I got to do both on Saturday: Windsurfing and kitesurfing. My favorite wind direction, and my favorite location, Sims Park in Euclid, Ohio. If you don't want to watch the windsurfing, just skip forward to the kiting.
I bought one of the WalMart pumps, and it didn't work. It moved some air into the kite, but about as well as the electric Coleman pumps. I couldn't get any pressure. The pumps sold by the kite companies are more expensive, but they work.
The thing about claims about super light wind riding and finding the absolutely bottom limit of kitesurfing is that it has to be absolutely butter-smooth wind, without a hint of a gust or a lull. I have ridden in thermal winds East of Cleveland where it has to be at least 15 for me to get going on m...