Your Essential Winter Kiting Gear

[nick_80044]

Okay, all this action over the weekend has me salivating. But I hate being cold. So what is your essential winter kiting gear for keeping safe and warm (and especially, **warm**)? Make/model/price range when possible, please.

Also, for an average-sized guy of 170 lbs., is most of this winter wind strictly 9m territory, or can I get by with a 12m?

[Willy T]

i'm a kiting newbe but i've been surfing the northstate for years and i swear by my Boz wetsuit. a 4/3 keeps me warm all winter:

http://www.bozwetsuits.com/

[ramsey]

big jug of warm water and an thermos of hot tea.

[Greg]

Hooded 543, 2m gloves, hate booties but I've got two pairs for the ugly-ugly..

Oneill Convertable (two tops- 1 hood, 1 regular)
cant tell you the price, but I will say I LOVE IT (and you would too)

Gloves are another deal-
Having thick gloves is NO BAWANO!
You need to be able to work with STRING and HANDLE a KNIFE!!
My 2m gloves are ok for me.. but I've got big hands.. Many people want almost nothing under there grip.... LOOK AROUND- many kiters use DISH GLOVES.. and BRIGHT YELLOW might come in handy too.. if you know what I mean-

I think booties SUCK! but sometimes you gotta use em.
Just Remember to re-adjust your straps before putting your kite in the air, cause with booties or without your feet are a totally different size come WINTER.... (you know SHRINKAGE!)

Speaking of Shrinkage, jeeze we gotta find Royace a wetsuit sponcer.. Poor Boyz gonna freeze his gonaids off TRUNKING IT all winter!! #-o

L.M.G.

[Greg]

let me add-
my suit is a surf suit.. Only partly smoothie.. Great for surfing and still pretty good for kiting due to its outstanding water holdout.. Example: I kited the other day and was basicly DRY inside.. I didn't fall hard but I did fall allot due to my trying blinds in both directions.

Thats kinda funny too, over summer I could only ride to blind in one direction and then I tried it the other day on the other side and it was really no sweat- VERY WEIRD! (I must have been to STONED to kite) The only bad part was FORGETTING to TIGHTEN my FOOTSTRAPS (back foot, swiching forward kept popping out.. Then landing on toe with simi-numb feet and half out to boot is a PRIM way to LOOSE SOME TEETH!!

(Not much cause for worry, I was only popping to blind edge not JUMPING to Blind)
Zeeve lost some teeth and ended up adding some kind of hocky shield to his helmet to save his face. VERY SMART to invest in such things if thats something you really want to do :- )
Note: Blinds are way more hazardous and difficult to pull when combined with big/POWERED tricks, thats why judges award much higher points for blind landings ... Look at Hadlow, now he does everything to blind and thats why he's some dominating in contests-

[jjm]

Prepare to go coastal, it's warmer!

[wjb]

5/3 suit, hood only when absolutely necessary. No gloves or booties for me. I wear this

http://www.live2kite.com/mystic-matrix- ... p-475.html

under my suit on cold days. My Mystic impact vest also offers some thermal protection. Kited all last winter no problem, but this winter I will incorporate Ramsey's suggestions as well.

[OliverG]

I'm using a 4/3 AMP K with a 1.5mm Cyclone surf jacket under, no gloves, booties or hood. I have a hood which I may use at some point but haven't felt it needed yet.
The 4/3 is pretty good on its own, but adding the long sleeve 1.5mm top really gets cozy, although with a small increase in bulk and small decrease in flexibility, but worth it.
Neoprene Pläya hoodie for after.

[funmilton]

Patagonia R4

No gloves, no booties, no problem...

November - March winter piece.

[Loscocco]

Heated seats in my car for the ride home!!!!