Packing foilkite without bar?

[Strekke]

Can anybody tell me how to pack a foilkite without leaving a bar attached? Wanna make sure those bridles dont get messed up. Have looked online but cant really find anything so if anyone has tips or a youtube vid, thanks!

[jannik]

Hi Strekke,

I'm currently using 1 bar for 4 foilkites. I use some of those kitchen bag clips to hold the lines fixed, one for each kite and one for the bar. Each time I pack the kite down I make sure the lines/bridles are not twisted and then put a clip on the kite side and one on the bar side. Now you can disconnect the bar from the kite if you want. The advantage of having one for the bar as well is that you can connect the bar to a kite without the need to unwind the lines. I usually connect the kite I believe I'll be using at home when it is still in the bag.
It is really easy and quick to do when you get the routine. I just wind up the lines on the bar, put it on the ground with the bridle stretched, make sure the a-levels of the bridle is on top and to the center, and then your lines are sorted and ready for you to clip on the thingies.....I'll post a picture of those....thingies....

[hayes]

Same as above

I roll the kite up with bar attached, then clip the lines and detach the bar. It is easiest to roll the kite by rolling each tip to the middle, that way you can leave the bar outside the kite

Attach the bar to whatever kite I’m using before I unroll the kite, then unroll the lines. never had a bad tangle, just run the lines out from the bar like you would with an inflatable just to double check they’re still all straight and not twisted

[joriws]

I just attach with larks head steering lines to their own front line and then I larks head front line to another. This way lines are sorted out when opening kite again and easy detach of lines and check that all is straight. If combined lines goes "underneath" or between of bridle, all lines would do that so easy to spot and take out.

[jumptheshark]

I do this when packing ANY 4 line bar! With foil kites you can use the same technique with the ends of the bridle. I do one extra step that helps keep it from flipping through itself (pics below) , which is to smooth the “T” into an “I” and tie it in a loose overhand knot, so the lines are all exiting the knot together and there is little chance they can flip through themselves.

Pro tip: For this system to really work well you need to wind your lines so that the ends reliably end up the same length. Like most, I fold my rear line floaters into the centre. If not compensated for, the front lines end up 20-30 cm longer than the steering lines. This is a pain in the ass. To compensate, you can see in the pics I have pulled about one bar float length (20-30 cm) of depower line through the bar before starting to wind. I fig 8's the rest of the depower line and rear line leaders around the centre of the bar until I come to the beginning of the actual flying lines which should all be aligned. If your lines are all the same length they will finish wrapping nice and even. Hope that made sense!

Can then attach any bar to any kite, unwind and launch with confidence.

Practice a bit and you will have it in no time.

[jannik]

Yes that video was the first method I tried to use and looking at it now I can't see why I never got it to work consistently. It should be straight forward...
Meanwhile, these are the clips I use. Forget that I've written left and right on them... That's just stupid . The foam on the other hand is very helpful to fix the lines on a windy beach.

[jumptheshark]

I found the T method would often flip through itself and leave me no further ahead as I would have to walk em anyway just to be sure I didn't have the rears wrapped around the fronts or vice versa.

Learning to do it systematically and the two things mentioned:

Making sure all flying lines end equal length

Tying the T in a loose overhand knot then stowing that knot securely on the bar (tucked into the gap between lines and bar)

Eliminated any issues. I use this method now for tight little drift launch spots where there may be no space to walk the lines. I attach the lines and unwind the rest out in the water.

Took a few tests to makes sure it was reliable, but now that I'm used to it, I wonder why I haven't done it for 15 years!

All my bars are stored this way for quick and easy mix and match.

I often walk to the launch spot with tube kites inflated and only what is going on the water with me so its nice to have a system that is not dependant on extra pieces of stuff.

[JakeFarley]

When I sent my Soul out for repair I tied the front and rear lines together on each side and put them in the deflate port on each respective side and closed it. When I got the kite back there were no crossed bridal lines and before I attached the flying lines I made sure the front and rear lines were not crosed.

Also, a fellow kiter I know uses about 2-3 feet of foam pipe insulation that is split lengthwise to secure the bridal lines on his 12m Soul. He puts the bridle inside the insulation. He also rolls up from the tips without folding the kite in half first.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frost-King-1-2 ... 1001277248

[darippah]

I tried both methods listed above (ikea Clips and T system) and got frustrated with the additional time required to pack/ unpack. Especially in winter with gloves!

I convinced myself that having a bar for each kite isn't a terrible investment since the lines will reduce wear from attaching/ detaching on the beach (sand getting into the lines) and will last more sessions per line set.

When I do detach my lines (when using bar with longer lines) I prefer the T management system - I find it less likely to invert itself, and prefer not to have an additional device (ikea clip). However since it's not possible to do this on the Kite end so I use ikea clips for the kite side.

Still searching for a better method so that I can use my 1 and only Carbon race bar for all my kites!

[tomtom]

If you insist to not have a bar for a foil kite /which is loosing one of main advantages/ im doing this:

Make very simple overhand knot to Left side front line bridle line attachment point with Left side back line bridle line attachment point - then make same on right side. Then tangle up this two group together. Every knot is very loose.
Now put kite in bag and let this final "knot" outside of bag.

This method have advantage that you wont need anything to do it. I tend to loose every gadget. So this is strictly gadgetless method.