Hey guys, i been reading the board for about 2 month's now recently purchased my first kite ( BeamerII 3.6) that i purchased online and a popular site....I opened the back pack for the first time this afternoon, unfolded the kite and found that ALL the bridle lines are immensly tangled every which way...
Now my question is: is this normal? I mean you buy a kite suposedly ready to go basically out of the box and i have a huge spider web of lines in tangles that would make a fisherman cry.:D

Also if this is normal any tips on how to untangle these lines without goin crazy :D:karate:

1. patience
2. patience
3. patience

It is not impossible, no matter how bad it seems! Just dont get impatient and start yanking the lines hard, you will take a nice, loose pile of lines and turn it into a tight knot that will double the time it takes to undo! If you do get frusterated with it, put it up for an hour or a day then try again. I had a terrible mess of a 2 line set and it stayed in the top of my kite closet for 6 months before I spent the couple hours sorting it out. Just anticipate that it will take a while and dedicate the time to it, and it will be done before you know it... Best of luck!!

Seany

And for the record, I cant say what to expect with a new kite, as I have mostly used stuff in my bag...

My son wanted to try this fine sport; I gave him big mess of a birds nest (tangled lines) that I just happened to have laying around (something to do on a long winter’s night); and asked that he untangled it before we went to the park. He had 4 days to do it, quit after 4 hours. I told him that he doesn't have the patience to do this. With very few exceptions I recon everyone has had to untangle line on more than one occasion.

I have to agree with the last post from jonesing.
1. Patience
2. Patience
3. Patience
4. More patience

that does sound odd, tangled bridles, on a brand new kite, never had that happen, patience is the only way to get that problem fixed....

maybe it was a re-stocked brand new kite, that was returned?

i like the kid idea... tigger thanks for the idea

Tigger,
Funny you should mention, it was my kids fault they were like that. I waited and waited and kept reminding him, but I was the one who finally broke down and untangled the mess after 6 months.... Oh well.....

Seany

When i got my first kite, i unravelled the lines wrong and they ended up tangled. Took me and my brother hours to undo them all. The trick is to hold the handles (or the thing they're wrapped around) virtical and wind the lines off. If you let the handles do a figure of 8 then they'll get tangled. mmm

I think Don is right; If it was sold as new kite, It must have been a re-stocked item that had been openned.

I just unpacked a bunch of new HQ stuff yesterday including a Beamer II 2.5 and it was very neatly packed.

The bridle lines were all connected by their toggles to a center loop on the trailing edge by a larS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s head. Thus they can get intermingled a bit but not intertwined or tangled. If you store the kite without the lines and handles attached, be sure you re-attach them to the center loop this way.

All HQ products I have seen have been delivered neat and tidy with typical German precision.

I have found that the best way to un-tangle a mess is to slowly make all the loops larger and larger and of the same size untill the tangle just falls apart by itself into one large pile that can be re-wound.

revjym,
You sure they're tangled?
It might look like a vast clump of lines, but I'll bet if you find the two ends (pig-tails), you might discover it was mostly an illusion.
Often the pig-tails at the ends of the left & right bridles are attached somewhere and when freed, come clean and all the bridle lines cascade in sequence to the kite.

Amongst the tricks you'll be learning (what is a good kite day-in a practical sense, what is a good kite wind, how to wind and unwind without hassles, how to steer the kite most efficiently) you'll learn to deal with lines.

Usually it's good to distinguish between tangles and twists.
Most folks use them as synonyms but kiters know the difference.
Twists in a line need only be untwisted.
Un-tying a twisted line results in twice the problems.

Usually one wants to make tangles looser rather than tighter and allow the problem to work it's way out.

Let us know how you solve your problem.


Safen Up! Buggy On!

"Often wrong... Never in doubt"

the coreylama

i unpacked the kite again to look at it again, and thanks everyone for the replies and took a closer look with the new advice, and i would have to say with all certainly that these lines ARE tangled, which will be work to undo, but especially since i have to experience being my first will probably take me longer and and im hoping i dont mess anything up..

Im also kinda disappointed in the retailer i purchased this "new" kite from, i dont care if its restocked but, dont restock it tangled...thats not cool

I would contact the retailer and ask them (him\her) if this was a re-stocked item, and then explain the kites lines are tangled upon recieving shipment and unpacking, go from there, you shouldnt have to untangle a brand new kite, thats why we buy bran-new.

let us know what results you get......

Find the pigtails and keep feeding them backwards through the tangles. It's never as bad as it looks. But Don is right, the dealer should be brought to task as this is an unacceptable way to receive a "new" kite.

