Kite Line Anchor Tutorial
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- Опубліковано 3 січ 2016
- Here is a short tutorial on preparing a kite anchor knot. The method is also explained by Val and Susan at Premier Kites. It works well for strong pulling kites, but may require an assistant's help. Practice this knot at home first.
Really Great video Glenn, I had never seen this video before!
Appreciated!
Hello Again, Glenn!
Thank you kindly for your reply & expertise! So great to have another kiteflying enthusiast watching out for me & continuing to inspire my flying passion! As it were, I am an REI member of 30 yrs. tenure & already have a haul-down set up exactly as you described which I’ve been using w/ a 30 sq. ft. flowform, a gorgeous deep purple kite I fortunately acquired from GKPI in Neotsu, OR well before David & Susan’s recent business retirement. Thanks for reinforcing that practice of reliable, safe haul-down! It is particularly important for me since I usually am solo on the flying field w/ no one to assist for either launch or recovery. My gratification & pleasure extends far beyond my own to the gathering onlookers who also enjoy my flights; I also enjoy answering their curious questions & brought a handful of them onto our kiteflying circle, just as you do. Thanks again for the encouraging boost! When the new kite arrives from Weifang in a month or so & I successfully & safely get it aloft, I would love to thank you by sending a short video clip to your e-mail address. Be well, stay happy, keep safe. 🤙🤗🤙 Aloha! Robby
The kite video link would please me. On UA-cam you can make it private or public, depending on your settings. Do not be surprised if I pick your brain for supplier info after oogling over it!
Yo, Glenn! Excellent show-and-tell tutorial! After slowly growing my skills flying increasingly more & more challenging kites over the past several years, I am ready to try my hand @ a huge flowform lifter (13 ft. x 10 ft. / 4 m x 3 m) using a 6-point ground stake anchoring system based on heavy-duty 14" solid-forged steel stakes, 20 ft. of 5,000-lb. test strength webbing, a universal swivel, & (4) heavy-duty carabiners (all w/ compatible test strengths as the webbing w/ sewn-in loops @ both ends). This anchor knot will be the perfect complement to my set up, particularly because I will be flying this large flowform up to 150 ft. max only from the anchoring system and not from a hand-held reel (which would be impossible w/ a kite this size unless one wanted to end up in the South of France across the Atlantic). Thank you for demonstrating this knot so clearly in detail. Happy flying! Best regards from North Baltimore, MD. Keep well and safe! :-) Robby
Robby, comgratulations on your setup. You are going to cause a sensation. May I also suggest you equip with a haul down setup? This consists of a spit pulley connected to a carabiner which in turn connects to a webbed strap with sewn loops. In use, the pulley is placed over the flight line and kept closed with the carabiner and strap. You will walk the kiteline down until you can land the big kite and flip it upside down, or alternately bringing the trailing edge uowind. If you are flying over an obstruction, you may walk down a portion if the line, and haul that length back to your anchor, tie off and repeat as needed until the kite is grounded. Consider REI mountaineering supply as a starting point for split pulley shopping,
Thank you!
Useful video Glenn - many thanks.
You are welcome.
Nice tutorial Mr. Glenn!
When I was a Training Officer on my FD, I would stress to my firefighters the importance of practicing their safety knots as well as the anchor & lifting knots we would use. The good FFs would practice them until they could do them with a blindfold on!
Thank you Dano, I'm grateful.
Happy New Year Glenn and Cherie!! Thank you for 2015's videos. I hope 2016 brings you lots of free time to enjoy your hobby! This is a great knot. I call it the "to-go" knot because my favorite restaurant uses this knot on their bag when you take away your meal.
A fitting name as any! I've got a couple of surprises for you in 2016!
+glenn mitchell. I've seen what Utube will allow; it would have to be pretty racy to surprise me...organza kites on Blacks Beach in La Jolla, CA "wink wink"?!? Never mind me, I'm an old San D. sailor with rose colored memories...
So helpful and witty, your a great teacher.
"The Mr. Rogers of kiting"
Nice compliment Amy, thanks.
@@PanyingPilot 💙💚💛
Yo, Glenn!
You have me chuckling in amusement. When the time comes, I’m sure I can figure out how to post a UA-cam video link privately to you of my multi-point anchorage & large flowform kite in flight. Last night, I had a brainstorm & figured out that for less than $50, I’d easily be able to add another anchored strap & pulley to my original set-up resulting in an added mechanical advantage by a factor of (2). This would further facilitate solo landings & recovery. You are certainly welcome to pick my brain on resources. Just don’t be surprised if you find just a few meager grey cells floating around. 🤣🤣🤣 Just curious: Where are your favorite flying fields? I have (2) in the Baltimore/Annapolis Metro Area (Oregon Ridge County Park & Sandy Point State Park) & (2) in Massachussets (First Encounter Beach, Eastham, Cape Cod & Stage Fort Park, Gloucester, Cape Ann). I look forward to trying Wahikuli Beach Park on West Maui next time I’m back home. Testing my brand-new 1000 ft. of 125-lb. test 9KM Brand braided Dacron line w/ a Bora 7 parafoil (the smallest of my kites) in 14 mph forecasted winds tomorrow afternoon after the rain from Zeta subsides. Have a great week. I wish us all good luck on Election Day! 👍
Hey Glenn, I'm curious as to what is on the Aft end of this seat-belt contraption as its connected to your pickup?!?
