Kiteforum.com

yea i know ill be in pain the next day for sure!
im about 5'10 ,145 pounds.

sweet, tomorrow is looking good and miami has some great spots to learn at. what's your local beach?

e_deher,

Definitely don't get in any rush to buy gear. Go take your lessons, try to get up on a board and ride, and think about in what style you think your interests lie. Do you want to cruise in waves, get in barrels, carve around and generally do everything in and around waves? Do you want to occasionally ride waves and occasionaly the flat water and do big floaty jumps? Do you want to do both of those and fancy handle passes and really technical tricks? Do you want to do all of it in moderation?

Before you buy your gear, learn how to get up on a board, and figure out what excites you. Once you figure that out, it will narrow your choices a little bit. After you know what you want, be patient and read a LOT of reviews of different gear. Whatever your final decision is, make sure your first kite is stable and can handle gusts.

Nothing can ruin a new kiter's day like having the kite hindenburg over the back of your head, and float into the power zone and rip your arms out of their sockets by powering up and proceeding to drag your hapless arse skidding up the beach into a tree.

Remember, stability.

Buy a kite that your local shop supports. This way if you have any issues you can all ways go to them for answers, repairs, warranties, and spare parts. For all around and learning I suggest a delta shape. No one kite does it all but I find that delta's give you a wide range with ease of use until you figure out what you want.

As for boards good luck on that. Coming from surfing and wake you will find that kite specific boards are not up to par. If you plan on surf than just use a regular surfboard. That is if you just want to surf and not boost. You will find plenty of kite specific boards for that but they will not be as good for surfing as a good ole surf board. Just don't over think your surf options you know your wave conditions all ready and plenty of experience to make a good choice for one.

As for twintips go try everything you can before you decide. Coming from wake you know how a board should feel. You will not find it in kiteboards again. I find that all kiteboards are all most identical. They are too flat and flexi for my liking and generally pushed as too small. I wish the kiteboard manufactures would really take a hard look at the wake industry to see what works. They have all ready done most of the leg work, r & d, and testing. This is where I find problems with Slingshot and Liquid Force the most. They actually have a wake division. I would recommend a L.134-136cm by W.41-43cm and skip the to small board with a lightwind board that everyone pushes. In all honesty it is not needed.

Asking which anything brings out the brand pimps. Just be weary of the people throwing brands about. Just because you own something does not make it the best, especially if it is for someone else. Now don't take my advice as gospel as this is just from my experience. Good luck to you.

Getting your first steps needs a good kitehandling, no matter which sports you did, you need to think about your and others safety, this Means take a course and learn to fly kites.

Secondly, stepping into a ''gear''sport is always costing you some bucks, in the beginning, you do not know a lot about Good or bad second hand equipment, so leave that away if you have the means to buy new.

I myself can advice you the following brand, perfect quality good support and a perfect kite to start with but also to grow with, it is a very good alround kite that will upgrade your skills in no time, waves , freestile, freeride...it does it all, the same company can deliver you a well priced wetsuit, boards etc..this all with affordable prices compared to the topbrands, but with the same quality or even better, with great support, which sometimes lacks with the topbrands...
Just check out www.switchkites.com And go for the kite called Element!

Good luck
Dude