Intro To Single Line Kites
Single-Line Kites: Where It All Begins
If you're new to kiting, start here. A single line kite is exactly what it sounds like: one line, one flyer, one kite doing what it was built to do. Go up and stay there.
This is the shape most people picture when they hear the word "kite." It's also the shape that taught most of us that flying something with your own hands is one of the better things you can do with an afternoon.
Why some kites have tails
Here's something people don't always think about: a tail isn't decoration. It's engineering.
When the wind hits the face of your kite, it pushes back and wants to spin the kite around. A tail adds a small amount of drag at the bottom of the kite, the same principle as feathers on an arrow or a rudder on a ship. That drag is what keeps the nose up and the kite flying straight.
Some shapes need a tail to fly at all. Others are naturally stable and only use tails for the visual effect. Sharon understands this better than most people I know. She's been designing kites for years, and when she adds a tail or a fringe to a sail, it's never arbitrary. It's working.
Take our In the Breeze Coconut Colorfly 30" Diamond Kite as an example. It comes with three 12-foot colour-coordinated tails. They look beautiful in the air. They're also doing a real job.
The shapes, and what they mean
The Delta
The Delta is named after the Greek letter for good reason. That triangular shape, wide at the back and pointed at the front, is one of the most efficient designs in kiting. A Delta has a massive surface area that catches even a gentle breeze, and a flexible spine that adjusts to gusts rather than fighting them.
If you're just starting out, a Delta is almost always the right call.
Our Manu Red 72" Delta Kite is one of my favourites to put in someone's hands for the first time. "Manu" means bird in many Polynesian languages. At a full six-foot wingspan, it earns that name. Flies in winds as light as 5 mph. Loops on the wingtips let you add streamers so you can make it your own.
Deltas don't have to be plain, either. The Smokin' Pirate Fringe 50" Delta takes the same reliable frame and adds a skull-and-crossbones sail with a fringed trailing edge. That fringe isn't just for the look. It adds drag along the back of the kite, built-in stability that makes it forgiving in variable winds. The whole family can fly it.
The Diamond
The Diamond is the one everyone draws when you ask them to sketch a kite. Classic shape, reliable in steady medium winds, easy to assemble, and when you get the right one, beautiful in the air.
The Iridescent Flame 24" Diamond Kite is a good example of what modern materials can do with a traditional form. Shimmering weather-resistant fabric that shifts colour as the kite moves. It catches the sun as well as the wind.
The Box Kite
Box kites are three-dimensional. The wind flows through the open centre of the kite as well as around the outside, which makes them unusually stable across a wide range of conditions.
The Iridescent Double Box Kite is a step up from your first kite and a good one. Multiple sail surfaces make it adaptable from about 6 to 20 mph. When the sun hits the applique design, it looks like a stained-glass window drifting across the sky.
Box kites are also a piece of history I feel personally connected to. Alexander Graham Bell spent his summers in Baddeck, Nova Scotia conducting over 1,200 kite experiments. His tetrahedral kite designs built directly on the cellular principle of the box kite. I was there in 2007 for the centennial of the Cygnet. I stood where he stood. The fact that you can buy a box kite today and have a direct thread back to that work is something I find genuinely moving.
How to launch
Don't run: I said it in our getting started guide and I'll say it again. Running creates artificial lift that disappears the moment you stop. If the wind is right, you don't need to run. You need to get out of the wind's way and let the kite do its job.
With a friend: Stand with your back to the wind. Have your friend walk the kite downwind about 50 to 100 feet. Pull the line taut. When a gust comes, your friend lets go. Don't throw it. Just release it. Give the line a firm, smooth pull back toward you and the kite will climb straight up into the clean air above any obstacles.
On your own: Lean the kite against something that holds it upright and angled slightly back toward you. A park bench, a tuft of tall grass, a bush. Walk back 50 feet, pull the line taut, and give it a firm tug. Up it goes.
Before you head out: learn your knots
Everything we've talked about here only matters if your kite stays on your line. A failed knot means a kite that belongs to the wind now, and not in the good way. The Larkshead Knot is the standard for attaching your line to your kite's bridle, and it's simpler than it sounds.
Visit our Kite Knots page before your first flight. Five minutes now saves a lot of chasing later.
Fly a kite. Just for the health of it.
Bud Taylor and Sharon Musto, The Kite Guys