Dano, I use an 5 inch Harbor Fright carabiner which can pass through the hole in the metal buckle blade on the male end of the strap. I add some rubber tubing on either side of carabiner to help center the metal buckle. I have a spring loaded seat belt retractor on the strap itself to make it compact and self winding. In use, the caraginer connects to a bumper hitch hole. Easy peasy. Oh yes, set the brakes!
Thanks! Gonna use it for my centipede kite next autumn if things get too tough...
Happy New Year Karl. I suggest you use the knot regularly with all but the lightest of lines. My reasoning is that when rigging or freeing flight line from the anchor in fresh wind, the management of the knot should be instinctive. Everything in your rig will resist you, and it becomes muscle and leverage against wind force. Stay in touch and welcome to our group.
I love this method, it was just the insight I needed to address my situation for a lifter. Out of curiosity what kind of test is the line and what exactly is it called. I need to step into a 1000 pound test setup for a 27 foot lifter with 35 foot tail I just got. I don’t like the large plastic winder I prefer the wooden ones . Can’t find them
Online. The strongest test I have is/was 250 lb and it was Kevlar rope. Cut my fingers and lost my two polka manta ray stack last week
Amy, sorry about the cuts and kites. You can look at HQ climax brand 1000 lb line, you can look at Sterling brand sheathed braided 1250 climbing accessory cord 5mm diameter. You can use Peter Lynn or Tug.com dyneema line. The difference is this. Dyneema is slick and harder to handle than sheathed accessory cord. Accessory cord has a better grip, but is heavier. In a good wind, the difference is negligible. The weakest part of the line is at the knot. Learn to tie a figure 8 knot to retain 80+% of the line strength. You can store the line on a orange plastic electrical cord winder from a home improvement store, or you can repurpose a canvas bag to put the line in any old which a way. The important thing is to never allow the end of the line ( with your figure 8) to fall back into the bag, as it will likely form a knot. Also, you should tie a colorful flag about 20 feet from the other end of the line as an indicator of the end. If you are hauling down a big kite and you can not walk down the line with a pulley, then you will walk down some of the line, make this knot and walk it back to your anchor.Doing that three or four times should do it. You will need leather gloves. Bicycling or rock climbing gloves are better than muleskin work gloves. Use baby powder to get them on and off. You will want no less than 150 feet. It may also be worth your while to take a 20 foot length and fashion a separate ladder line for use between your flight line and anchor Regards, Glenn email is mitchell93210@gmail.com
@@PanyingPilot that’s awesome! I’m here on the field just absorbing all this knowledge. I have the knot you show here down, is that the figure 8?
@@PanyingPilot I’m gonna check out the rest of your videos for more tutorials. I appreciate your style of teaching and I am easily able to follow along.
I’m still reeling from the loss of my two stack pink and black polka mantas. After seeing yours, Jim’s and Mike’s, I had Tim Sorensen order from his people to make a replica . First custom kites I ever had made. Anyway last week I was flying in conditions that I knew where too strong and unpredictable to fly those, but I did it anyway. I’ve flown ‘em 100 times with the same set up, this time the line snapped at my anchor and off they went never too be see again. I tracked them visually to their first obstacle in a far off tree in a neighborhood. By the time I could get closer they are gone. Spent hours searching and knocking on doors
Hi Glenn. Well done on your video. Just one thing missing for me. I don't have a kite big enough to use this knot so
for now I remain a simple larkshead man. But maybe 2016 will bring bigger things.
Dream big and practice for success. Who knows what's around the corner.
Use a larkshead with a twist, else it will slip under tension. GM
Lately I have been flying my kites off my truck bed like that how are you connecting the seat belt to the truck. I assume you are connecting it to your trailer hitch or something. I have been using a carabineer and wrapping line around it several times and just clipping it on to the tailgate cable which is fine if I am seating on the tailgate but with my bigger kites if I get off the tailgate it actually starts to lift the tailgate up. I would love to see more about creating anchor points for use on back of trucks.
Good morning Mark, Flying the big stuff can be a challenge under any circumstance. You are correct that I am connecting the seat belt to the bumper. I use the hole for the towing ball together with a quick link (or two) to make up the connection between the anchor strap and the vehicle. I recommend the descender ring for smooth deployment of heavier line. I also favor the Spanish knot (see my tutorial) because a twisted larks-head can be the devil to loosen up later on. If your truck is equipped for being towed, you will agree that the serious weight is on the engine side of the truck. Finally, do not be shy about making a curb your unpaid servant when parking.
