Tangled lines

[andy_terwat]

Hello all,hope to sort out my tangled lines am,third attempt.Tried to do it in a bit of wind and learned a lot.Thanks to this forum i know to start from the wing on the A lines and work towards the risers,though any other help appreciated.Question is this ,why is it frowned on to remove lines from the risers and replace with care once sorted ? Thanks,Mal.

[pete_b]

Hello all,hope to sort out my tangled lines am,third attempt.Tried to do it in a bit of wind and learned a lot.Thanks to this forum i know to start from the wing on the A lines and work towards the risers,though any other help appreciated.Question is this ,why is it frowned on to remove lines from the risers and replace with care once sorted ? Thanks,Mal.

Because even though you take great care it is so so easy to get them wrong which will not be good in the air.

[carlf]

..agreed with that - you know the lines are connected correctly - they're just tangled in the middle. It can take a bit of time, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.

I check the brake line before anything else, then, as you mention, go from the A's and work through them.

Of course, best action is to try and prevent the tangles in the first place, so if you have a riser bag, would always recommend using that.

I was forever getting my lines tangled when I started and it took a while to sort. However, I rarely get tangles now, and when I do, they can usually be sorted quickly.

Best of luck!

[pete_b]

If you haven't got a riser bag a long sock will do.

[gordon_dunn]

If you haven't got a riser bag a long sock will do.

Fantastic idea!!! The simplest ideas are the best!

I'll defintely be doing this.

Also I'll be putting one in my harness pocket along with the emergency stuff sack incase of land outs too.

[bingreed]

I got into one hell of a tangle at the weekend, having landed my wing on a hawthorn hedge (don't ask...).

Quickly learnt it would be impossible to sort in the field - even the slightest breeze hindered progress, I was quickly making it worse not better - so I stuffed the mess into my bag and borrowed a large shed.

Out of the wind I hung the wing up high by the A lines the full length along a wall, so the whole wing opened up, then slowly, painstakingly started to unpick the spaghetti. The key was finding loops, then pulling them through; often releasing one loop would free up another two. Luckily the left/right sides weren't too tangled together, so it was just a case of systematically working from the riser to the wing, gradually making it better and better.

Once the A's we're clear I moved to the B's, which didn't take half as long. Surprising how quickly things unravelled once a couple of tight tangles were released by just one or two loops.

My golden rule: it was untangled an hour ago, so it must be possible to untangle it again. Tempted though I was to start removing lines, I knew the dangers involved and that, once I'd started I'd end up removing the whole damned lot! And if you pass the whole riser through some lines, and it appears to make the tangle worse, go back a step. Common sense (unless you're sitting in a tangle mess weeping, in which case common sense can quickly go out the window!)

Having the wing up on the wall helped hugely; I could hold the riser up and visualise the rows of lines. Sure this isn't textbook but it worked for me.

Sent from my iPad using PMC Forum mobile app

[andy_terwat]

Thanks for the sound advice everyone,now all i need is a calm day or a big shed.Oh and some socks. Mal.

[andy_terwat]

All sorted,thanks for the help.Best thing i did was take the wench to help out.Must be all that knit one purl one she does as she was much better than i at sorting the tangles. Mal.

[pete_b]

All sorted,thanks for the help.Best thing i did was take the wench to help out.Must be all that knit one purl one she does as she was much better than i at sorting the tangles. Mal.

They do have their uses.