Anyone here wear a life jacket (PFD) when kite surfing? I never see any in pictures...

I do sometime, depends on location and conditions. I once broke a line in the middle of the lake and had a 2 hour swim to shore. That will open your eyes..........aj

Is there a special kind for kiting?

I've been checking out a lake near me for this summer.

Look at http://murrays.com/ for options...........aj

Most folks around here wear Kitesurf specific impact vests especially when learning. They are not approved PFD's but provide floatation + protection.
Then again most folks around here wear helmets to. Maybe Canadians are naturally COOL so we can get away with safety gear and not think we are nerdy !

It does seem like the safety gear gets dropped when the cameras come out.

Thanks guys,

Just one other question:

If you got hit in the head with the board or knocked out, would the PFD stop you from floating head down??

PFD's are designed to keep your head up. The impact vest doesn't do so. That's why it's not rated PDF. The trade off is the protection to your ribs + internal organs. Most PDF's get in the way of your harness and such.
I totally suck on water. The floatation has been great in those many hours spent trying to get set up and into my board + for the tea bagging I take trying to get started.

I use a Litewave impact vest. It is nice because it will work with seat a seat harness and has straps that you can wrap around your spreader bar so that the vest does not ride up. A lot of regular PFD's will not work with a harness. At least that was the case for me. I have a Dakine Fusion which comes up pretty high and it interfered with the pfd I bought. So I returned it and bought the Litewave. I also added more flotation to the Litewave by making a small slit in the back of the front section. I then slid out the foam and made a duplicate of it out of 3/4 inch flotation foam. I then fitted both pieces back in and sealed the hole with a wetsuit patch. So now I have a vest that integrates perfectly with my harness, has flotation comparable to a pfd and is less bulky then a pfd.

Thanks for tips! I'm just trying to figure out what I need to get on the water when the weather warms up.

Did you guys take any lessons first?

You will never regret lessons by a good instructor (instead of some kid trying to earn money for kite gear). You will always learn something. That being said I assume you know what you're doing with a large power kite so maybe money would be better spent on a wakeboard lesson if you have never ridden one before. Be safe. Wade

OK Thanks.

Anyone have an instructional kite surfing DVD for sale that I could watch before I get some lessons?

Joe

You can download these movies. They have a lot of tricks but also basic stuff like waterstarts. Best of all its free Check out the one named "Mark Shinn - Boosting":o

http://www.kitefilm.com/eng/weeklytrick.asp

This isn't exactly what you need but a short snowkite training film.
http://195.255.122.155/retkileija.mov

Kitefilm.com ( link above ) is your best bet. Search under downloads and then trick of the week. Good, short segments there.

Thanks Raymond - I watched Zero to Hero several times this week. It's a great DVD.

I've got the next one (Evolution) coming in this week

Snowbird - what language is that used in the video??

Ha,
I watched it on our ( non existant ) computer at work. It didn't have speakers. Sorry about that. :bird: