BayAreaKiteboarding.com

A big thanks to everybody that has responded to my other questions as well as those that have helped provide advice on the beach. Much appreciated. I have been blown away by how supportive and friendly the San Francisco kiting community is, and hope to be able to reciprocate once my overall knowledge improves.

I am super pumped about kiting and want to get just enough gear that will get me out on the water in as wide a variety of conditions as possible.

I'm 210 pounds and I have a Naish boxer on 24m lines.

I'm thinking of getting a 20m Naish Raven and a 12m Naish Raven as well as a little 5m kite to develop kite skills in low wind?

If anybody could give me some input in terms of that overall setup, I would very much appreciate it?

Many thanks,
Rascal

What size is your Naish boxer?
A 20m kite is huge. Consider getting a big board for lite wind days. Multiple boards can extend the range of any kite.
A 5m kite is tiny. You prob won't ever use it on the water.

There are exactly three kites in a quiver. Two makes a "Quivlet", and one kite only makes a "kite". Anything more than that, and you probably drive a honda element.

I would say 10/14/18 would be optimal for your weight (assuming you have an "average" board, not a super-small or -big one). Unless you are planning to hit the coast, in which case you might need a smaller kite, but then waveriding is probably a little bit down the road...

Thanks for the feedback.

The boxer I have is 16m.

The 5m kite is only for me to practise kite skills on the land on very low wind days.

For kiting in a variety of conditions year-round and to factor in possible travel, I don't think anything less than a 3 kite quiver is realistic. Personally, anything bigger than a 15 or 16 is seldom worthwhile as kiting in light winds with bigger kites is seldom very rewarding. Consider having a 14, 15 or 16 as your biggest kite followed by a 12 or 13 and then a 9 or 10. I spent all of last year and still have a 14 as my biggest kite.

ONE (and I'm not kiddding)

The proper question is how many BOARDS in a quiver.

I have found that I can kite with my crossbow 12 in winds from 10-30mph. In winds below 15mph, I use the Slingshot Glide.

Anything above 15, I switch to a small board.

I've got a 12m and 16m, small board and big board to cover anything from Alameda - Maui winds. 12 is a bit much for Maui, but with a bow its not a big deal.

BayAreaKite wrote:... Consider having a 14, 15 or 16 as your biggest kite followed by a 12 or 13 and then a 9 or 10. I spent all of last year and still have a 14 as my biggest kite.

Ollie, he is 210 so he really needs something bigger then 14. I also think that an 18 is not to bad. I would recommend to stay with your 16 and get a Gilde or a Door type of board for light winds.

With the 16 in hand I would add a 12 (bay standard) and something smaller later on (10).

I use 16-13-10 and am 160 with a 140 and a Door type board. Leo with his one kite solution is most probably even lighter.

I weigh 170 and have only a 12 bow. 3 boards. but I also dont frquent places that blow over 25-30 on a regular basis. the 12 will handle 30 but not that comfortably. I think what used to be 3-4 kites with c kites is replaced by no more than 2 bows.