NEW

[oscar?]

Hey guys, im completely new to the forum and the sport, so i have a couple of things that concern me.

• Which are the top knotch brands of the sport, and which brands i should not look out for?
  
• What kite size is suitable for me?, i way about 60kg.
  
• Where i should look to buy my first set of gear?
  
• And what to look out for in a second hand kite.

Thanks guys.

[Baggsy]

hey Oscar welcome aboard.. firstly , if you let us know where you are in the world we might be able to let you know who is close by that can help you and also put you in contact with shops and instructors .. it is a big world out there

[oscar?]

Hampton, Victoria. Ive actually got a beach over the road that has a couple of kite surfers.

[.Joel]

Hi Oscar,

Welcome to Extreme Kites. 1st off there is nothing wrong with 2nd hand or ex-demo gear. In fact starting out it is probably a better way to go. Have a look in our For Sale / Wanted section there's a fair bit of gear going in there. Something around the 10m / 11m / 12m mark as your first kite is probably good, at your weight try to point towards an 11m. Bigger is probably going to get too much of a handful.

With style of kite try going for a Bow or Hybrid kite as they will handle the gusts well and give you a good range of depower. Any kite 2007 and later should be alright as last year was a really good year in terms of kites released. Pretty much most of the kites on the market were good kites. Just post back here what you are thinking of and people will pop their opinions in.

For a board look at something around the 130cm - 140cm mark. Try to keep between that.

If you are getting a 2nd hand kite check out the condition of the bar, ask if there are any rips and make sure the lines are still good instead of having bought the kite and needing to replace lines. Also make sure the kite does not leak. So if you are buying in person get them to pump it up then let it sit there for 10 mins while you talk to them. In general just take a look over the kite at all the joins and behind the struts and make sure none of the stitching is coming undone or pulling away from the construction.

If your kiting with guys who are experienced and have the basics and all your safety nailed then off you go and make sure you are out with people that know you are learning to help you along. If you have no idea what you are up to at this stage and don't have the local support around you then go grab yourself some lessons. There's a few options where you are. You can make a trip over to Geelong for a lesson with Kitepower. Or if you want to stay local there is SHQ in Sandringham, RPS in Elwood and Kite Republic in Elwood. All of which are about a 5 to 10 minute drive from where you are.

Regards,

.Joel

[oscar?]

Hi Oscar,

Welcome to Extreme Kites. 1st off there is nothing wrong with 2nd hand or ex-demo gear. In fact starting out it is probably a better way to go. Have a look in our For Sale / Wanted section there's a fair bit of gear going in there. Something around the 10m / 11m / 12m mark as your first kite is probably good, at your weight try to point towards an 11m. Bigger is probably going to get too much of a handful.

With style of kite try going for a Bow or Hybrid kite as they will handle the gusts well and give you a good range of depower. Any kite 2007 and later should be alright as last year was a really good year in terms of kites released. Pretty much most of the kites on the market were good kites. Just post back here what you are thinking of and people will pop their opinions in.

For a board look at something around the 130cm - 140cm mark. Try to keep between that.

If you are getting a 2nd hand kite check out the condition of the bar, ask if there are any rips and make sure the lines are still good instead of having bought the kite and needing to replace lines. Also make sure the kite does not leak. So if you are buying in person get them to pump it up then let it sit there for 10 mins while you talk to them. In general just take a look over the kite at all the joins and behind the struts and make sure none of the stitching is coming undone or pulling away from the construction.

If your kiting with guys who are experienced and have the basics and all your safety nailed then off you go and make sure you are out with people that know you are learning to help you along. If you have no idea what you are up to at this stage and don't have the local support around you then go grab yourself some lessons. There's a few options where you are. You can make a trip over to Geelong for a lesson with Kitepower. Or if you want to stay local there is SHQ in Sandringham, RPS in Elwood and Kite Republic in Elwood. All of which are about a 5 to 10 minute drive from where you are.

Regards,

.Joel

Okay, thanks for all the info, i'm sure it will help me, and yeah i'm going to be doing lessons with Kite Republic. as 1 of my mates has completed there and said it was great and the other has just completed his first of three lessons. Both of them said it was great. And also if i could have some help, with looking into an 11m kite, because so far from browsing the web, i have found that most of the companies jump from a 10m to a 12m or a 9m to a 12m.

Thanks.

[Armoured]

Hey Guys, also new here so the last few post just what i was lookin for - will definately be checkin those lessons out. Can I ask what size/style kite a slightly older and heavier(80+kg) should be looking for? Also anything special to look for with bar or any other equipment features? From central vic here but get down geelong/queenscliff way a fair bit. Any advice appreciated

[Nato]

armoured,

if your in geelong you should go and see goshen or johny in kitepower in geelong.

they will give you all the advise you should need.

[Armoured]

Thanks Nato - will do that next time im in town thankyou

[oscar?]

Hey guys, im looking at doing the same deal, buying a board & harness and renting a 10.5 slingshot link kite for a bit until i can afford it. what are these kites like?

[younggun987]

HEY oscar its lachy, i just got my kite an AIRUSH HALO 14m i picked that up for $800 bucks brand spanking new still in rapper and crisy.

Yeah i started like you are thinking, i got my board and harness and rented untill i could afford something. Ill talk to you more about it all 2mos at school lol. I'm just saying you do not have to spend $1800 on a new kite, expecially if it your first. I couldn't afford one myself lol. But the further i get into the sport i will start to look at some of the new sexy stuff, im not say that i don't think my new kite is sexy because i do think it is sexy lol, weird i know but its my first love.

Catcha man

[younggun987]

also check out www.seabreeze.com.au you will ocassionaly find some good bargains on there, deffinatly hit it up.

[younggun987]

also againnn lol. check out RPS in elwood, thats where i got all my gear from they did crazy deals for me and they know their stuff. http://www.rpstheboardstore.com

[oscar?]

also againnn lol. check out RPS in elwood, thats where i got all my gear from they did crazy deals for me and they know their stuff. www.rpstheboardstore.com

Ok thanks heaps Lachy. Ill probably go down there with you or something, as i dont know too much about the sport, yeah ill talk to you tomorow man. Thanks

Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming, they are heaps of help!

[koma]

The Slingshot Link got a reeeeeally bad reputation as being a kite that was released before it was ready. Apparently the original bridle that they came with made the kite quite unstable and prone to luffing and inverting (if my memory serves me). The revision to the Link came in the form of whats known as a 'red bridle' kit which looks somewhat like the name suggests, the bridle is red. Despite the effort to rectify the Link's instability the stigma stuck and resale values on them are atrocious at best... or you just can't sell them at worst. I've seen a few of them in the sky around Port Phillip Bay with the red bridles and they seem to fly quite well; nothing special, nothing bad.

Any reason your spending money on renting a kite instead of just taking another lessor or two? If renting the kite is costing you more than a couple of $'s a session i'd rather just take another lesson then beg & borrow and buy yourself a decent second hand kite.

[JKS]

How much is the rent ?

.... oh, G'day

Happy Days