kiteboard_kid

Ive just bought a 2 ripcurls suits, a summer and winter. the winter is the f-bomb 6/4 and i used it in cornwall a few weeks ago and boiled in it so it should be amazing in january. Its expensive though at £260. The other is the e2 bomb 3/2, reduced to £130 as its this years summer suit. It really is like wearing pyjamas as its mega flexy but still warm. Personally i tihnk they are the best looking suits around too. Ps i dont have any affiliation with rip curl, just love their suits.

I thought slingshot machine would be good as that what they are basically advertised towards being

thanks for all the info given onthis, have been doing some research and seen some drysuits on wetsuitoutlet.co.uk which sem fairly reasonably priced. Crewsaver HyperDry Pro Drysuit + Free Undersuit Gul Infra Drysuit New for 05/06 Gul Force Back Zip Drysuit all around £200 not sure if these are any good? or if i went for a good wetsuit, how dry would i stay as obviously i would prefer to come off the water and not have to spend too long drying myself in the frezing cold if possible. apart from that are there any major disadvantages of a drysuit if i went for one though?

im torn between the 05 and 06 model and am wondering if anyone has experience of these boards? i much prefer the graphics on the 06 board but this board comes at a priec of £450, whereas im currently looking at a second hand 05 model for £250. one thing that the 06 model advertises, or seems to, is that you can use it for pure surfing as the straps are removable. i take it this doesnt just mean you can take the straps of and kitesurf with it still, but instead means you can properly surf on it? im really not sure which as i love surfing on its own also but am not sure if its worth the extra £200 to get the 06 board. i know some people may say get the 05 board and then get a cheap second hand surf board but i havent the space and also after looking on ebay it seems that good boards with nice looking graphics arent cheap.

i dont usually get involved in this sort of stuff but this is getting stupid all this my kite is better than yours. just fly your own choice of kite and enjoy it, thats what we're all in this sport for. and as for lei's being safer than foils. its safer to sit on the beach and not kite. infact its safer to stay home and not even leave the house. there's risk involved in everything. fair enough we can take measures to minimise it but if you wana be really safe then quit kiting and take up something like golf. rant over

can anyone advise me on what winter gear they have for the this time of year leading up to around april? i have a 3/2 full length wetsuit, boots (not that good) and gloves but considering i was cold in end of november with this i guess ill need more for doing it this time of year? also how much am i looking at spending. plus, how cold are you when you are fully geared up. i saw around 10-15 people out at camber yesterday so am guessing with the right stuff it cant be too bad otherwise people wouldnt bother during the winter. one last question - is there anything you would advise for kiting this time of year i.e things to do before and after going out on the water that people find useful i.e big mask of tea or sitting in the car to warm up before packing your gear away? cheers

sounds like a good plan gav, to be honest i dont agree with shem or colin though, no offence to gav but he hasnt stated his kiting skills yet so he could be a total begginer. it may sound selfish but i dont want someone kitesurfing on my beach who has has had a total history of kite flying of 1 lesson. it sounds like trouble to me, rugby player or not if you underestimate the sport then it'll be the people picking your body parts up from the floor and of groynes etc who suffer the most

that confirms what i was thinking really, also just to confirm, im 65kg so am quite light and have a 152x40 esy rider which is great in light wind, would a kite bigger than 13m give me any moe low end as ive heard smaller kites have a good low end as they can be thrown around quicker?

i know bows are supposed to be as good as a quiver of c shape kites but as im looking to get lots more kit im wondering what people thinks better? i would either get a sonic, airush halo, ss turbo or best warroo (if they turn out to be more than hype) or a load of second hand c shapes such ss fuels, strike 2's, firestorms etc. apart from the downside of having to change over c shapes when the wind changes and keeping the same bow in those conditions, what would people recommend? i reckon i could get 4 c shapes to add to my 13m strike 2 or 1 bow?

oh yeah to answer your 1st question, my first time in the water after lessons i was going both ways and nearly keeping up wind but i do have a fairly long history of kiting and a short history of landboarding so experience is priceless

from the picture by your name it looks like you hav kite skills and practice so thats most of the problem out the way. bodydragging practice is good but believe me, its nothing like the real thing when the first time you lose your board when out of your depth, believe me, you make it back to the board after a couple of mins of kacking yourself worrying you wont get to it. w ould recommend waiting for a straight onshore wind and be slightly underpowered, therefore you can potentially go along while keeping in shallows and if (more likely when) you get ripped off the board you wont get launched too hard towards the beach. also its less nerve racking if you arent too powered up, it allows you to take it nice and slowly,

it depends how much experience you have of flying really, if you havent flown for long i would recommend getting into landboarding and static flying before taking the leap into water. also lessons are highly recommended. practice with the kite will save you so much time on the water. i spent 2 years static flying only, not even touching a landboard, then got into landboarding for a few months, then my first time on the water i was up and going straight away both directions and going upwind on my next session. (im not trying to say you need to spend 2 years static flying tho) i have seen many people who have limited kite skills trying to kitesurf and have seen how hard they find it, its hard enough kiting, let alone staying on a board and dodging waves and other people. i know some people say winter is the best time to kitesurf but personally i would spend the winter static flying and landboarding (which helps a great deal) and jumping into the water next spring when the temperature is higher and the waves are smaller

just out of interest pete, what brand did you change to after cf?

