If you are 100% freerider then you dont need the bindings.
If you are doing a mix of riding, freeride, freestyle - wakestyle then the bindings is a choice for you but for sure with cons and pros compare to regular straps.

- Cons:
jumping high or doing kiteloops is a risk on bindings because if something goes wrong, bindings can rip your knee in no time, or if one of your foot come out
- In and out on bindings is harder than regular straps, so when starting or ending a session at the beach you need some time to get in and out and at the same time you need to keep the kite in the air safely.
- You loose on the ''surfy'' feeling of the straps
- Crashes are way harder
- Not for light wind kiting

+ Pros
Direct feeling with your board
Edge harder and you can keep more power down in overpowered conditions
You forget the bodydragging
You can land more powered tricks even faster
Landing blind is a bit easier on bindings

I like to use my bindings on my all around board (Aboards Z series) because i like to do a little bit of everything.

i know it´s my pussy style but still feel this "bindings hurt much more" is being a bit overstated

No doubt, you only crash as hard as you ride.

Yeah I've always hurt myself more in straps, between the board coming off of one foot, tweaking my ankles, and racking my shins with the rails, it's wayyyy more painful for me to ride straps. I don't like throwing anything more difficult than a back roll in them since it feels so dangerous...

I'm just trying to get some perspective because I'm an admitted newbie to the kiteboarding world. I hear a lot of guys claiming that crashing with bindings is painful. Are these guys experienced wakeboarders? I guess my perspective is in reference to being pulled behind a boat. Last year it was my goal to complete a Mobius (backroll with front side 360). I literally toe-side face planted dozens of times in a row and never got it.

I've never had any crashes with a kite even come close to whipping me into the water as hard as a boat. I don't do kite loops yet tho. But so far I'm with Dyyylan... the worst injuries I've gotten from kiteboarding are when my straps let loose and the board racks my shins and twists my ankles. I've even had a board come off a wave into my head and once I "popsicled" pretty good down in DR. None of this stuff happens in bindings.

I think you could literally die if you ran boots in the surf.

I had straps for a while and used them. I felt more connected but when the board is behind you and you have to flounder around trying to get your board back in front of you in the waves is scary indeed. the punishment you get when the wave pitches and dumbs on your head while strapped in is nasty.

morrel of the story.

dont use boots or straps in the waves

why would u face plant a dozen times in a row! I see your point, but it's like saying it's only a mild concussion i dont care if it's mild dont want it. Maybe that makes kiters who ride straps wusses, that's fine with me

EDT, I think it was perserverence towards the goal of landing the mobe that drove him.

I'd ask you why you would tomahawk your kite, blow a bladder, fix it with random available materials, just to repeat the tomahawk again 12 times in a row? You cant land a tomahawk.

tomahawk dont hurt me, it just explodes the kite.

also the wind has been epic the last two days, jontan, sean etc did a 12 mile downwinder port sanilac to lexington today, and we had a 10 man crew downwind lexington to port huron yesterday

No pain no gain