Prob been done to death but can the hating if it has if you would...

Just wondering how many people have this same sentiment.

I have been kiting for 14 years also surfing since a grom, don't ride freestyle any more, only waves. I have a strapped up board and a strapless board. I use the strapless stick in less wind and no so big surf but as soon as its larger waves and or an absolute snotter of a wind I jump back on straps.

Why? Because I find it way way more fun!

I was getting caught up in the anti-strap propaganda being bandied around by my long term kiter mates, because yes it takes more skill. But so does going upwind take more skill than not when your'e learning aye and we got over that one real quick and all started arranging downwinders. Why? because it's more fun. We didn't shun the fun for fear of looking unskilled by not staying upwind! That would be a bit silly me thinks.

Has anyone else felt the strap shame being put on them in the past? I have setup a support line. It's 0800 STRAPPED. We have counsellors standing by.

Lol you gave me a good laugh mate. Love your post!
Posted a similarish thread, so am keen to hear from others on this too.

Let the debate begin. My popcorn is in the microwave.

Am back riding in straps, found it a little boring and jealous watching others jumping.
Do what makes you smile.
Although less chance of injury in big surf going strapless.

Straps or no straps... All are welcome in the surf.
Who cares what 'the cool guys' think.

But guys blasting around on twin tips, another story.

Exactly my sentiments Moochy, have been on the strapless board a bit more this season, and its good fun on light days, but every time Im out there and a strapped guy is ripping it up, making it look so smooth, I ask myself, when is the cut off point for myself riding strapless and grabing the stapped board, a real dillema .....
Thing is also not just about the jumping, you can spot a guy a mile off doing diffrent stuff, going fast and hitting harder on straps, seen some guys doing stuff not possible strapless, I think we have a shift in style slowly creeping through the Perth scene

I'm with Ray on this one.....pretty well sums it up for me. Will shout out a plus one for his boards again too, they just make me happy :)

Defiantly strapless so much more freedom also control you can walk around the board and so many more choices of different boards I love going to garage sales and buying cheap surfboards for kiting if you wanna jump go ride a twin tip strapless is much more of a free surfing feeling but instead of all the crap like duck diving siting in the line up etc your getting heaps more waves and instead of paddling out your getting towed with a kite.
I also know of someone who only ever rode a strapped surfboard he had a major stack his front foot stayed in the strap the board did a whole bunch of weird stuff and now he can't kite ever again and has a perm limp also has 9 screws and bolts holding his ankle together after breaking every bone in his ankle due to riding with straps

sticking a no grab 360, or huge punt feels so much better strapless

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austin said..
sticking a no grab 360, or huge punt feels so much better strapless

Flick that chip of your shoulder.

Yep same moochy but no where near your years with kite
Got both prefer no straps paranoid about getting foot caught in a strap in the surf right knee questionable at best
can surf same board makes the bike ride down to the beach easier with 1 x board and a kite. If not enough wind can at least have a surf.
haha Austin wish I could say I love nailing big no grab punts too.
been looking at a 6' john john Florence fire wire volumes good anyone surfing / kiting a surf specific firewire. Previous posts had given them a bad wrap wondered if technology had improved?

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surfingboye said..
Straps or no straps... All are welcome in the surf.
Who cares what 'the cool guys' think.

But guys blasting around on twin tips, another story.

I take it you cant ride a TT

Thanks for the input dudes and dudesses. Feedback is mucho interestingo.

I think we are spoilt heaps here in the west and spend so much time powered in excellent winds that you can pretty much sit in your straps, whereas when I have kited overseas the friggin things get in your way when you need to get out of them to keep a plane on.

I do feel the pain when there is twin tip action amongst the waves, which is kind of akin to taking a skateboard up a mountainside, but hey that's a first world problem if ever I heard one. When you live in kiting heaven sometimes you gotta work hard to scrape up an issue worth a bleat.

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surfingboye said..
Straps or no straps... All are welcome in the surf.
Who cares what 'the cool guys' think.

But guys blasting around on twin tips, another story.

Your a hard core dude SB get out there with these dudes unstrapped , should be quite a show




The guys are all strapped and they still cant get anywhere near the lip
Ben Wilson's quote in an interview " I just want to ride the wave as though the kite wasn't even there". Well just surf it and get in the line up with 30 other guys.
That's the way he pushed the sport and its amazing how many sheep followed him.
I say use what ever board you want to and enjoy it for what it is
Laurie could you please start up an Unstrapped forum so all the Ben Wilson followers can talk about how they wax their boards up
Flame away unstrappers

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tard said..

surfingboye said..
Straps or no straps... All are welcome in the surf.
Who cares what 'the cool guys' think.

But guys blasting around on twin tips, another story.

I take it you cant ride a TT

Most TT riders don't care what ( the cool guys think ) either.

Strapless for small to medium waves and strapped for big surf is what I do .

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dowls said..
Yep same moochy but no where near your years with kite
Got both prefer no straps paranoid about getting foot caught in a strap in the surf right knee questionable at best
can surf same board makes the bike ride down to the beach easier with 1 x board and a kite. If not enough wind can at least have a surf.
haha Austin wish I could say I love nailing big no grab punts too.
been looking at a 6' john john Florence fire wire volumes good anyone surfing / kiting a surf specific firewire. Previous posts had given them a bad wrap wondered if technology had improved?