i would recommend using the guerilla on the water for a bit then buying an lei, i have flown arcs for 3 years and last march took them onto the water for the first time, since then up until 2 weeks ago and flew used them and i found the auto zenith is so helpful learning. firstly you can ignore the kite and put the board on and also after a wipe out you can just pull on the bar to send the kite in a zenith direction and then ignore the bar and concentrate on the mullering your receiving. since ive flown the lei i love it and realise it has advantages over the arc but i still miss the auto zenith like crazy, after having it for 4 years its a hassle keeping an eye on the kite nearly constantly (getting ready for a mild slating) with the autozenith i kited for 7 months and ditched the kite twice. since using the lei for 2 weeks ive ditched it about 6 times but dont mind that now.

cheers for all the replies, had another fly yesteday in slightly stronger winds, its gettin nice and easy to fly, its just getting used to the small differences between the two styles, i would say my modded arc 1120 has a better low low end but the lei has a better low end, i.e in low low wind the strike just falls out the sky whereas the arc stay there and hardly collapses but as soon as the wind picks up a few mph the lei can start poducing more power than the arc. Looking forward to adding the 5h line and taking it for it maiden voyage on the water. Just hoping its as forgiving as the arc when u mess up.

Sorry for the basic questions but ive been flying arcs and guerilla's for the last 2 years and have just bought a strike2 13m so am unfamiliar with lei's. I had one session in 8mph winds last night and hav some questions. Basically, in low winds you depower arcs to get them to fly better, what do lei's like best? fully powered for low wind or depowered? also when turning arcs like the bar pulled in to get the quickest turn, are lei's similar or doesnt it matter where the bar is? Also i was flying yesterday in low winds the kite didnt like to turn into the window easily from the very edge, it just collapsed backwards and i had to work it hard and run back lots, although my arcs werent great in low winds the didnt stall as badly backwards as the strike did when trying to turn and seemed much more stable. Just one more question, in the low winds on my arc, if i pushed the bar out the kite flew better forward and then i just pulled it in to turn, should i do this on the lei? Cheers dave

ive taken the plunge today and paid for the strike so hopefully it'll be here in the next few days to raod test. thanks to all the people that have helped me decide, as B O N said, there have been some superb replies and tihs thread hasnt turned into a pimping or slagging match which is cool, cheers peeps

Also, just checking as ive been reading about the North 5th element, is it any different to the 5th line that would be on the strike? are there any advantages or disadvantages to either or is it basically exactly the same thing?

cheers for all the replies, still havent quite made my mind up, i think ill have to check out the resale prices etc and also balance that with the cost of the kite. should be nice though as i fly arcs and although i love them i wana try lei's and ill just keep the arcs too so i can chop and change what i fly

cheers, im guessing from that that 5th line is the way to go

Any one have any views on this, theres a 12m vegas and a 13m strike2 for sale, as i wana get the best kite for my money im wondering if anyones tested both and has a good balanced opinion? Cheers dave

AS in the title, im thinking of buying a strike2 and if i do should i consider the 5th line? ive heard it has lots of advantages but also ive heard of it potentially cutting kites in half. what are the pitfalls fo 5th line and is it worth it in your opinion? cheers Dave

I think so far th FLX is winning as i heard from 1 person a while ago they preffered the FLX over the jaime. Ps filthy yeah that was me, i gotta admit that day it was huge but the wind was also too strong so i had to make deal with swimming in the waves which was good fun too. Wish i had taken my bodyboard.

Oh yeah, forgot to add that im also considering the Jaime pro M and that im looking to progress with tricks as im doing grabs and trying spins at the mo. Therefore nothing too crazy. The conditions i usually kite in are the usual south east conditions like at camber, i.e often a bit choppy but no huge waves.

Can anybody recommend which one to get? Ive got a new fanatic easy rider 152 for my light wind board but have an old cyclone but after riding the easy rider ive realised how good flex is and how little my cyclone has. Ive got the option of a second hand 135cm Dragon or i could buy any size FLX. Can anyone recommend which board and size will compliment the easy rider best. Also if it makes any difference i fly arcs, guerillas and venoms. Thanks Dave