I agree with Bayflite's sentiment that it's better to have a kite (with lines that flies) than none at all and that kiting ROCKS.
But, not all kites truly rock, at least not in the same fashion for each rider.
When choosing among several kites that are of the same price range, it can be a shame to have purchased the inferior kite or the one not suited well to your style. Lots of decisions can be based on what you read or hear as opposed to a demo.

All riders have different riding styles, so it's seems reasonable that different riders would want different things from their gear.
In terms of equipment, one kiter's heaven might be another's hell.

Toby, you said one of your cars wasn't as good as some others you mentioned. Obviously some some people want different things from different cars/trucks. I don't care if mine looks glorious as long as it lasts a long time, for instance.
Still, in the long run, some vehicles are lemons, right?

I wish we had a consumer reports type of mag which was totally non bias (will never happen) or a totally non biased place to get information on kites. It still amazes me when I read these kiting mags (hardly ever) that every kite mentioned is the best jumper, most range...blah blah. It gets annoying reading it, so I don't.

Wouldn't it be cool if in each state their was a test or demo facility to try a bunch of stuff before a purchase? I know I would pay (if windy all day) 150 bucks to try every kite and board I could to match what felt good to me. If at the end of the day I made an informed purchase, it would have been worth it. Really cool would be if you filled out a "report" and gave feedback on the gear. I know I am dreaming and this won't happen, but that'd be cool. The thing is, for beginners (a huge fraction of the market) this wouldn't be of much use.

Another cool thing would be if more demoes occured.
If each company had travelling reps covering territories and demoing out of a van on a regular basis, that'd be cool. I know of a couple "tours" going on right now and others that have occurred in the past. I have always been very impressed with these. Neil, Best, Cab. and others have done this.
The difficulty here is the cooperation of the wind, but it's still cool to try.
I don't think anything is more powerful than a demo for a consumer.

Tampa bay has oodles of riders now. Hopefully that will warrant more demos and more reps coming to us in their vans
More brands being sold locally would also be cool.
With so many kites and boards out there and so many riders in St. Pete, it still amazes me how homogenous (relatively) the area is when I look around at the launch spots. It's not that way on the road in terms of the car brands I see. I bet more access to demo more gear would make for more heterogeneity.

Anyway, basically just wishing I could demo cool '07 gear here and make an informed decision as opposed to reading some write up in kitermagnificent before a purchase.
I am glad we share equipment here, but who is gonna buy the first ___________________ and let us demo it? (BLeighty?)

Toby, this topic might keep you busy for a little while. :wink: