Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Forum for kitesurfers
User avatar
BillyGoatGruff
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 865
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:22 pm
Local Beach: UK
Gear: Naish Torch's & Dash
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 112 times

Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby BillyGoatGruff » Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:00 am

I ride my 14m Naish Dash (2017) a lot and absolutely love it, every session it's just perfect, fast, boosts well and great unhooked. Now I'm a fussy kiter when it comes to kites and have tried plenty in the past that I just couldn't gel with for various minor reasons. So I just bought a new 2019 14m Naish Dash (900 Euro, so a bit of a bargain).. I don't really need it and it will get put in the cupboard for a year or two as my current 14m has a good few years left in it still.... OCD! probably, good logic...definitely :D I can't be the only one, who else has done this ? Toby must have done this too :thumb: The logic being that I ride the current one until it dies/pops, then you have at home a perfect replacement, no shppoing around, no demoing new kites, just the perfect replacement.
Last edited by BillyGoatGruff on Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:12 am, edited 1 time in total.

jyka
Frequent Poster
Posts: 366
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:38 pm
Kiting since: 2012
Weight: 85
Local Beach: laru
Style: freestyle
Gear: mixed set
Has thanked: 19 times
Been thanked: 56 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby jyka » Sat Jun 18, 2022 9:09 am

I have many 5+ year old kites what still work great but if you try to sell them, you won't get much. In my opinion kites haven't changed much in 10 years. So they are my spare kites. The only problem they take some storage space.

User avatar
Toby
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 50345
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2001 1:00 am
Kiting since: 2000
Weight: 95 kg
Local Beach: Cumbuco, Brazil
Barra do Cauipe, Brazil
Favorite Beaches: same
Style: Airstyle
Gear: Rebel 2015 18
Brand Affiliation: None.
Location: World (KF Admin)
Has thanked: 831 times
Been thanked: 2365 times
Contact:

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby Toby » Sat Jun 18, 2022 10:23 am

I have 8 spare kites of the same !

If you love a let, keep buying spare. Worst thing if you break yours, and can’t kite, or have to use a new kite which you don’t like.
But my situation is a bit different, smaller kites are easy to get. And guess they keep improving, specially with material…so keep testing other kites if you can, you might be surprised.

User avatar
Tony in FL
Medium Poster
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2016 11:32 pm
Kiting since: 2016
Weight: 165 pounds
Gear: Cabrinha Switchblade 7M/9M/11M - Contra 13M
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 28 times
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby Tony in FL » Sat Jun 18, 2022 12:55 pm

I might be more tempted to start enjoying the new one. A "new" 2019 year old kite has already been sitting around for perhaps 3 years. If it sits unused for another year or so (or longer) could there be any degradation? Even if kept indoors could that many years of sitting with the same fold pattern degrade the materials a little? And what about the seals/valves? I imagine they could slowly start to degrade over time even stored in the best of conditions. Don't get me wrong, I doubt there would be serious problems, but I wonder if it makes more sense to start enjoying the new one and relegate the older one as a spare.

grigorib
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4147
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:12 pm
Kiting since: 2009
Local Beach: OBX; Clinton Lake, IL; Lake Michigan; Hood River; La Ventana; Ocean Park, PR; SPI; Tawas, MI
Gear: Kites: Slingshot Rally 5/7/9/11m, Turbine 9/13m, SST 4/5m, UFO 3/5/7/9m, Flysurfer Speed4 10m standard, Flysurfer 2cool 6m, Peter Lynn Venom II ARC 16m

Boards: Spleene RIP 37, Flysurfer Radical6 138, Flysurfer Flydoor5 XL, Slingshot/Moses/RDB 70/90/101cm masts with 1200/860/800/730/600 kitefoil or 2200/1700/1400 wingfoil wings and 310/230/425 stabilizers, Naish MicroChip 80cm, 36" Woody, Slingshot Dwarfcraft Micro 100, MBS Comp 95x

