone to tangles.

laurie
WA, 3848 posts
2 Sep 2011 5:51PM
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EvilElvi said...

Thanks guys. It now seems so logical that the tangles can only ever be loops in loops as the ends have never left there original attachment points. my kite is a Naish yellow "Flag out" line has no stopper ball type thingy, so the front line rings let the flag out all the way through.......Can get messy.

How do you guys self land ?


I've landed the naish on the yellow line heaps, and you shouldn't be getting tangles? I make sure the yellow line is on the side on which I'll be landing, dive the kite at the deck, and about a metre or two above ground pull the QR and it flags to that line & the kite lands nicely on the beach (usually)

Occasionaly the yellow line has snagged, making for some exciting moments, so I always feed it out a bit first, and not a drama.

Self landing is always dangerous, so be alert! Always preferable to have somebody catch it, but that's not always an option.

Some videos for different brands here

www.seabreeze.com.au/Articles/Kitesurfing/How-to-self-land-your-kite_2165109.aspx

salt
VIC, 616 posts
4 Sep 2011 6:00PM
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I've untangled many students lines.. Keep them really loose and lots of the "knots" fall apart.

Making the lines tight creates more knots.

Shaking all the lines out and keeping them loose- they almost untangle themselves.

busterwa
3777 posts
1 Nov 2011 1:33AM
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Give up kite sufing and windsurf ! ;-)


cauncy
WA, 8407 posts
12 Nov 2011 10:10AM
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I have a great system I bet my mate he can't untangle them 4 a couple of beers job done oh forgot to mention it helps if he has a drink problem

Briz
SA, 97 posts
12 Nov 2011 4:19PM
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Kitepower Australia said...

...DO NOT disconnect the lines from the kite until you have done the above.



+1
This is like Rule No.1

Rule 2 = Never forget Rule No.1

I forgot rule no.1 and rule no.2 the other night and wasted 50% of the session

DaCurls
WA, 134 posts
13 Nov 2011 1:27PM
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loose shake's, just shake shake shake, tried and tested method works every time no matter how bad it gets



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Forums > Kitesurfing   Newbies / Tips & Tricks


"Untangling lines, is there an easy way!?" started by EvilElvi