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feelxitxburn
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well its my second day out flying and both days ive learned that i hate unwinding them due to knots, twists, tangles, etc. basically the lines are all tangled up with each other in the most massive multiknot i've ever seen. it got so frustrating after an hour i found myself lying in the middle of the field cursing the lines. i've learned my lesson on my winding more cautious now and even debating using two different winders just to be extra careful. theres a kite shop around here that has lines for quads but they come at a pretty hefty price and i think the lb test is 300 or something rediculous, way too much. they have shanti dual sets which are 90 lb at 75 feet and thinking of just buying two of em.

would that be ok to attatch to the quad if i just evened up the lines?

if the lines werent even, could i just add a rope knot on the top handles to make it so?

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First line of defense against tangles:

Larkshead your top and bottom lines together. Take your left top and bottom lines and larkshead them together. Take your right top and bottom lines and larkshead them together. This is a must. Don't worry about larksheading left and right after doing this.

The next tip is to keep a finger between the pairs as you're winding them onto the winder.

Doing these two things keeps the lines from weaving in and out of each other, which is what makes knots. They may still twist, but a twist is not a knot. I rarely get a tangle that takes more than 15 seconds to clear by doing this.

As for linesets, the 90# x 75' should be fine. You can order quad sets online too.

If you're up to it, you can make your own linesets as well. It's much cheaper and you can make exactly what you want.

While you can correct uneven linesets with pigtail adjustments at the handle, it's better to just even out the lineset. Keep in mind that you're just working with four separate lines. If you get two pairs of dual-line sets and they aren't the same, just use one set for the top and one set for the bottom. It's OK if the top and bottom lines aren't exactly equal (closer the better though), but the left and right sides do need to be equal.

Hope that helps,

Jason

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Right. My post wasn't meant to say that it's good to have upper and lower lines of different length. I just meant that this situation is OK if you end up with two linesets that don't exactly match each other, and you're not comfortable with cutting lines to length.

It's always best to have all four lines the same length and make your adjustments with pigtails. There are other adjustment methods, but the pigtails are popular and easy to make/use.

Jason

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I always wind my 4 lines on one winder. However, I know a number of quad fliers who use two winders. It avoids much of the problems, if you don't mind the extra time. However, I do it exactly as Jason mentions and rarely have any problems. But I never, NEVER let anyone else wind up my lines -- no one does it exactly as I do, and although they may do it better, if I do it myself, I know exactly what to expect when I unroll my lines.

I'm also a firm believer of keeping all four lines the same length, and only use my pigtails for different wind conditions. They can be used for uneven top/bottom, but my preference is all the same length. I've used screwdivers in the front yard to stretch out my lines and equalize them. The neighbors think I'm crazy, but my lines are now the same length. (and if they're new, they also need to be equalized after flying for a while)

By the way, another thing I do (maybe too fussy) is to alternate top/bottom so I evenly stretch out and wear out my lines. I'm not sure it's totally necessary, but it doesn't take any more effort to swap them top/bottom.

Just my approach. MHO.

Doug

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so i went and bought just two sets of duas. what i didnt realize was that an individual set had 2 different lengths. i didnt think much of it, i just wanted to make a lift off. bad move. ended up spinning like crazy while i got a nasty tangle. im new to kiting so this tangle took me a nice hour and a half to undo. pretty much killed my day. so i headed home and went to change the lengths of all the lines to match the shortest one. i had to adjust the lines cause the difference between each of em was just too drastic. that took a good half hour. im slow, but ive learned to be patient and cautious because the slightest move could set you back a good amount of time if you dont know what youre doing. so i go out to test the new adjusted lines and if that didnt work well thatd be a whole day gone to waste. well voila! it worked beautifulll. i then pigtailed the already attached ropes to the handles to do micro adjustments to even things out. i learned a lot about this kite over the past 3 days. patience is essential.

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Maybe I'm just lazy,but I never use winders.I wrap the lines around the handles.When I'm a few feet from the kite I figure eight the line betwween the handles leaving just enough line out to be able to fold up the kite & then bag the ktie with lines still attatched.When setting up its much quicker too.THere's usually one or two twists which are simple to take out.Hold handles together & spin in one direction or other to remove.

