Hi All,
I have just got my new 2013 10m Rebel, this is my second season on these kites and so far i have been unable to self land in any wind over 13knts.
Usualy i just get to an empty safe part of the beach and just pull the release, this works perfectly but prob wont do my gear any favors. When i'm trying to self land the kite seems to just sit on one wing tip and wont fall over onto the leading edge.
I'm guessing there's a bit of a trick to self landing a 5th line kite but i just hav'nt found it yet.
Would love some positive feedback on how to land safely.
Cheers,
Andrew.
Is that all you gotta do!!
I wish i 'd have thought of that, DOH!!
Sweet, thanks mate.
Well I was never convinced on the fifth line pull thingy. Especially when the wind is up there in terms of the winds range. I think it was plummet, might have been puertz actually, can't remember who went into detail about just as the kite lands on its tip, grab as much fifth line as you could and keep pulling. He swears it works, maybe I never committed enough, because it never worked for me.
Honestly in light to medium winds I would just land it like any other SLE bow kite, grab a handful of front lines (including the fifth), drop ya CLoop and walk towards kite (but also at an angle towards the wind), when I got the the top front line, pulled it towards me and down she goes.
If in the mid to top third of its range I would either use the old rope with a shackle technique, or better still would help land my bro's kite, then he would catch mine..(been doing this a while so probably shouldn't recommend that really).
Their is a thread somewhere about this, somewhere as I asked the same thing. Try one of the guys I mentioned, they may be able to describe a lot better how to use the fifth thingy technique, again didn't work for me.
I'm pretty sure you have to be a little more aggressive than just pull the fifth towards you!
Hi guys no 100 percent safe way, but this is the neatest, and 2nd safest way to do this, land the kite on the beach at the edge of the window (prefer you to let go the bar then) it should just sit there,then quite aggesivly pull the 5th line it will fall towards you onto its nose, go up the 5th line to the kite and secure it with sand .Practice it on a light day at first ,and make sure there are no obstacles or people down wind .Any questions give me a call
Have fun George
pull the fifth hard (might take a couple of goes) and it will land, no more technical than that!! Thats how all us rebel (best kite in the world!) uses land them down here.
I started kiting in Feb after taking lessons (and have a 10m rebel too). I mostly kite on my own so have had to learn how to self land in all conditions. I've had a few screw ups, but think I am pretty consistent now.
As everyone else says, bring the kite down on the edge of the window, then briskly pull in the 5th. Sometimes if its windy it can flick on its back down wind a little, but as long as you keep on pulling in on the 5th it flicks over and lands safely.
So I think the trick is once you you've started pulling in the 5th, you dont stop until it is safely on the ground.
Hope this helps
Dave
Agree with the pulling the 5th method. works pretty well although its scary the first couple of times you do it.
So out of interest, does it work better to pull the 5th when the kite is about 5m in the air or with the wing on the ground?
With 4 line bridled kites I have always found it works better to grab a handful of front lines with the kite about 5m up and to take a few steps upwind as you pull in. If you try it with the wing tip on the ground they sometimes want to roll on their back down wind.... So not good.
Cool will pass that onto my brother, cheers for that. Just never committed enough I suppose.
^^^ why the red thumbs, just wondering is all??
Best success to land kite cleanly is when pulling the 5th line aggressively, make sure the kite tip is touching the ground. This gives the kite a pivot point or anchor point you could call it for the kite to roll onto leading edge easily, even in descent winds.
Mind you, in good wind, you gotta watch out, be careful, especially with small kites and is usually safer to punch out when kite is at 12 o'clock with 40m of free beach downwind of you. By the time kite gets to the ground, it'll be on its back and ground its self with out too much pressure, then walk up the 5th to secure kite.
cheers,
Robbie 
i just get my close to the ground no more than a foot, than just grab a head of 5th line. the kites are so good and well balanced it will just fall down on the Le. but you have to give the 5th line a good pull.
BEST KITE EVER!!!! 
Mitch how much of a pull. Give us a picture of how you actually do it, ie how much do you grab and how hard do you pull, do you keep pulling. ? Honestly I never felt comfortable with it.
My bro has the kite now and I would really like to make sure he lands it the most safe and effective way. Willing to give it another crack and show him.
As for the red thumbs wtf is wrong with you? Seriously wtf? Get ya head in the game ya kooks.
At melville on Wednesday night I self landed as no one to catch for me. Winds were light, but gusty. As I pulled 5th kite lightly floated onto back and drifted downwind. I kept pulling on 5 th and a pretty big gust came in and the kite went straight down wind on its back. Of f@@@@ I thought but I kept pulling in and the kite never went pyscho and I grabbed it and landed it.
Was not pretty, but not un safe either I think. When you have hold of the 5th and the other lines are completely depowered I think you have control of the kite.
I'm a newby, but feel this technique works for me in all winds. Probably best in steady sea breezes. If anyone has had a disaster doing this, I would be really keen to hear what happened!
I need to learn more for sure.
Cheers
i don't have this kite or a 5th line. so my advice May be moot.
have you tried a tethered launch/land?
that's my prefered method. there's almost no wear on the kiteat all.
if you kite sits at the edge on the ground without bar input without rolling back and launching its self you should be able to teather it.
Thanks peutz, I think your point about having the edge sitting on the beach before pullling in the 5th is a really good one. Giving the kite a reason to come down rather than flip. Subtle but important, it explains why some of my landings go perfectly and some a bit of a flap around before gaining full control. Will experiment more over the weekend, it's looking windy!
Thanks again guys.
Find a tree to land it in works everytime.
why not just use a launch line with a sand anchor or wrapped around a tree?
simply just walk to the kite to edge of window for launch, run up and hook in and away you go. and the opposite for landing
I use a carabiner of the bull bar to self launch which is fine, but being a newby where I finish up is not always back at the car! So it's pretty handy to be able to land the kite wherever i am. Plus it's quicker to 5th line drop it rather than hooking it up to the crab and running around grabbing it. But thanks for the tree tip, I'll try that one next time I kite at Melville! I've seen a few use that technique. Doesn't look very fast though 
Ah there it is. An anchor point. That is where I was going wrong. Also good to know about the lines around the harness hook that would have saved a near disaster with my Vegas once.
been riding Parks the past year and demo'd 2013 rebel for first time yesterday and self landing them waay harder/messier than my 4line park i found.
im sure practise will help but with 4line u can pull the upper middle line to land it smoothly and here u have way less precision i found.. this thread did help me tho so thanks all.
Select to expand quotekovi said...
been riding Parks the past year and demo'd 2013 rebel for first time yesterday and self landing them waay harder/messier than my 4line park i found.
im sure practise will help but with 4line u can pull the upper middle line to land it smoothly and here u have way less precision i found.. this thread did help me tho so thanks all.
Yeh have to agree. With the airush smart bar the kite rolls forward on its leading edge. Also in high winds at 12 release and it gently falls a d again rolls forward on its leading edge grab the top front line and presto done.
Incidentally Im at surfers paradise today watched a guy land his rebel and as puertz said he didn't anchor the wing tip and he had to walk up the fifth with the kite albeit with less power still wanting to fly off the ground. But he kept walking and pulling and it did eventually land. The anchor point is the key one thinks. Blowing it's tita off here elnino here we come!
Must admit prefer boosting up a wave face on my preferred side on the west coast unless you were more goofy orientated you'd like it over here
Again the tt riders and mutant riders were having the most fun in the mush. Lol. Don't know if they realize though you can actually boost on a kite and it's okay to leave the water now and then. Lol
not worth the risk , park the kite pull the safety no dramas, pretty easy in moderate winds self landing but if its up there one day y might get y arse kicked
^^ Yea thank for the great advice mate^^
I did try the quickly pulling armfulls of fifth line trick the other day. It was blowing about 20knts and i had a crack, at first i thought this aint going down and let go. Kite went back up in the air. Second try and i thought i'll pull the fifth hard as and not look at the kite more where i was putting the fifth line, i was worried about throwing the fifth over the bar end and it all turning to shyt if it did'nt go down. Before i knew it the kite was down. Too easy.
Big thanks to everyone that showed me the way.
PS. sup's aint boring, depends what you do on em!!
I hover the kite at about ten feet then slam it into the ground, most times it sits correctly then you can just tug the turning line to correct the angle the kite is sitting.
I have never used the 5 line, when the wind is gusty holding onto lines can be dangerous.
