Description
With this kite line sleeve kit, you can shorten stretched lines, create new line lengths, or simply replace the sleeving on your existing lines to prevent line breakages. At each knot on your line is a place for friction to occur which reduces the strength of your kite line at that juncture. It minimizes the chance of breakage at the knot and makes line attachment and removal a lot easier.
This kit comes included with four individual 15" segments of sleeving and the wire sleeving tool. It's compact and perfect to keep with you in your repair kit and allows you to dissipate the friction and increase your line life.
BENEFITS
- Sleeving thickens the flying line loop
- Protecting the spectra fibers with a dacron covering
IF YOU DON'T USE SLEEVING YOU NEED:
- Bigger attachment loops, since you can't untie spectra, a bigger loop can have more tuning knots added if necessary to shorten the length
- A stopper knot is built into the line BEFORE you make the loop
- Close-off the loop with a "figure-of-eight" knot as it moves in two directions and is very permanent when you place it
- A longer top leader, such that you can reach WAY out there for catches and 3D tricks, assume it needs to be the length of the gap between the 2 attachment points
HERE ARE THE BASIC STEPS TO SLEEVING YOUR SPECTRA KITE LINE:
- Sleeve one end of the line at a time making sure that you use the same color of sleeving for both ends of the same line. This is really helpful to help you keep straight which line goes to each side of the kite and which its corresponding flying strap.
- Insert the sleeving tool through your Dacron sleeving. Pull the tool a few centimeters through the sleeving.
- After the tool is inserted through the Dacron carefully take a lighter and melt the ends of the dacron for a clean-looking sleeving job. This will keep the Dacron sleeving from fraying.
- Thread your Spectra line through the end of the sleeving tool and pull the tool back through the dacron sleeving bringing the kite line with it.
- With the sleeving now on your line, you can remove the sleeving tool.
- Slide the sleeving towards the end of the line being careful not to go too far or you will have to reinstall the sleeve using the sleeving tool.
- Tie a knot at the very end of the line (including the sleeve).
- Stretch the sleeving back up the line so it won't be bunched up.
- Tie another knot at the end farthest from the end.
- Bring these two knots together and make a loop as shown below. Make sure this loop is big enough that you can easily tie a Larkshead knot to attach to the kite or flying straps. Ensure these loops are the same size on each end of each line.
The end of the line is now sleeved and you can repeat the process for each of the other lines.
Remember: make sure you have the same color sleeving on the ends of the same line.