Hey dowls
I use my FireWire fst paddle surfboards for strapless kiting all the time. So far no problems but I must say I don't jump much and very high. I have used Hellfire 6.0, HellRazer 6.3 and BakedPotatoe 5.5 (light wind). Mostly I use the Hellfire. They're for sure not as strong as a kite-specific board but are way stronger than normal PU surfboards.

yep, caught up in the hype here too. Friends absolutely rip in all conditions strapless, including big waves and big airs. Unfortunately, I am not them, and there's not enough practice in the world going to make me them. Sadly, have had to come to terms with these limits.

The difference for me is that I can ride strapless in most all conditions, but when the waves get serious, I am so tentative that it isn't as fun. With straps, I can hit that section or pull that floater. Without straps, it's 50/50 I am going to lose my board, and losing my board means session over in our main spot. (unless wear a leash, and that's a whole 'nother debate). I also HATE being over powered strapless, always on tiptoes feeling like you're about lose it....with straps I find I can dig in and ride it out.

Full respect to the guys that can pull it off. Me, I like using the tools that work best for me on any given day.

A few buddies swear by the NSP kling-on foot hooks (similar to Predator straps). One has them front and back, facing each other, pulls some big airs, but gets enough foot movement flexiblity too. I tried them but find they get in the way ... maybe they are better once you get used to them.

As for injuries, I am the freakish idiot who broke his ankle riding strapless. Was playing around doing a powered turns on really small waves. The kite lagged behind the turn half a second, my front foot came off the board, then the kite hit a strong gust and fully powered me forward back onto the board....WHACK, spiral fracture. Oddly enough, wouldn't have happened with straps! (but don't get me wrong...I accept that straps are generally more dangerous....especially if jumping on a directional)

The evidence speaks for itself, strapless kooks are just plain embarrassing for our sport, I see this sort of thing all the time, how can we have any cred with legs in the air like this everywhere?

A really good point that speaks for strapped directionals in surf is the fact that it's mad fun using waves as a kicker to boost you up into the air.
On strapless I don't even try jumping for obvious reasons. I know you can jump with a strapless board too, but it's much harder to master.

With straps you can (and should) take one or both feet out to better trim the board and get in a better stance for a particular wave or whatever.

With no straps you've got no options.

Is this the forum where insecure strapped guys feel the need to defend themselves ??









Joking each to their own...have fun.

Ok bit hungover need to aggravate someone so here goes.

Hey,

Ridden with both for many years, sometimes i only put rear one on.

As a Old surfer was always keen to try strapless 10 years ago when i went away from twinnys , def gives you more surfing feel ,but certainly a lot more loosing your board when you first start.

Dont let the wannabees Talk you in to strapless if you dont want to , experiment try with out both maybe put the back one in whatever you feel is right.

I ride now strapless in nice clean waves and when its messy put the rear strap in , i am 60 this year and getting a bit older and hip plays up so bugger it , been surfing since i was 15 and kiting since i was 45, enjoy the waves, you will always have the so called experts telling you there own option .

Just enjoy the stoke

Ok, I'll come out of the closet and admit I've been strapless 4 years, but in some situations I want straps, I even practiced 3-5 sessions with them to learn how to Switch feet. Still had a lot of problems with tripping on them, and struggling to get back foot in again after jibe, but was doing OK. Still I got sick of them and just went back to strapless.

It's like being a dude that wants a relationship, sees the benefits, but can't stand getting close to another person....

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AndreC said..
Ok bit hungover need to aggravate someone so here goes.


But if you did a 720 over a gap on that you'd be a bigger legend than if you did it on a freestyle motorbike..... Especically if you instered a flare in a bodily cavity.

We have some gnarly old dudes locally that lay down some sweet wave riding both strapped and unstrapped.

I'll be honest I can't tell who is ripping the best. They both look equally good. They are both have equal sized grins after finishing a session.

I'll admit that appreciate the skill involved in a dude punting a strapless air. Hats off to those blokes. But at the same time I guess I prefer to see an old school monster boost of a wave lip. So for that reason i visually prefer to watch a strapped dude rip a wave then punt a 20-30 foot air on the way back out.

Can't make up my mind.

I only use the front strap.

I like to ride strapless in light to moderate conditions with small waves , but when it's nuking I like straps for down winders where the name of the game is high speed velocity ,being constantly side ways carving , wave riding and wave jumping!.
I like both and my next challenge is to front roll off the lip and stay on the same wave .
I will be learning this with straps on with out a doubt .I hope to do it one day strapless.
Straps can be good for going into big waves too which is a well known within the toe in big wave surfers.
Look at Jesse richman(kite free rider) at jaws ... Uses weights on his board and straps !
The guy rips and enjoys using his kite in conjunction with wave riding and boosting out out of wipe out situations!I love watching his vids!

How about in-line boots. Of course that only be cool 13- 18 kn NE

Strapped is really fun, strapless is really fun... just go for what you're in the mood for. I tend to ride strapped more because to me, kiting is a combination of windsurfing, surfing and snowboarding, with a dash of motocross. It's what ever you want it to be.

That's it .. Who cares what it looks like ... It's kitesurfing that's what it is.Straps or no straps .It seems theses days people are to worried about what it looks like ... Who gives a toss!.Kite surfing offers insane arial perspective in comparison to surfing.