knot in flying line

[MikE mAy]

so, i've always read that knots in your flying lines make them weak and are undesireable. i found a knot at the end of my trailing edge line last night. it's near the kite attachment point.

so, how do i get this sucker out? i saw it as i was cleaning my lines after a session last night, so it might have been loaded up. do i replace my lines? do i try and get it out without fraying the line fabric? none of the quides ever talk about what to do with a knot once you've found you have one.

secondly, can anybody offer me some suggestions on tuning my fifth line? i've got a 12 m Naish V4 with the shift system 5th line attached to the pump leash. i can't remember what the kite looked like once i was flying, but another novice flyer told me it looked too tight. additionally, once i had the kite flipped over on its back in the water, the fifth line seemed to have too much slack and the flying lines had pressure much before the fifth line ever had power. i saw in a video to pull the fifth line in until you reached the bar, and then to slowly let it out to relaunch. it didn't really seem to want to be let out, and then my flying lines reached taughtness much before the fifth line was out all the way. it just stalled there on the water on it's back with the lines tight. the wind was too light to really get it to either side of the window....

help!!!!!

i'm going to try and make it out to rush next week so, perhaps one of you might be able to help me there....

[lesvierra]

If you cant get the knot out, I'd definately have a spare line(s) handy if you plan to ride on it. I snapped a line on Pineview and later found that I had a knot where the line snapped.

[Ralph Morrison]

Since I'm an advanced beginner now I figure I can start giving advice. I had the same questions as you and this is what I was told by several experienced riders. If you can't get the knot out easily with your fingers it's better to leave it because you will probably make it worse. A knot will make the line weaker but it's up to you to decide when to retire the line. Breaking a leading edge line has worse consequences than a trailing edge.

You want your fifth line to be slack enough so there is no tension on it when flying, but not so slack that it's sloppy.

Lesvierra, what happened when your line broke, which line was it, what did the kite do when it broke?

[Marty Lowe]

I read on kiteforum.com

Lightly chew on the line,
then patiently work it loose.

Let us know if this works.

-Marty

[lesvierra]

When I broke that line, I was a beginner/beginner, not just a beginner. I went out at cemetary point in typical off an on wind but with some pretty good gusts. With little experience, I had a hard time keeping the kite in the air in the lowels. I was relaunching when a gust hit and accelerated the kite pretty fast breaking the front line. I remember the kite did something funky, like a semi kite loop and crashed into the water. I couldnt get the kite to roll over because of the break but didnt know I broke the line. It broke close to the kite. I sent the knot and string end to Derick at UKB Inc so that he could use it as a teaching tool to always check your lines. I bought a new set of lines and have the other three in my garage. Since I didnt know anything about adjusting lines, I just bought another set of lines.

[MikE mAy]

well, i emailed naish just to make sure they had extra lines since i couldnt' find them on any websites. they emailed me back that they had a set for $90. does this sound reasonable? they also emailed the chewing technique. i tried it and successfully got the knot out. however, there is slight discoloration and just the slightest hint of fraying. am i screwed? it looks strong, but i'm sure i'll have to replace them at some point. can anybody offer some info on when to replace your lines?

but, the chewing technique did in fact work quite well.

thanks for your helpful hints everybody....