The circle of trust

[FLandOBX]

But, GoJoe? Sorry. GoJoe = Kooksville.

....But I am not a fan of those too self concious to use something they might get a benifit out of. That is worse than a kook, in my book.

I absolutely agree with that.

For me, it has nothing to do with self-consciousness. IMHO, a GoJoe signals to me that the rider has never adequately learned to body drag back to his/her board. Body dragging is a skill that should be mastered at the early lesson stage. If a rider has short-cut the basics, I want to avoid him/her.

[Cab Driver]

But, GoJoe? Sorry. GoJoe = Kooksville.

....But I am not a fan of those too self concious to use something they might get a benifit out of. That is worse than a kook, in my book.

I absolutely agree with that.

For me, it has nothing to do with self-consciousness. IMHO, a GoJoe signals to me that the rider has never adequately learned to body drag back to his/her board. Body dragging is a skill that should be mastered at the early lesson stage. If a rider has short-cut the basics, I want to avoid him/her.

hmm... even a body dragging master will have a hard time retrieving a board that they can't see. So I can't subscribe to your view 100%. Yes, master the skill of body dragging because it's a VERY critical piece of safety, but even then things happen and the wrong color board in the right gnarly conditions will be hard to find after you've spent a few minutes sorting out your kite...

[Matteo V]

.... a GoJoe signals to me that the rider has never adequately learned to body drag back to his/her board. Body dragging is a skill that should be mastered at the early lesson stage. If a rider has short-cut the basics, I want to avoid him/her.

That is a definite problem. Every kiter learning in normal conditions should NOT use a GoJoe to learn body dragging. Use it after you have the skill to not need it. Or just like a leash, use it only when you can gain a clear benefit, as in the situation of high current.

Same with swimming and lifejackets. Make sure you can swim unaided, but definitely use flotation when it is use than not.

[grigorib]

Let's stop shaming people who wear helmets - they are just not willing do die from head injury as soon as the rest of us.
Floatation vest is smart thing, especially where you can't touch the bottom - a story of massive leg cramp and almost drowning made me wear impact vest to help my chances.

GoJoe is a clear indication that person is learning and is not fully confident in his/her bodydragging abilities. And let's be honest - how many times all of us wiped out and couldn't see the board in chop or sun reflection on water for a while. How many of us spent 10 minutes or more looking for such board. You wish you had a GoJoe which we would never use of course.

Roll leash is a bad idea though floatation vest + helmet are a must to go with it if nobody showed you missing teeth and cut faces pics from board leash use yet. In OBX, on a shallow spot if you see a guy/girl with floataion vest, roll leash and helmet you can bet they're from Canada, Montreal specifically and I'm puzzled why nobody talks them out of the roll leash at least.

[kgb]

Float vest, impact vest, life jacket

All entirely different bits of kit for different purposes.

One of them is entirely inappropriate for kitesurfing.

[Matteo V]

Float vest, impact vest, life jacket

All entirely different bits of kit for different purposes.

One of them is entirely inappropriate for kitesurfing.

Which one? And do you mean "inappropriate" as in "not cool" OR detrimental to your safety as in that it can cause you more harm than good?

[grigorib]

For me personally an impact vest is least hindrance and additional (while insufficient as USCG would deem it) floatation

As of beginners - not everyone has 8 weeks a year to spend on kite trips and if you see unconfident person with all the beginner paraphernalia - consider him/her as obstruction you gotta yield to, and occasionally save their ass.
Karma goes long way

[kgb]

Float vest, impact vest, life jacket

All entirely different bits of kit for different purposes.

One of them is entirely inappropriate for kitesurfing.

Which one? And do you mean "inappropriate" as in "not cool" OR detrimental to your safety as in that it can cause you more harm than good?

Come on do some work,

Tell us the differences and see which one your workings rules out.

You do know the difference between a life jacket and the other two don’t you?

[edt]

It's stupid to chide someone for wearing safety gear.

[Matteo V]

Float vest, impact vest, life jacket

All entirely different bits of kit for different purposes.

One of them is entirely inappropriate for kitesurfing.

Which one? And do you mean "inappropriate" as in "not cool" OR detrimental to your safety as in that it can cause you more harm than good?

Come on do some work,

Tell us the differences and see which one your workings rules out.

You do know the difference between a life jacket and the other two don’t you?

You have a pretty big chip on your shoulder, so I did not want to put words in your mouth. Could you clearly state your ideas for us? I am interested in what you are thinking, but again, I don't want to tell you what you are thinking. So please tell us. And there are lots of ESL forum users, thus it helps to be clear with your statements.