How to choose first kite

[LSUkiter]

I haven't seen many other people with the Flightdeck. My friend back home had a kiteshop that went under(not enough interest in Louisiana I guess), but I got all my gear last year when I started from him at his cost. It was the summer when I started, so he set me up with the flightdeck. I'm definitely still by no means a great kiter, but since then I got a smaller board(Crazyfly). I still always grab the flightdeck. You just get up and go on that thing, and it just goes upwind on its own. Probabaly a little heavy for any serious tricks though(its ok cause I'm not even close to jumping). Expensive as hell though if you don't have a friend that'll give you his discount. Sorry, totally off subject, just excited to see I'm not the only one that has one. I got a little pissed though, cause a month ago I was in Venice, and some dude(aka assclown) asked me about my board and then made a smartass remark about the cost. Wish kiters everywhere were as friendly as here.

Yes...by 42-45..wide....not 142-145....yikes....sorry...

I guess in terms of the learning curve and better equipment.
I view SLEs in general as having had a huge impact. Trust me, for most people, learning on a 2000 C kite was pretty hard. It took most people several months just to go upwind.
Some people took nearly a year to easily go upwind. Learning to jump on on that c.rap was very tricky (delay b/n pulling trigger and kite actually moving). Relaunch wasn't all that easy either. Now your average Joe goes upwind in 3 to 10 hours. So, I guess it's relative. Call me jaded.

It's my opinion that the board is the make or break(er) in terms of equipment bought.
If it's not the optimum size for the rider and local conditions, it won't matter how good the kite is. Just my opinion.

[Todd RT]

Originally Posted by LSUkiter

I haven't seen many other people with the Flightdeck. My friend back home had a kiteshop that went under(not enough interest in Louisiana I guess), but I got all my gear last year when I started from him at his cost. It was the summer when I started, so he set me up with the flightdeck. I'm definitely still by no means a great kiter, but since then I got a smaller board(Crazyfly). I still always grab the flightdeck. You just get up and go on that thing, and it just goes upwind on its own. Probabaly a little heavy for any serious tricks though(its ok cause I'm not even close to jumping). Expensive as hell though if you don't have a friend that'll give you his discount. Sorry, totally off subject, just excited to see I'm not the only one that has one. I got a little pissed though, cause a month ago I was in Venice, and some dude(aka assclown) asked me about my board and then made a smartass remark about the cost. Wish kiters everywhere were as friendly as here.

Right on man. I love my flightdeck, was PERFECT for learning in the FL summer!!

You're right though... now that I have a 139 and a 120, the flightdeck seems heavy, but you can certainly catch big freakin' air on the flightdeck even in lighter winds!

fwiw kiteboarding isn't big enough yet for there to be any "BAD" equipment .. they don't sell wallmart kites, or k-mart boards, so as long as you don't buying something from 2004, regardless of how much you pay for it, it's going to be good quality gear.

Do not assume that an expensive kite is better than an inexpensive kite.. Most of the 2007 kites and all of the 2008 kites are excellent. I'd say the Slingshot Rev, the new Cabs, and the new 2008 Best kites are probably the most common in this area. Monkey kites are becoming more common also because they are fairly inexpensive. There are a few eclipse riders too, but they just like to be different I think and there is nothing wrong with that either. Flexifoil makes great freestyle kites (ie: slow but stable) but they are pretty darn expensive.

Just modern gear you can afford.

[davewolfs]

Originally Posted by Tom Stock

fwiw kiteboarding isn't big enough yet for there to be any "BAD" equipment .. they don't sell wallmart kites, or k-mart boards, so as long as you don't buying something from 2004, regardless of how much you pay for it, it's going to be good quality gear.

Do not assume that an expensive kite is better than an inexpensive kite.. Most of the 2007 kites and all of the 2008 kites are excellent. I'd say the Slingshot Rev, the new Cabs, and the new 2008 Best kites are probably the most common in this area. Monkey kites are becoming more common also because they are fairly inexpensive. There are a few eclipse riders too, but they just like to be different I think and there is nothing wrong with that either. Flexifoil makes great freestyle kites (ie: slow but stable) but they are pretty darn expensive.

Just modern gear you can afford.

Any specific models of Cabs or Best to look at? How about the Slingshot Turbo's?

As far as best, the 2008 waroos, the 9m is incredibly good. Not sure if they got lucky or stole the design but it's excellent.

Some others will chime in for the Cabs and SS because they have some good kites this year.

I don't really think you can go wrong with any of the newest kites.

The only brand I would avoid is liquid farce because they have always been sort of disconnected from the latest trends. They occasionally come out with a good board or kite but it's really hit and miss.

[Danimal8199]

I have a 12m liquid force assault 2, its been a very good kite...

Then again I can probably ride other kites just as well, but going back to the fact that I got brand new 2007 kite for $500.00, something I could afford.

Given the choice of not having anything to ride, I would rather have something than nothing.

I can still do spins and backrolls and kiteloops on it...

These videos are pretty old. Lou Wainman was on a two line kite.
It didn't seem to hold him back.

Any 07/08 kite is light years more advanced than what Lou was on.
Put 2 +2 together and figure out the the hype.