This is a shot of my latest flying straps. I was strolling through the supermarket and saw these small alphabet beads and immediately thought of building a set of adjustable straps. Each block is 1/4" so we get a total possible adjustment of 4 inches. It's hard to imagine any good set of flying lines being that unequal in length, but the extra blocks aren't in the way and add almost no weight.
When I build a new set of flying lines, I prefer to stretch them in flight. Said another way, I'd rather be flying than tieing. After flying a couple of hours, I'll measure and adjust the length. There is very little length change after that. Adjustable straps like these help in that process.
I made these for flying light wind kites. They are just wooden crab apples available in any craft shop. I like flying with these because I can compensate for different line lengths very easily. I just lay the flying line in the crease between my fingers and palm. Just change the position of the apple to compensate for the length difference in the line set. It's also convenient if it's cold and you need to fly wearing gloves.
This is my "imitation sand." When I flew my first foil (a Stylus 1.8) I was at the beach in Ocean City, Maryland. I used beach sand to hold the trailing edge while I walked back to pick up my flying lines. In addition to letting me to fly without assistance, it prevents dangerous self-lauches, and walking back and forth because the ground wind has tied the kite into a knot.
Since I frequently fly alone, I needed a technique for holding the trailing edge and thought I'd try this. It's a plastic coated chain enclosed in a ripstop nylon sleeve with brightly colored line attached to both ends. I wanted increased visibility because I was concerned about forgetting to pick it up and later learning that the field maintenance crew picked it up with a lawn mower.
