to fold or not to fold

DangleMaster123 · Since 01 Aug 2010 38 Posts

hello my fellow kiters,

what is your opinion on putting away a kite? should the kite be folded or rolled before being placed in the bag?

thx

Inept_Fun · Since 14 Apr 2005 1417 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

roll it, light it ....

I roll my kites up but whatever floats your boat really.

skent · Wed Aug 29, 12 5:23 am

Folding helps keep it nice and crispy.

forrest · Wed Aug 29, 12 8:37 am

I do something in between roll and fold.

genek · Since 21 Jul 2006 2165 Posts East Po KGB

I crumple mine til it fits in the bag. Prevents long lasting unwanted creases from forming.

jeremy · Since 18 Aug 2006 276 Posts Manzo & HR Obsessed

roll and fold in half, but it sticks out end of bag (Naish) until end of season when I fold in thirds so I can stash it away until next season. I've found that folding visibly stresses the fabric, not sure if it actually weakens fabric or just softens it, that would be interesting to know.

bwd · Since 04 Aug 2007 385 Posts Obsessed

As a young'un I was taught to fold dinghy sails loosely to avoid creasing which kills them over time. When monofilm came along, rolling was the way to go, obviously..
With a kite, I roll it into a "double taquito" then fold as needed to fit into whatever bag, this way avoids creasing the same areas tightly and repeatedly.

shred_da_gorge · Wed Aug 29, 12 2:50 pm

Frolld it. Ride it hard and put it up wet!

MarkWorth · Since 02 May 2011 149 Posts Hood River Stoked

Folding keeps the bladder from twisting or moving around.

Fold the kite in half then fold from the wingtip to the center.

This keeps sand out of the inside of the kite and allows you to control it as it unfolds in high wind.

burton420 · Since 19 Aug 2007 38 Posts Kelowna,BC,Canada

i keep all my kites in a golf travel bag on wheels. i can fit three kites, bars, pump, and even a old 3 wood for the light wind days... the point of the golf bag is to fold/roll the kites as little as possible.

i love this sport...

Spike · Since 13 May 2007 1414 Posts Alameda Spelling Expert

DownStream · Since 18 Apr 2007 381 Posts Obsessed

i second the Mark technique

Slaker · Since 29 Jul 2008 41 Posts

Stuff sack like GeneK said is the best way to avoid creating weak points, but you get a lot of wrinkles. Folding is the best way to pack it small for traveling and keeps the canopy from getting wrinkled but if you fold it the same all the time you get weak points. Rolling is fine but if you roll too tight then it doesn't like to fold in half well and won't pack as small as folding. I like to do a really loose roll (which is essentially a fold) with the fold width matching the length of my bag, then fold from the trailing edge to match the width of the bag.