Send photos to mitchell93210@gmail.com or post a video, OK? Hope to see you at the Convention. PS. bring Trilobites!
Fascinated by your figure eight wound reel. Where did you purchase it? Great video btw.
Hi, I purchased it from the long gone, Gomberg kites. Consider www.headfullofair.com/post/flat-line-winder-run/ as an alternative. Good luck.
Intresting ! I only wonder how you manage to make this knot when you're on your own, wearing gloves and you have a hard pulling kite up into the air?...
Daniel De Rudder Excellent questions Daniel. You will learn from experience regarding gloves and needing an assistant. If you are alone, wear gloves if you must. Now, to your question. When rigging your kiteline, use decender ring or figure 8 ring at the ground/sand anchor. See my other videos for an example. On the figure 8 ring, larkshead the line over the larger ring and clip the smaller ring to the anchor. Fly your kite. When the line is paid out through the figure 8 ring and the kite is flying well, wrap the flying line around the figure 8 ring to halt the line. The line will be tight going to the kite, but will be loose on the other side. Make your knot with loose line, attach it to the anchor and remove the figure 8 ring if possible. If you get overwhelmed by wind, use a larkshead with a single twist to quickly make an anchor knot. Avoid getting your fingers pinched in the larkshead loops. You can clip a twisted larkshead on to a heavy carabinier and clip that to the figure 8 ring and it will lock off and be secure. Finish tying the Spanish knot and re secure it to your anchor, removing the temporary knots and gear as you can.p
Good advice ! Thanks Glenn.
Hi Glenn, I practiced making this Spanish Knot from this video along with the video from PremierKites last week. I tried it out in the field this past weekend. The problem I faced when flying without an assistant was creating slack in the line on a large, hard pulling kite. I tried creating slack in the line by using a karabiner attached to a thick rope wrapped through my belt loops and latching the kite line to the karabiner in the fashion that many use karabiners to attach line laundry. My intent was to use my body to pull in some slack on the line so that I could create the Spanish Knot. Again, the pull on the line was probably strong enough for a tight wire walker and I couldn't attach the karabiner to the line by myself without an assistant. Does anyone have suggestions for solo fliers?
John Brink John, your description of the problem is excellent. A single person managing a hard pulling kite necessitates some pre-planning. We've all been there! Launch the kite. Pay out flight line from an anchor with a carabiner clipped to a figure 8 descender ring The flight line passes through the descender ring. See this page for carabinier /strap/decender ring gear.
www.gombergkites.com/line.html
Rise your kite to the height you desire. Next, stop further ascent by putting a bunch of turns around the narrow waist of the ring. Your kite will be anchored, but not pretty. Next, prepare the Spanish knot. When it is ready, you may slip the three loops of the Spanish knot into the carabinier. You may then unclip the figure 8 ring and release line from it. Practice this at home first. The result is a neatly anchored flight line and a disconnected figure 8 ring in hand. The ring can be employed again when the kite is walked down. Regards, Glenn
Thanks for the input, Glenn. I just discovered GombergKites.com this past Saturday and found the page that you linked to. It was exactly what I have been looking for. I ordered the figure 8 ring along with some anchor straps and some more large carabiners. I also ordered a micro pulley because that was something I had envisioned would be ideal for walking down a kite.
I was guessing that pre-anchoring was the key, especially with the figure 8 ring that can allow letting out line slowly and then temporarily anchoring with a few wraps around the mid section.
Your comments helped confirm that I was on the right track. My order should arrive before this weekend so hopefully I'll have some time to plan and practice and then hope for favorable weather conditions this weekend.
I have the ITW Triton Kite that I flew last weekend and it pulls pretty hard at altitude but the Mayan Double Delta Conyne Kite nearly cost me a serious hand injury several weeks ago. I had never experienced that degree of pull. It was pretty scary.
I'll let you know how it goes and hopefully have some photos to share.
Thanks!!
John Brink With the right gear and some practice, you will be golden😀😀😀
Hi Glenn, thanks for the video. What strength is the carabiner rated for?
Peter, for the big kites I use Omega brand 22KN oval carabiners for smaller stuff, I have many Harbor Freight carabiners of assorted sizes. If you are going to fly the big stuff use climbing gear or arborist quality stuff, but opt for aluminum over steel.
@@PanyingPilot Thanks, I could tell that was a H/F one. I have 22kn biners and straps, always plan ahead.
@@peterbennett8810 Enjoy yourself Petet and keep me and the others in the loop, OK?
This knot is simply a "slippery overhand knot in the bight".
Matthew Rosen Thanks for another name for this useful kiters knot. Your comment is appreciated.
Glenn Mitchell no problem! We've been trying to figure out the "technical name" for a while!
I learned this from a kite vendor where they call it a Spanish Knot.
Happy New Year, Nick. Now I have two names for the knot.