For sale: Slingshot Turbine 9/13m, 20” Guardian bar, 1700 sq.cm wing/fuselage/stabilizer fitting Moses mast
.
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 461 times
Been thanked: 691 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby grigorib » Sat Jun 18, 2022 1:00 pm

Oh, yeah. Kept 5m SST as spare to 5m UFO till I got a second 5m UFO. Just got myself a brand new 9m Rally 2018 as a backup for 9m Rally 2019.
Those are my two main and favorite sizes, so money on the bank are not as important as having gear to ride.
Plus they don’t make Rally anymore and I’m not ready to switch my boosting kite to another model

I was feeling anxious when Toby shared video of his kite disintegrating mid-air. UV is a b!tch

Radja
Rare Poster
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2021 10:32 am
Kiting since: 2020
Weight: 69
Local Beach: Dahab
Style: FS, BA
Gear: Dice 2022 9, 12
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 4 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby Radja » Sat Jun 18, 2022 4:31 pm

I have 9 and 12 Duotone Dice 2022 and spare kites 9 and 12 PLKB Escape and Hook also new used just twice ) I’m riding in Egypt and it’s not easy to find a good replacement for destroyed kite so having a spare is almost obligatory for active riders.

User avatar
Havre
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2176
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:38 am
Kiting since: 2015
Local Beach: Oslo
Favorite Beaches: Jericoacoara (area) & Cabarete
Gear: Ozone Edge v11 13m, Ozone Edge v11 9m, Ozone Zephyr 17m, Ozone Enduro v1 12m, Ozone Enduro v1 9m, HQ Topaz 7m, Shinn Ronson Player, Mystic Majestic X Harness, Mystic Stealth Bar
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 324 times
Been thanked: 411 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby Havre » Sat Jun 18, 2022 4:43 pm

For me not having owned that many kites trying new ones is part of the fun. I can see why you might want have a spare if you absolutely love one kite though. A new kite won’t always be better.

User avatar
Peter_Frank
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 12734
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Denmark
Has thanked: 1007 times
Been thanked: 1187 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby Peter_Frank » Sat Jun 18, 2022 5:42 pm

Never...

BUT, I might have the opportunity to get a 5 m2 kite not used or almost not used, and one I know is good at a good price suddenly.
So have had three 5 m2 kites quite often, slightly different characteristics.

They dont hold up, as used a lot when riding waves, and might be thrashed so they get punctures - THEN it is perfect to have a spare ;-)

My strategy is different though, instead of having a spare kite, I have small increments in sizing :D

This way I actually have a spare kite if something goes wrong - can just pick one 1 m2 bigger or smaller, and ride on.

It also makes choosing a kite a lot easier - when you have small increments, you can pick exactly the size you think you need (might not be correct, but that doesnt matter), so a lot better.

8) Peter

Saltyman
Frequent Poster
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 12:02 am
Kiting since: 1999
Weight: 85kg
Style: Freeride/wakestyle, old school big air
Gear: Slingshot,Naish, Cabrinha,
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 60 times
Been thanked: 55 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby Saltyman » Sat Jun 18, 2022 11:56 pm

Always I have a backup kite of each size. Some are different brands some 3 strut and some 5.
Seems like overkill to some especially when you are in the crappy part of the season.
Until you have a busted kite and can't get out.
Then you will want a backup for sure.
But in the end if you're bank balance allows it go for it. Unless you are married then it's if the wife lets you lol.

kiterocky
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 519
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 7:25 pm
Local Beach: Montpellier
Gear: Wipika
Brand Affiliation: Wipika
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Do you ever buy a "spare" kite

Postby kiterocky » Sun Jun 19, 2022 10:19 am

So many


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: alekbelia, BillyGoatGruff, bittersvolcom, bshmng, DanielorDani, Google [Bot], grigorib, jjm, joop, Kemperman, Manxman, omg, Peter_Frank, RagingGrandpa, Regis-de-giens, rnelias, Windwarrior, Xtream, y2kBug and 443 guests