A beginners laundry rigging set up

[HedgerowPete]

I do realise that without knowing the exact make and shape and size of the kite lifter and laundry this is going to be difficult for many to answer.

 

I want to talk rigging, I have been through the search section and back catalogue of posts and I cant find what I am looking for.

 

 

Starting from the lifter at the top of the line and down to a perfect anchor point is going to be one single line. At the moment I use small snap hooks to clip on a single flat flag with the bottom of the flag fitted with a small adjustable line and a second snap hook. nothing special just a beginners starter.

I was watching someone rig up their line laundry last week and he had a completly different set up. ok he was fitting larger inflatables but that guy had a main line from anchor to the lifter then he added a snap hook with the line laundry inflatable on it, but that then had its own main line running down to the anchour point and the second inflatable he clipped on also had its own main line running to ground as well.

is it normal to have a main line for each item of inflatable line laundry?

I can understand it with larger items but these were six foot ducks

[Edmond Dragut]

if the lifter kite is have enough pull you may add more then one laundry 

[makatakam]

I'm not into the laundry and lifter kites so you'll need to wait for the other guys who know more about it. The one thing that does come to mind regarding the setup you described is safety. Should the main line fail you don't have everything running away from you, especially if each piece of laundry has it's own separate anchor. Not super critical on the smaller stuff, but once you get into big lifters and lots of laundry, if anything gets away from you it could cause injury or property damage, or if nothing else you could be out a lot of money and/or have to do a ton of repairs. Protect your investment. Better safe than sorry.

[Edmond Dragut]

i forget to mention something important. each inflatable will have his own pull so.... kite line must to have the strength for  kite plus the laundry pull. almost for sure that is the reason you see it (on your opinion) to big kite lines used by flyers.  

[KiteKouple]

This is one area that I really enjoy... (Sled and Flo-Form Fan).. 

What I do is use a large lifter kite (Look at my Photo album in Bio if you wish) depending on the wind.. But what we prefer 24 or 36 Sleds on days where winds are between 8-20 mph. I always go overboard on line when hanging laundry also. 250lb for the 24 Sled and 500 lb for the 36 Sled. 

My preferred method is carabiner vs. line loops.

I attach line laundry with a carabiner and wrap the main sled line at minimum three times around the carabiner . I equally space my laundry (using arm lengths to measure) with the laundry with most drag towards the anchor side. You may have to adjust the amount of laundry depending on winds and what the pilot kite can hold steady. 

On the laundry side, I use sturdier/bigger/heavier gauge carabiner (Aluminum for light weight) for heavier laundry and smaller for lighter laundry. 

 

[KiteKouple]

This is an example of the carabiner and line wraps and the red line is where the laundry would hang.

[Kansas Flier]

On 5/23/2018 at 1:20 AM, HedgerowPete said:

is it normal to have a main line for each item of inflatable line laundry?

I can understand it with larger items but these were six foot ducks

I'll second what TeeamVee said about using carabiners.  You can move them up and down the line by easing the tension at the carabiner. When there is tension on the line the carabiner doesn't move. Very handy. Saves a bit of wear and tear that you would get from tying knots.

As long as you use a line heavy enough for both the kite and laundry, you'll probably be okay. 24 or 36 sled + a six foot duck or two should be good on a single 500# line, taking into account wind conditions.

There are different reasons you might want to use another line for line laundry. One reason is safety. Once you start looking at kites where you think you might need help with the lifter and laundry, then you should starting looking at the laundry having its own line.

Another reason is the "line laundry" isn't line laundry, but a kite able to fly on it's own, like stacks of Octopuses. The "lifter" is more of a pilot kite, keeping everyone in line. You don't want all those big kites pulling on one line- and one anchor, unless you have a really big anchor, like a fire truck.  For the smaller stuff- eight foot dogs, twelve foot windsocks, six foot ducks, nine foot fish and the like, you can fly off the lifter's line provided you use a strong enough line. 

Another reason you might want to use a second line for some line laundry is to get the angle right so the laundry will inflate properly. I had to do this with lifter that couldn't fly at a high enough angle and lift a fish to a decent angle for it to inflate. The fish didn't have enough pull to warrant to the use of another line. Generally I just slide the carabiners up or down the line till the laundry looks good.    

[Daougie]

I will hang my laundry from a second line on days when the wind is fickle i.e. Little to no wind at ground level. You get your lifter up and then raise and lower your laundry like a flag on a pole.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using KiteLife mobile app

[ifitcanfly]

I to am a carabiner guy.  Easy to add or adjust as needed.   If loading becomes a concern, I have been known to send up laundry on its on line, but still using a carabiner to easily slide up the main.   Just returned from a fun kiting adventure in South Padre.   

[DannyB]

On 5/23/2018 at 6:06 PM, KiteKouple said:

with most drag towards the anchor side

Can you clarify or expand on what that means? (I'm new. Thanks!)

[HedgerowPete]

On 9/6/2019 at 12:51 PM, DannyB said:

Can you clarify or expand on what that means? (I'm new. Thanks!)

please ask asmany newbie questions as you like, I am also new to this and the long term kite people. dont make it that easy to understand some of their skill sets

[ifitcanfly]

On 9/6/2019 at 6:51 AM, DannyB said:

Can you clarify or expand on what that means? (I'm new. Thanks!)

"most drag on the anchor side"  means the bigger kite laundry, which pulls harder, needs to be attached closer to ground anchor.   The reason is heavy loads (ie, more drag) will pull the kites and other laundry down the higher up they are attached.   take a look at this picture:  the large circular 'line laundry' at the bottom of the picture happens to be one of my strongest pulling (big load) or large drag ones I fly.  If I put it high on the line, it would pull everything down.  SO, I put it close to the ground, close to the anchor (which is not shown)    Hope this helps!