O.k I've done what I think is a very thorough investigation online trying to find a kite retailer in Arizona to no avail. Does anyone here know of one? I've seen a few AZ kiters on these boards so are we all buying online? I'd love to be able to walk into a store and ask questions, talk, and look at new kites.

Let me know if I'm missing one somewhere. thanks!

Welcome to the more frustrating part of the sport. I think we should just all move to where the four or five stores actually ARE! ; )

....actually it's probably better that it's not so easy to get the gear......

Quote:

I'd love to be able to walk into a store and ask questions, talk, and look at new kites.

Yeah, I know what you mean....I get so envious when I read the posts on Flexifoil where most of the flyers are based in the UK. You hear it all the time....sample as many as you can...buy what you like.

...can you imagine...going into a store, testing flying a few kites and then actually buying what you like!!!

...Now that would be cool!!!

Nope, I just checked my kiteboarding magazine, nothing there alaska has one! but not you

if you cant try everything that your local store carries, attend a kitebuggy event or kiteboarding event.

also if you a member of PKF who posts and has some credit within the community I have no problem sending a kite out for demo. I pay the shipping to you, and you pay the shipping back unless you wanted the "used" model.

support your dealers, even if they are a few states over, or pretty soon ... buying kites will be an online only thing. we need kiteshops / garage shops to future this sport, they help educate and give customer service.

my wooden nickel thought

At least I'm not alone! Sounds like a lot of you are in the same situation. I agree supporting local shops is a great idea, I'll keep that in mind when purchasing equipment in the future. Thanks everyone!

It has to be a little tough to not have any retail stores in your area. We have shipped quite a bit into AZ for some people who have the same problem as you, nobody local to purchase from. Give me a call or drop me an e-mail if there is something specific that you are looking for. We're in Vegas which is probably the closest thing to you. Shipping ground takes 1 to 2 days to get to you.

lol, I was just in vegas and I was looking for a store to go check out. Unfortunately I didn't have my laptop on me and every concierge/ front desk I asked was completely clueless. I will definately visit the next time I'm up there. Thanks!

Definitely stop by the shop next time you are in Vegas. If we can work out a time we can head out to Ivanpah and do some riding. We have tons of demo kites for everyone to try out, even demo Yakuza's. Don't worry bout bringing your buggy cuz your more than welcome to use one of mine. I got the Ivanpah full race bug and a PL XR+ that always needs to have the tires rotated. lol

Hope to see ya soon!

thanks so much. Definately will stop in next time!

The only places I have found have been REI and Cabelas. REI only has the prism snapshot 1.2, which is a good teacher and fun to just buzz around with. It isn't near powerful enough for what we look for. Cabelas has the Prism Stylus P2's and P3's, they can get P4's. But they only come in dual line off the shelf. That is all I have been able to find in the PHX area

Interesting, Hadn't thought to look at either of those places. I think I'll go the smaller vendor route for purchasing but it might be fun to go look at them at Cabelas. Thanks for the info!