try some talc powder, smother the sucker in it before you put it back in. This lets it slip around to the right spot when you pump it up. It helps to lay it out (folded back and forth in a bucket) so that as you pull it in with a piece of string it unravels straight....

I think it is the Naish handbook that suggest that beer is the answer...
As in, have a few beers ready so your mates will come over and help you...
Many hands make light work, but too many cooks ???
And it is all about the preparation - lay the bladder out flat and ready to go in beforehand. Talc. Patience. Half inflation. Manipulation.
Hope it all goes well...

dutchy1985 said...

Could anyone please help me with tips on getting the bladder in straight?

Inserting a bladder into the main pocket:

It would be interesting to know exactly how the Chinese girl does it everyday in the kite-factory....
with the ease and speed that's required of an assembly-line.
I bet she doesn't screw around with fiddly pieces of string knotted onto valve ends.
I reckon she has a special tool for the job.
Maybe she has a stiff, light-weight, flat wooden batten that's half the length of the L.E. sock ?
Maybe the wooden batten tool has a clip at one end to hold the rubber bladder flat and in place during insertion ?
Then maybe she pokes the batten tool straight up the sock with the bladder attached...
unclips the bladder, locates the valve in the hole and withdraws the tool.
What do you reckon ?

Easy as with a few mates! but I do like the broomstick idea (you could tie it to a few spots on the broomstick so it def. wont twist.)

The good thing about mates though is you can have a few beers with them afterwards and then go and chase girls.

Thanks for the tips fellas

Kitepower Australia said...

Thats pretty much exactly how its done.

NEVER use string or line, ALWAYS, use a piece of flat batten, yellow tongue plastic floor board joiner strips are ideal, we have a 2.5M length in the shop that pulls a bladder in easy with ZERO twists, first time every time.
I rarely ever use talc now either, because I know the bladder has gone in with no twists.
For One Pump kites I mark the orientation of the valves so I know they are facing the right way, when I pull them out.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

i always use one of my lines.why should i never use it?

sleek1 said...

Kitepower Australia said...

Thats pretty much exactly how its done.

NEVER use string or line, ALWAYS, use a piece of flat batten, yellow tongue plastic floor board joiner strips are ideal, we have a 2.5M length in the shop that pulls a bladder in easy with ZERO twists, first time every time.
I rarely ever use talc now either, because I know the bladder has gone in with no twists.
For One Pump kites I mark the orientation of the valves so I know they are facing the right way, when I pull them out.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

i always use one of my lines.why should i never use it?

Because you get twists easily. If I was somewhere on holiday maybe I would resort to a line if I could not find a 1M wooden ruler or something similar.
You just tape the bladder to one end and then thread it into the kite LE, like you would put a new elastic in some pants.
Because you are holding the flat wooden ruler or section of plastic yellow tongue, you can be 100% certain there are no twists.

If you peg down the other end of the kite and fold the bladder next to the opening in the middle of the LE, you can feed the bladder in all by yourself, like they do in the factory in China.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve