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How old are your gear?

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prayfawind27
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How old are your gear?

Postby prayfawind27 » Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:33 pm

do you change up each season? or you ride it till it shits itself.
Me, while people browse the new gear list, i'm looking at last year model and used gear.sStill riding my Eclipse 9m Kima( love that bitch to death)
Eclipse thurster 16m, 2011 Epic 11m Renegade, i have Best surfboard 5'7 surfboard(2008 -10) a Airrush protoy twin tip 08 maybe and my newest acquisition 2011 Slingshot Coupe surfboard, that i scored new of ebay for $300. Thank the Gods for last year and good second handers, if it wasn't for them i couldn't afford to kite. :lol: :D what about you guys?

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby dyyylan » Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:38 pm

I like trying a lot of different kinds of gear, so I switch things up a lot. It all affects how you ride so I like to keep it fresh. Current kites are only a few months old.

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby tautologies » Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:58 pm

dyyylan wrote:I like trying a lot of different kinds of gear, so I switch things up a lot. It all affects how you ride so I like to keep it fresh. Current kites are only a few months old.
Same as me. I have mix of park ride and now torch. :)

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby Rorke » Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:48 pm

My quiver is '08/'09. Like Prayfawind, 9m Kima and 12m Kima.

11 patches in the 9m (9 on canopy, 2 on the LE bladder)
That is the healthier of the two. :)

The freshwater here is easier on the material.
Also, the 3 strut delta design was pretty advanced back then, so there haven't been technological leaps that make me feel behind the times.

My buddy was kidding me that he has had 5 generations of kites since I got mine. :o

Every time I get close to being able to pick up a newer kite, something comes up. I am super thankful to have gotten this much life out of kites that work so well for me.

Knocking on wood.

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby calibra » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:09 pm

I change kites every year, at the moment i am waiting for the complete quiver from Blade Trigger 5th generation, i ride a lot in hardcore conditions, so I don´t like to have used kite that I don´t know wend they will fail!!!

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prayfawind27
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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby prayfawind27 » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:32 pm

calibra wrote:I change kites every year, at the moment i am waiting for the complete quiver from Blade Trigger 5th generation, i ride a lot in hardcore conditions, so I don´t like to have used kite that I don´t know wend they will fail!!!

my 9m like I said is from 2009, I have not had to fix nothing so far(knock on cement) buddies of mine with 2012 gear are having to repair bladders, repair canopy, etc..

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prayfawind27
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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby prayfawind27 » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:35 pm

Rorke wrote:My quiver is '08/'09. Like Prayfawind, 9m Kima and 12m Kima.

11 patches in the 9m (9 on canopy, 2 on the LE bladder)
That is the healthier of the two. :)

The freshwater here is easier on the material.
Also, the 3 strut delta design was pretty advanced back then, so there haven't been technological leaps that make me feel behind the times.

My buddy was kidding me that he has had 5 generations of kites since I got mine. :o

Every time I get close to being able to pick up a newer kite, something comes up. I am super thankful to have gotten this much life out of kites that work so well for me.

Knocking on wood.
The Gods has shown me favor with my 9m Kima, she's still a virgin, no patch,no tear, nothing so far :remybussi:

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby DJwilson » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:52 pm

I guess I'm part of the Old school, or maybe that s the skint school, who tries to make their gear last as long as possible. I just find it absurd that people obsess about having the very latest gear all the time. If your teaching or dealing and need to give feedback then I get it, but if you ve got some stuff that ain t broke and you get on well with, then why change it up all the time?

It goes back to a time when kites very often did not improve on a yearly basis, or if they did it was so marginal as to make little difference. Does the money in a kite company's R&D arm jump so much year to year that of course they ll have found some great new angle that they had overlooked in year's gone by? Of course not. There may very well be some higher end materials available now, but I really think the whole gear thing is something of a myth to be honest. Just because a kite is newer does not immediately mean it is better, and I'm surprised I'm in the minority in thinking that way.

I am actually looking for a new kite at the moment, but it ain t a new one really, it s a V1 Gypsy 7m. Much as I admire Wainman's approach of only bringing in a new generation when they ve really got something to add (though from what I hear the V2's are not as lively as the V1's? I'm ready to stand corrected), try finding one of these older generation kites and you ll begin to see what I'm talking about. It s a wicked little kite and I don t want the shinier, newer version. I liked it how it felt then and so that is what I m after.

No doubt I will trade up at some stage, but by then my set-up will be so antique that no-one will want it but me. Which is fine. Because they re all collector's items!

2008 Ozone Edge II 13m
2010 Wainman Smoke 9m
2008 Royal Era 8m

2007 Jimmy Lewis Model III 127cm
2009 SS Lunacy 132
2010 Resin8 5'10 Squash tail

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby JGTR » Wed Nov 14, 2012 11:56 pm

2005 Naish Ravens and a mix of 2007/2010 Torches - only have 2010 Torches because my 2007s had to be replaced :-(

Still kick the butt of pretty much most modern kites :thumb:

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Re: How old are your gear?

Postby John Doe » Thu Nov 15, 2012 12:01 am

Believe it or not I still regularly use an Amundson Custom from about 2004. The thing must, must, must have something like 500 days of hard riding on it & it's still intact!!! Paid $450 for it new back then.

I only buy 1 or 2 year old kites. Sometimes I pickup near new year-old kites for around $300 per. Sometimes used 2 year old kites for $200-$250. They last pretty well. Only had one blow apart out of 8 that I've bought & used for a solid year.

Basically my annual kiting budget for gear is about $1200. And guess what??? When one of my $250 kites gets yarded in the surf...do I care? Not so much, cuz I know I can get another one cheaply!!!

That's been working well for me for a decade! Only thing I don't ever scrimp on is my lines. Did that once & broke my leg landing a jump. Always get new or near new lines & bar :jump: I've had the same harness for 10 years as well, works great, old DaKine harness, just replace the straps regularly.


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