How come it always happening when wind is just right.I do fly a lot and I always pack/unpack my kite with same way.Howewer it happend to me as to most of us that on perfect day lines are badly twisted or tangeled.I found that best way to untangle lines is disconnect one set of lines- brakes or power lines and take one line at the time.This is so much faster than walking with four lines and trying to twist left or right or You don't know any way...As far as bridles this is not what You want to untangle on windy day.It's better to grab next kite and leave this for cold evenings at home.When You have new kite it help to set it on calm day up to 10mph and test it ajust brakes if nesesery(tune the kite) and use it already tuned on more windy day.Don't leave Your kite on windy day parked on pole as bridle will tangle realy badly then You'll endup like this ; http://www.flickr.com/photos/slawek2006/125490244/in/set-720...
Cheers

revjym,
Without seeing your kite, I can only guess...
But DO NOT untie your bridles.

The bridles will be best if un-tangled, not untied.

Found your pig-tails?

Have a digital camera?
Can you post photos of your mess?


Safen Up! Buggy On!

"Often wrong... Never in doubt"

the coreylama

hey guy's thanks for the replies...

Yes i have a digi cam and i will be tackling the kite this saturday probably and when i unpack it i will take some pics.

As for contacting the retailer, im not one to make waves or complain often and i don't know what else i would get out of it besides a "sorry" so i dont think ill be emailing that site or doing business again there (which will remain nameless)

i'll get the pics up saturday guys! thanks for all the info!!

On tangles, I have found that most of the time the tangles are just loops within loops. The lines themselves are not really knotted in what we would traditionally call a knot.

Start in the center of the knot, gently start pulling the lines apart. Be careful to not pull them tight and create a solid knot. Gentle massaging of the rats nest will usually cause the tangles to work themselves free (or at least a major portion of it).

It also sometimes helps to have some form of super light tension on the lines as you work the rats nest apart. I agree with the above and you shouldn't untie the bridle lines at all.

Take some time and you should be back in business soon enough.

Hope this helps.

Ok guy's well i took some pic's, now remember this is myt very first kite,actually the first one i even touched, i have only seen people use them on TV and the net. So if i am totally off base and these lines are normal PLEASE do not knock me too bad!!!:saint:

But this is my kite and its lines as is when i unpacked it out of the backpack, and i havent touched the lines because the first time i unpacked it i saw whats in the pictures and got overwhelmed

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/jYm/DSC00001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/jYm/DSC00002.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/jYm/DSC00005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/jYm/DSC00004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/jYm/DSC00003.jpg

Looks like a 15 to 20 minute tangle to me.

reVjYm,
Actually, that looks like a pretty normal pile of spagetti to me. As long as the toggles were tied off at the loop on the trailing edge, then they should all just pop apart as you put tension on them. Try it. Undo the toggles (now you DO have to keep them organized or your WILL get a real tangle) and try stretching them out. Even better if you have a back yard with a gentle breeze to your back. It will come to life. Just remember to keep them in order and re-attach them when you are done.

Now just wait till the first time you pack up your kite in the field with a breeze blowing. It will seem like a mess. But if you keep those bridles attached to something, like the lines (and handles), you can wad and stuff all you want and they will pop apart the next time you unpack.

Same thing with your flight lines. Sometimes, no matter how carefully you wind things up and pack them away, they will seem twisted and tangled next time you unpack. Stop. Fight the urge to twist the handles to "undo" it. Probablyy they are twisted to the left on one end and to the right a bit on the other, and if you try to twist the handles to fixe it, you will induce a REAL twist that was never really there. If you walk the length from kite to handles and pull them apart, they will just fall apart. When you get to the end there maybe just one or two real twists from moving the handles around and that will be will be apparent.

So try it out and let us know how the first flight goes!!

the main briddle lines are tied off to the kite, wich is okay, maybe when they were repacked the person twisted the lines (like twisting water out of a wet rag type of twist) then hooked them to the kite, try to unhook them and spin the whole pair to see if it untangles just remember how many times you turn incase this dosent work...... its hard to tell in the pics how twisted you are, but just be patient, work out one side of the kite at a time.....
slow and easy wins the race......

being that i have never unpacked a kite before i had no refrence point basically to go on, but thanks DON i didnt notice they were tied off, once i untied the from the kite, thing's basically fell into place and 5 minutes later i am completly untied.

i wanna thank everyone for there help and insight

and i think it's time for me to go out this morning for the maiden run....

that what were here for....