Packing and Storing Your Kite
After a day of power kiting, the time inevitably arrives when you will have to finish flying and pack up to head home. Many users have questions about the best way to roll up the kite lines so that they do not tangle. Trying to untangle a single, double, triple, or quad line kite is a big pain and huge time waster. If you do not store your kite properly, tangling almost always occurs. So, to save yourself the hassle of knots, take time to follow these basic guidelines:
Start With Untangled Lines
If you put your kite away with crossed lines, you have no chance of getting it back out again in a ready-to-fly condition. Take the time to lay the lines out straight before you begin to gather them up.
Stake Your Kite Handles and Begin from the Kite Side
For safety reasons, it is important to stake your kite to the ground before you begin to roll up your gear. If your kite has a brake line, make sure the brake is engaged. Begin by folding your kite like a blanket. Fold it into a square shape that will fit into your storage bag. Make sure to tuck the bridles inside of the folds and let the lines lead out through the center. Next, place the kite into the bag, with the edges of the folds exposed towards the bag opening. This will allow you to tuck the lines in during the next step.
Arc The Lines and “Para Pack” them into the Bag
With your kite in the bag and the lines hanging out, return to your staked handles and walk them back towards the bag following a gentle curved path. The lines will lay on the ground in an arc like a rainbow, not folded back onto themselves in a sharp way. Gently reach into your bag between two folded sections of kite and spread them open. This will create a cave-like place for your lines to go. (It is very important that this space is free of any of your bridle lines. You do not want to tangle the bridle lines with your flying lines!) Next, begin to pull the lines hand over hand, putting them into the cave-like cavity as you go. Work your way towards the end with the handles. When you get to the handles, pick them up and keep them together. Place them into their own space in the kite folds. You do not want to store them with the lines or with the bridle lines it will cause tangles to occur. Zip your bag and you are finished.
Unwinding Your Kite to Fly
If you have followed the method described above to put away your kite lines, the best way to unfold your kite is to start by removing the handles from their spot in the bag and stake them down. With the bag opening pointing towards the handles, start walking down wind, simply letting the fly lines tumble out as you go. If you happen to see some tangles or loops, push on the section of the line that will increase the size of the loop. By doing so, the tangle will automatically “fall out” and you can continue walking and unleashing the line. Once you have unpacked all of you line, pull your kite out of the bag, unfold it, and begin flying as usual.
If you take time to properly put your kite away it will greatly increase the amount of time you can enjoy flying. It works great, eliminates the twisting action that creates snags, and goes by very quickly.
