Could someone explain to me how line one would go about extending their flying lines?

Seems to me that as soon as you loop the kite once, and all the lines come together, that there would be snag potential where the regular lines end and the extensions begin.

Maybe it's just not practical to connect 2 linesets together to double your line length, and a person should just pick up a long set of flying lines for those low wind days. What say you folks?

I've flown a 10.8m Reactor II with Brian Holgate with double 30m lines. It gave a really long power stroke but you had to be 15 seconds ahead of it with inputs in the almost non winds we were flying in. As a test and testament to the light winds, Brian chided me into doing a 360 with it. I pulled it off but it was a lot of running. I'm not sure there is a problem with the attachment point of the lines being in a wrap unless you had short extensions on the handle side of the lines. The contact point is not in the middle but at about 1/3rd the distance to the kite.

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Originally posted by BeamerBob ... The contact point is not in the middle but at about 1/3rd the distance to the kite.

Thanks Bob, that helped me visualize the concept a little better. So the way I understand it now, as long as your extension lineset isn't the same length as your original line set, you shouldn't have to worry about the extension connection points of your 4 lines interfering with each other as they won't be at the twist point of the lines when you loop your kite (unless you loop your kite many times in the same direction).

Another question related to this topic, is there a better way to connect the looped ends of kite lines together, other than passing the entire length of one of the lines through the loop end of the other line?

Extensions are usually added to the kite end of the line. On that end , the lines don't touch each other.

If you larks head the extensions to the lines, they don't snag.

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Originally posted by Kamikuza If you larks head the extensions to the lines, they don't snag.

Seems like that would make a bulkier attachment kami.

I almost permenantly have 4m extensions on my Naish bar (which comes with 20m lines) but if the wind is right at the bottom of my useful range i will throw another 4m set on top of that.

I have never had an issue with snags while flying but if you have to self land by popping your safety it can add a bit of hassle to sorting the lines out after.

Bulkier than... what? How else would you attach extensions :dunno:

Flysurfer had ELCs on one of my kites and while they didn't snag, they were MUCH bulkier than simple larS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s head... and noticeably caused excess flappage

The little pink tags that FS uses to make it easier to undo the larS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s heads... those buggers do snag :o not catastrophically... yet! so I moved them right up to the kite.

FS front'n'rear lines are pretty close to each other though...

Thanks guys. I'll probably just attach the loop ends by running one through the other. :sniff:

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Originally posted by Kamikuza Bulkier than... what? How else would you attach extensions :dunno:

Pongnut attached a picture of they way I would do it. A larkshead would have to have something sticking out away from the line and a knot of some sort to keep it from slipping off. UNLESS you're calling the knot pictured above a larkshead. I wouldn't call that a larkshead though since the captive line doesn't form a loop upon itself.

Yeah, I call that a larks head