So long as same person does the winding there isn't a problem.

This is standard practice with quadline foils & works well with any other quadline kite that uses handles.

Good Winds

Mike

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Another thing to remember when you are winding up your lines is to wind them onto the winder using a figure 8 pattern. This helps keep the twists to a minimum. If you wrap your lines around the winder in a circular motion you twist the line each time you wrap, a figure 8 pattern takes the twist back out on each wrap. Also, make sure that when you unpack your lines that you do it in the exact opposite way that you put them away.

On my Rev's, I always leave the lines attached to the kite and handles when I pack it away. I always pack the kite away first and let the lines dangle out of the end of the bag. The kite stake will hekp keep them tight. Then stick the kite under your arm and start winding the lines towards your kite stake. When you reach the stake just stuff the winder inside of the bag and then follow it with the handles. Most of the time the handles will poke out of the end of the bag. I secure them in the bag with the pull string. This makes it very simple and easy to set up the kite and no chance of one line doing the "weave-in-&-out" of the other three lines. Normally when I set up my Rev's it is only one or two twists of the handles and on very rare occasions a handle-pass-through and your ready to launch!

To set up your rev, just reverse the process. Put in your kite stake, pull the handles and winder out of the bag. Stake your handles and then begin unwinding your lines as you walk backwards until your lines are all extended. Pull the kite out of the bag, set it up for flight. Walk back to your handles and straighten (if necessary) and launch! :kid_content:

It will take you a couple times to get a system down that works for you but once you do you will find that line tangle will cease and fly time will definatly increase!!! When I first started flying I also experienced a bunch of headaches with line tangles but I havent had a line tangle for ages (except a couple weeks ago when my daughter was flying the IMP and just stuffed it all - lines and kite - in the bag after she finished and didnt bother using a winder at all :kid_cussing: ) She also learned that line tangles are a nightmare and to use more care when putting them away. lol

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I use one winder for a set of four lines, leave the handles on, pair the left/right sides together at the kite end and wind up from there... Unwinding entails staking my handles down, walking away with the kite and hooking it up when I come to the end. :kid_cussing:

Never found any practical difference between straight winding and figure 8 winding.

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I just wind all 4 lines around my handles too.

I don't put my finger between the lines or anything like that.

The essential thing is to always wind and unwind the lines with the handles pointing the same way.

I point the top of my handles towards the kite and walk towards the kite when I wind the lines up.

When I unwind, I set up the kite, attach the lines, and walk away letting the lines come off the handles. Pointing the top of the handles towards the kite as I walk away.

If you use a winder, you don't have to figure-8 if you point the winder the same way winding and unwinding.

When you figure 8 you put a twist one way and then the other way so it all evens out.

When you just wrap the lines around the winder (or handles) you are putting a twist in the lines with every wrap. That doesn't matter if you orient your winder the same way when you unwind. That way all the twists come off the same way they went on.

When you are unwrapping the lines when they haven't been put on with a figure-8 it will often look like the lines are coming off in a tangle. Don't panic! Wait until the lines are all the way undone and most all the twists will be undone.

This question comes up a lot. One of these days maybe I will make a video which would explain it all a lot better.

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When you just wrap the lines around the winder (or handles) you are putting a twist in the lines with every wrap. That doesn't matter if you orient your winder the same way when you unwind. That way all the twists come off the same way they went on.

Since I leave my handles on the lines, and they're staked down, the twists I put in while winding all come out... The only issues I ever have is if I've let the handles swing around a bit during wind-up, and they get twisted or crossed there.

When you are unwrapping the lines when they haven't been put on with a figure-8 it will often look like the lines are coming off in a tangle. Don't panic! Wait until the lines are all the way undone and most all the twists will be undone.

Exactly... Also, if it still appears that there are twists... Walk them down to the handle and most will clear out.

What happens sometimes is that there are twists one way at X end, and twists the other way at Y end... So when you push them together, they cancel each other out.

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