Advantages of the 5th line

[a kiter]

There are a few topics about how to add a 5th line, but I'm only a beginner and would like to decide whether I should add the 5th or not? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

My kite is Takoon Skoop 4, 14.5 and I plan to have the 5th line attached in the surfshop, not doing it myself.

[Nino_fs]

The main advantage of the 5th line is safety. It provides a point that you can attach your leash to and get more depower than any bow when you pull the safety. It you are only connected to the kite via the 5th line(which happens when you pull the safety) the kite flips over and floats to the ground upside down with little pull.

Also with the use of a bar like the RRD wave bar you can actually use the 5th line as a very effective depower tool. (The concept is very simple and could be set up by anyone very easily it just requires a pulley see RRD website for more). The RRD depower method may not work with some kites though as the kite may not respond well the extra tension in the 5th line.

The final advantage worth noting is ease of relaunch. With the 5th line you can make your kite roll onto it's back without any swimming on your part. From this point you can get the kite to go to the side of the window and then relaunch.


The only possible downside of the 5th line is there is an extra line to sort out and that could get tangled. Also if for some reason your kite twists ie the struts are now on the outside of the wing the 5th line can tear your kite since it is wrapped around. This inversion is extremely unlikely and any situation in which you get such an inversion probably is dangerous to begin with. Also the tangling is not much of an issue either.

So basically There is absolutely no reason to not have a 5th line on your C shaped inflatable.

[a kiter]

The main advantage of the 5th line is safety. It provides a point that you can attach your leash to and get more depower than any bow when you pull the safety. It you are only connected to the kite via the 5th line(which happens when you pull the safety) the kite flips over and floats to the ground upside down with little pull.

Thanks Nino_fs.
At the moment I only have 4 lines but I still have a depower system.
If I pull the handle I will only have 1 line connecting me and the kite, and there is absolutely no power in it. The downside is that it is impossible to relaunch, since the lines get tangled and are far-far away from me. If I use the 5th line will I be able to relaunch after pulling the safety?

[ScottM]

Never did the 5th line thing. Seen it in action and seems to work most times. Did see one poor dude shred his brand new kite in half too.... so have to say I've been a bit warey of the idea.

I did the recon thing and it worked well most times... unless sand made the bullets stick and then it was lots of cursing!!

But if the 5th line is a good safety device for the C kites then it's a good thing for sure. Saw a guy have a close call last night, a fifth line would have been a good back up had he had it!

[kytesurf]

A Kiter,

You seem to have misunderstood the concept of depower, which either:
1. allows the kite to be kept in the air with less power, thereby increasing its wind range, or
2. drops the kite to the ground/water (preferrably to the side of the wind window) with little or no power if the bar is released (for bow/SLE kites anyway)

Pulling your safety to disconnect all but one line isn't really depower (although it has a similar effect to point 2 above), since you can't easily power the kite up again.

[zenlikeme]

Hey guys,
Should a kite with 5th line bowtie, what's the best thing to do. I read that you should pull your quickrelease to prevent from tearing the kite. Any other methods? What is the recovery procedure?

thanks
KB

[Nino_fs]

To your question about relaunching yes you will be able to relaunch since pulling in on the 5th line is the 1st step in a relaunch for a kite with a 5th line built in.

I have had some problems with the 5th line due to bar set up not the concept itselft. When in stalling your 5th line make sure there is a way to stop the bar from getting too far from you. If you have a loop the the 5th line travel through just put a ring or stopper ball on the 5th line at a little over the radius of your kite( half the distance from wingtip to wingtip ). Without some such device your bar will just travel up the 5ht line and be unretreavable. I know this because my bar has not such stopper and I am going to install one. Once this is installed you will have no problem relaunching your kite.

[a kiter]

Thank you guys.
I had the 5th line installed, it is definitely the way to go. Much easier to sort out the lines after pulling the safety release even in the water.
I can relaunch from the water and also helps in walking backwards on the beach.

[Trant]

With the bow-tie effect, I've found the best thing to do is just to release to your safety. 9 times out of 10 the line slips around the kite and it's no longer bow tied. The lines will still be in a mess, but the kite is flyable and you can get back to the beach and land it to sort it all out.

I've done it maybe 10 times in 2 years and never shredded my kite.
(Although I have seen it happen once)

[72kiteboarder]

Easy relaunch is the best thing about 5th line.

Safety is arguable. 5th lines do get tangled from time to time. Of course NO safety system is full proof.

IMO a simple 4 line re-ride like the older airush bars is still the safest bar to ride with.