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Doubts about which gear I need for my first equipment.

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walester
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Re: Doubts about which gear I need for my first equipment.

Postby walester » Fri Jul 24, 2020 10:30 pm

I have just been through this same dilemma in the last few years and learned a lot in the process. I bought some older gear (2009-ish) a few years ago, that gave me a whole lot of problems and the guys on the beach all told me to buy something newer, similar to the advice on this thread 2015+. I ended up with some 2017 CORE kites that were miles better, made the experience of learning more enjoyable and let me focus on improving instead of dealing with gear. I would say the challenges with gear that doesn't work quite as well is experienced more by someone learning than someone who knows what they're doing.

Kitesurfing is never going to be a cheap sport, once you're in you'll be spending some money on gear you like. So you may as well do that now. Good gear can always be resold if you feel you don't want to keep kitesurfing and is easiest to be resold with the big brands that everyone uses (Duotone, North, CORE, Naish, Cabrinha, Ozone, F-One, Airush) and is a little harder to sell for some of the other boutique brands (RRD, Ocean Rodeo, Blade, Eleveight) and even harder for the direct to consumer brands (Gong, Switch, Best, etc.). This point doesn't matter as much if you aren't planning on selling gear anytime soon. But, I would say you can't go wrong with the all-around kites offered by the big brands and trying to get the bar that goes with the kite when you start while you learn what bars can be mated with what kites (look up high V and low V splits). I would say your list would look like:

Duotone/North Evo
North Reach (this is 2020 "new" North)
CORE Nexus or Free
Naish Pivot
Cabrinha Switchblade
Ozone Catalyst
F-ONE Bandit
Airush Lithium

I also like the Ocean Rodeo Flight and Prodigy and their stick shift bar is great.

Just using that list find something newer than 2015 using local ads or iKitesurf.com classifieds and you should be able to find something that fits your budget.
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miesro (Mon Jul 27, 2020 9:05 pm)
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Blackened
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Re: North Evo 2011 re-launch

Postby Blackened » Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:54 am

Herman wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:47 pm
Blackened has given good advice. A decent example of a 2011 Evo should be fine to learn on. As pointed out there are better more modern kites but it is not like the old days. I would estimate the 2011 Evo to be 80=90% better for a beginner than the early C kites I learnt on. However, I would estimate a recent kite to be ~15% better than the 2011 Evo. Also good conditions with the Evo would still be better than crappy conditions with the latest kite.

It is natural for beginners to worry about relaunch but once you have a semblance of control and realise that the priority is to stay in control of the kite you should not be dropping it that often. But in any case, as a beginner you should only be riding in an area where if you drop the kite and can’t relaunch you will just be drifting back to safety.

No doubt you have heard the adage “ don’t go out farther than you can swim “, but in truth I am more interested in knowing where I will drift in the event of a breakage. Knowing where you will drift is particularly pertinent to beginners because they usually ride less powered and the don’t have the skills for light wind relaunch. Of course if you are forced to learn on a small beach relaunch becomes a much higher priority. In which case practice relaunching in the shallows!
You said it about 23x better. :(

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Re: North Evo 2011 re-launch

Postby Blackened » Sat Jul 25, 2020 12:01 pm

miesro wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 3:07 pm

My budget is limited but I think I prefer to spend a bit more to get a Kite I can use for long time and I will feel satisfied buying it than to get an old Kite that I will always have a bad feeling about it. If needed I will wait until November/December for if better deals come.

I will keep checking ads and maybe I will mention you in this thread to get your opinion before I get anything :D

Thank you guys for your comments, it's really helpful.
We're generally happy to help here. :)

Also, read into what Cor said about wetsuit and harness. Do not try to save a bunch of money on these, especially the harness. If you have something that is uncomfortable, then the whole experience will be miserable. If you find a harness that fits amazingly well over others, then get that one. Personally, I tried many different harnesses before settling on what I have. One of them bruised my ribs quite badly and I almost stopped kiting because of it.

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Re: Doubts about which gear I need for my first equipment.

Postby Kitedicted » Sat Jul 25, 2020 2:07 pm

In my opinion:

Kite: 2011 evo should be fine, just make sure whatever bar you have has a 1 line safety, don't pay much for a 2011 kite. Learn on it and then sell it without loss. I learned on 2008 equipment and sold for the same price. As you progress so will your priorities, relaunch won't be a priority for long.

Twintip: Get any cheap 100$ twintip used, again as you progress so will your preferences. Don't buy a huge noob board.

Bar: make sure it has a one line safety, preferably new or lightly used.

Harness: Either buy something dirt cheap or go for a premium harness right away.

miesro
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Re: Doubts about which gear I need for my first equipment.

Postby miesro » Sun Jul 26, 2020 2:10 am

I have found a good deal for a Eleveight PS V3 12M.

I can see in the reviews of the kite that it is great for beginners, they put it as schools kite, so I am wondering if very soon I will need something more advanced or let's say, I can use it for 3 years without feeling limited by the kite?

Another question is, do you think this kite will perform well in low winds?

bjw wrote:
Sun Jul 05, 2020 7:16 am
There is a lot to be said for the PS. Use it learn on it then keep it for your light wind kite later. Then upgrade to your smaller more high performance kite.

There is no point spending a fortune on your first kite as no matter what you get you will demolish it. I spent up on my first kite and regretted it. Spend later.
what are your thougts about this?

Thanks!

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Re: Doubts about which gear I need for my first equipment.

Postby Kitedicted » Sun Jul 26, 2020 12:06 pm

I have kited for just over a year and have owned 5 or 6 kites all used. If you progress quickly and kite a lot your taste will change. So try to buy a kite that you can re sell without much loss.

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Re: Doubts about which gear I need for my first equipment.

Postby Blackened » Sun Jul 26, 2020 9:50 pm

miesro wrote:
Sun Jul 26, 2020 2:10 am
I have found a good deal for a Eleveight PS V3 12M.

I can see in the reviews of the kite that it is great for beginners, they put it as schools kite, so I am wondering if very soon I will need something more advanced or let's say, I can use it for 3 years without feeling limited by the kite?

Another question is, do you think this kite will perform well in low winds?

bjw wrote:
Sun Jul 05, 2020 7:16 am
There is a lot to be said for the PS. Use it learn on it then keep it for your light wind kite later. Then upgrade to your smaller more high performance kite.

There is no point spending a fortune on your first kite as no matter what you get you will demolish it. I spent up on my first kite and regretted it. Spend later.
what are your thougts about this?

Thanks!
I agree with bjw. It should be a decent kite for beginner-intermediate skill levels. For 3 years? Possibly. It depends on how much you kite and how fast you progress. I kited for many years on a multitude of kites before I accidentally went back to a more user friendly kite like the PS. Best decision I ever made. If you kite all the time, then you may move off sooner. Just don't worry about any "I might do" at the moment. Plan for what's best for you now and worry about the future state in the future. It will be beneficial to your progression in the long run. You won't feel limited as you have no idea what you're doing or how things are supposed to feel at the moment :).

Once you're comfortable riding and doing all the basic tricks in every discipline on the PS, then you can decide what you actually want to progress in further. At that stage you'll look into discipline specific gear.

The PS should be comparable to other beginner friendly 3-struters. But don't try to learn in light winds with any kite. It's a frustrating nightmare. I spent literal weeks in 12-14kn just repeatedly relaunching my kite, not knowing it's not really worth it until 17-18kn. Once you can reliably ride upwind on both tacks, then you can mess around with lighter winds. It's quite a bit harder and takes a bit more skill than riding powered.


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