VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Hi.. I'm new to the sport and am investing into gear with a trip planned down the Oregon / Cali coast I need some advise.... I'd like to purchase a surf kite boarding board... There is a M 10 5'6" for under $300, however, I would hate to purchase and not be happy with it.. I'm a little heavy at 220lb and 5'10" and am very new to the sport. http://slo.craigslist.org/spo/2829709985.html

I'd also like to purchase a nice 140x40 ish wakeboard style board to learn on with one for sale around $250...
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/spo/2888771235.html

I plan on taking some lessons down there.. then take some with Elevation or Strong to get the local experience at Nitinat or Island View in the summer. Very keen and dedicated but no contacts here in Vic that have time to teach a newbie.. so I've already purchased some gear but need to learn how to use it. Any help on that also would be great.
my existing quiver is an Air Rush Lift 12M, Naish Mutant directional 150? board, and aDakine Storm seat harness. Trying to sell an older 16m Bronco '06 I was told, and have a Naish snow kite.. a 7.5 Element thats already made me not want to be on the land without some more skills.

also looking for a used 6-8M kite for the heavier wind season when I cant sail my 1960s Thunderbird Zig Zag.... there are a few around on craigslist in the states for reasonable prices..

If you're driving down, it might be worth checking out nwkite. Its the forum local to hood river(ish area). That area seems flooded with gear, so the prices end up being lower.
Good luck in the hunt!

I'm too new to the sport to make any suggestions on gear or anything though. If you keep an eye on the noobs/kooks thread I started up, I'm going to try and co-ordinate/get all us noobies out watching each others backs

Roger that.. I saw your post for an Island View session and wanted to get out, but couldnt..

I figure I should start on a wakeboard style as it should be easier to get up...

Hey Abetanzo,
Only a couple of short months from now the smooth thermal winds will make Nitinaht kiteable You may be able to cover some of the land lessons before hand here in Victoria by contacting Strong Kiteboarding and asking.

I have ordered a lot of gear from the US but always try to support the Canadian shops by at least calling them and letting them know what I am looking at buying and seing what price they can offer.

I look for a lot of used gear at nwkite.com under "classifieds", if you look often you will find some good deals on nearly new gear. I have also had good results by typing into google: craigslist+name of brand.

All things considered though, you should really shop around a little and then look at buying some 2011 Ocean Rodeo gear brand new from the OR outlet store right here in Victoria. The pricing right now on brand new gear is basically at or below what you will pay for much of the used gear on the market. With new gear you get a warranty, you will support local, with so many people flying OR gear locally you will be able to ask questions, and if you need spare parts you can walk right into their head office.

Regarding the Liquid Force board you posted from Craigslist, I am not familiar with it but research where it sits in the LF lineup. Some brands, including LF, have a very broad range and some of their products are very price point focused and may not be as good of a deal as they appear.

If you will be headed to Sherman Island near San Francisco, let me know.

Thanks... nwkite looks great. I totally like to support local but some of the used gear is at very good prices from people who thought they d get into it and never did... i know with any sport there is bad gear...

OR is good but I won't buy brand spanking new while I'm learning unless its a smoking deal!

It'd be worth going in and talking to them, they also have a pile of kites in their clearance room that are a 2+ years old that I believe should be cheap (they hadn't priced them when I was in there)

http://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/foru ... ?ad_id=956

this looks like a decent deal

http://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/foru ... ?ad_id=948

this one too

I wouldn't buy a kite older than 2011 if possible.

Roger that Marty... I might have to wait to buy something that new... Will most likely wait until I am fully trained up and slowing building the flying skills. Although newer kites seem to have the best flying characteristics! there are some good deals on nearly new kites for around the $600-$700 mark... hmmm

I really like that Mako though! and have heard nothing but good...

You really have to check out the OR outlet store.

I second OTlunch's opinion, they have clearance old model makos and such that are still new. it really is something you should check out

Hey Abetanzo,

Welcome to the wonderful world of kiteboarding!

Everyone above has made solid points as usual.

I would ditch your current quiver asap no matter what. I would not recommend anyone learn on gear that old. In fact, it is very hard to find anyone but the most die-hard of fans riding a kite older than 2008.

If you really need to save some cash then at least upgrade to some 2008 or newer kites - there are heaps of them available used and at very reasonable prices (some people will overvalue them, ask for help if you're not sure what something should be, or actually is worth).

Anything older than 2008 will just NOT be fun to learn on, you're cheating yourself out of having more fun.

I certainly wouldn't disagree with Marty in going with 2011 or newer - the prices for 2008, 2009, 2010 gear will all be fairly close. The 2011 gear is still available new. It will cost you more for sure ($700 for a new 10m OR Razor, $1000 with bar as advertised on the website), but you do get a 1 year warranty too. Most brands will have 2011 clearance gear right now.

If you decide to take lessons you really aren't likely to be too hard on your gear. Lessons include the use of school gear to beat up a bit, and are easily worth the ~$300 (think of it as the price of a junky kite you'd buy to teach yourself, but doing so would take many sessions and you'd have to swim home a lot!!).

If you want a Mako definitely check out the OR shop. They also do have a number of older kites (pre-2011) kicking around that I'm sure will be pretty reasonably priced!

These look o.k.: http://oceanrodeo.com/forums/viewthread/3524/ ...( O.R. doesn't inventory bladders for kites ~> 2 years old. So budget $ for parts from http://www.airtimekite.com/index.php/ai ... alves.html etc.) I would recommend the 140/150 MAKO as your first board