hi guys,
i want to start kitesurfing, but i'm totaly confused about the gear. ram air or inflatables? everybody is praising flysurfer kites (easy, warrior,speedair), but most of the kites on the market are inflatables. is it true that bladders need changing (quite often)? what size would be ideal for 3-5 force wind? what size of twin tip should i get? i have 86kg - very experienced snowboarder and medium level windsurfer and kite flier. i own 4line 3sqm ram air kite for land use - used it mostly for jumping and body dragging.
i would appreciate any advice.

if you have any possibility to take a course - then do it it'll safe you a lot of time & money!

flysurfer kites are the best foils i know, but still foils (with bridles). they have advantages and disadvantages ...

same as tubes.
i fly a '99 naish-tubekite with the first set of bladders, but i'm careful not to harm these.
if a foil crashes onto sharp rocks or into a bush and gets a hole, you simply tape it.
if a tubekite does so, a long journey begins ...
tubekites are also hard to start & land alone.


but if you're careful, you'll have much fun with a working system (water relaunch, jumping)

i'd advice you to go for a intermediate tubekite (or a peter lynn ARC) not bigger than 12m² flat area (cabrinha co2, north torro, wipika hydro etc.), and a twintip with 150-180cm length.

hi elmarinou its spyros from greece.did u cleared it up with the lessons in gr.I 'm really comfused too with the equip i should buy,(and from where here in greece because there is no real dealer in my area).till now i think ill go for the inflatable stuff...and board we'll see!!!!

hi spyros,
i contacted that japanese instructor and it looks promising. he is having courses in kefalonia this summer. but, since i don't have my own gear yet i'd like to be able to rent it somewhere... and that is a problem since i can't find any place to rent. ideally, i would like to rent for a few days after a course. after that i asume i would have much better idea what to buy.