Noob, I buy all of my stuff used or on sale... except for my FIRST kite, I have never since spent more than $400 on a kite (including my new 16m waroo). I've never spent more than $350 on a board... and that was new.

The trick is to be patient and seek out a good deal, or make friends with someone who can get you stuff at cost or well below retail.

Failing that, the next best solution is wait for sales on extreme kites since they buy in bulk and sell a ton of gear, they can give gear away at really good prices when they need to make space for new gear. Heck I bet those guys will even let you haggle with them.

I bought a new aaron hadlow board from there last year... it was an $800 board and I got it for $329 (or something rediculous like that). Apparently they bought 20 of them at a time or something.

The best tip I can give you is to use Q-Line for your next set of lines. It will outlast standard lines by about 3-4 years. When they break, you just cut them a foot shorter and re-tie the loops.

Standard line sucks eggs. It stretches, blows itself into knots in the wind, catches on every little twig, wears and fades quickly, breaks easily, and untangling it can take an hour if it's in a ball, or especially if you get a small knot in the middle of a line. I will also remove fingers and toes easily if you get one tangled in it when the kite relaunches. Q-line is stiff and doesnt wrap easily in tight loops so it's less likely to wrap around a toe. I've broken 3 sets of standard lines in the past 2 years but have yet to break a q-line.