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too much old gear problem

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Ctkiter2021
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too much old gear problem

Postby Ctkiter2021 » Wed Oct 13, 2021 1:02 am

Hello , This might be a bit of a weird topic , after 10 years of kitting I have manage to trade up kites that are more in line with my progress and need . however in the past few years I find myself with some gear that I no longer use . I also started foiling , so some kites don't get much use . The problem is these kites that I don't use much are reliable but not sellable , canopy not as crisp , older model etc... .Do some of you ended with " too much old gear problem " after so many years and found a way to get it sold or given ?
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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby SMJ » Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:41 am

If you can't seem to sell it on your local sites then give it to the local kite instructors; they'll find a home for it.

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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby Faxie » Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:41 am

And try to see if there are people nearby who like making nice stuff from old kites :)

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tkaraszewski
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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby tkaraszewski » Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:42 am

The reality of it is that it's not recyclable and it's not likely to get used so it's going to sit in your garage or someone else's garage or a landfill. Given that it's made of plastic that takes hundreds of years to break down, it doesn't much make a difference if you toss it in the trash now or it sits in someone's garage for 10 more years until someone tosses it in the trash. Maybe someone can cut it up and make grocery bags out of it or whatever, that will delay having to make a few new grocery bags from scratch for a few years.

But really, once it's been produced - it's destined for the landfill, and it has a relatively short useful lifespan. What you really want to do to reduce environmental impact is avoid making new stuff (i.e., buying new gear) more than you want to put old, not likely to be used, gear in a different place to sit for years.

People won't like my response but the reality is our old kites that won't get flown anymore aren't any better off in someone else's closet than they are in a landfill or anywhere else. Everyone *thinks* they'll find someone to fly this old gear, but I don't know about you, but probably less than 1 in 50 kites flown at my local spot is over 5 years old. And those other 49 guys all had older kites that went *somewhere*, but they're clearly not getting flown. Maybe your spot is different.

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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby StellaBlu » Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:30 am

The best thing you can do is use it until it’s shredded and has no more life. Assuming you don’t use it because you have moved on to other gear or pursuits, I try to sell it or donate it the moment I realize I’m not going to use it much anymore - be absolutely ruthless and unattached to it. That way it hasn’t sat around aging, and someone will actually use it through its remaining life. For example I sold a quiver of almost new kites on this site earlier this year as soon as I realized that I was going to be consumed with winging. I might have used the kites a few times this year but I got a decent price and the buyer is going to use the kites a lot more than I would have.

As someone else mentioned, I have also donated to surf schools, kite schools or people who can’t afford gear or are new to the sport. It takes some legwork but if the gear has life and the price is right (sometimes free) you can find a home for it. Maybe just post a free classified ad here (charge for shipping).

Honestly sometimes having more gear just adds complication and indecision - I find staying streamlined with the minimal amount of high quality gear helps me consume less, progress faster and stay focused on whatever im stoked on. I don’t like having to think too much about what to rig or whether to kite vs foil vs wing etc…. Just keep it simple get on the water and avoid any hesitation or second thoughts.

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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby edt » Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:35 pm

I need a number here to see how I compare to your problem is it one dozen two dozen how many

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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby Hugh2 » Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:50 pm

Been through this several times. Sadly, unlike some of my friends who regularly sell on their 2-3 year old gear, I tend to hang onto mine far too long (although some kites really do last a long time, e.g. my Cabrinha Nomad 5.5m. Three solutions:

1. Sell very cheaply to someone who might actually use it. Two examples are selling a whole quiver of old Best Waroo kites to someone in Cape Town very cheaply, about $50 per kite, although I have no guarantee they actually used them. And I recently sold two old Best bars to someone on here who wanted to build their own bar from old pieces. Asked $30 for them. We have a fairly regular stream of newbies in our little local kiting community, and folks have sold them 3-5 year old kites cheaply to get started.

2. Donate to a locate shop that sells an eclectic mix of materials to creative types, called the Idea store. They cut them up into pieces of fabric to sell on. That's where my three C kites went and my Best Waroo 14m and 2 Best Bularoo 16m kites are going. I was hoping to find something similar in Cape Town, but even the repair shops there have not found such an outlet for trashed and abandoned kites.

3. Re-purpose them myself, most simply as drop cloths when painting walls etc. My friends are disgusted at this one! An old Best Nemesis 9m, yet another kite that seemed great at the time, but really sucks.
IMG_5779.jpg
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edt
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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby edt » Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:38 pm

My friend is repurposing an old kite as a Halloween lawn ornament. It's called "kite in tree" and the scariest thing I've ever seen.
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20knotFLOW
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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby 20knotFLOW » Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:23 pm

I followed the lead of PUGETSOUNDKITER and I bought a jacket template off of ebay and I plan to build a jacket out of an old (2005?) 15M Fuel I have. Cant wait actually that kite kicked the S*%# out of me a bunch a times.. I have a similar vintage 13M FUEL which I want to build a new umbrella as our fabric cover for our patio set has finally packed it in after 10 years. I bought an older sewing machine and learned to use it. This years winter project:) I think upcycling like this is waaaaay underrated.

viewtopic.php?t=2397714

I like customizing my gear.. I just recently posted this on reddit:


An Exile EX2 KiteSkim Ive painted for the summer sandbar sessions this upcoming year. Stoked for the season already :jump:
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Re: too much old gear problem

Postby kitexpert » Wed Oct 13, 2021 6:01 pm

Hugh2 wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:50 pm
old Best Nemesis 9m, yet another kite that seemed great at the time, but really sucks.
That kite is (in some respects) better than most new kites, at least if it is latest version. Very thin LE, Cuben fiber, flex segments, sophisticated bridle (which most even don't understand), five struts... Last winter I did my biggest jump ever on ice with a 8m, it can really jump huge.
Definitely the biggest design achievement of P. Stiewe, what he now does on Eleveight seems pretty ordinary


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