G'day guys, i recently put in a noobie topic before and good some bloody good advice that has helped so much and no doubt saved me from blowin a load of money.

Im lookin at this special 07 ex-demo Liquid force package on www.surfconnect.com
Now i know i should go out and do lessons before i buy...thats a given, but i also dont want to miss out on a good deal, and 07 package (even tho its ex demo) everything for $1500 sounds great.
So even tho i should have a lesson before buyin, im leaning towards buying this gear. Is this a bad idea?
I mean the purpose of buyin 2nd hand is to learn what kind of gear u want so buying this havoc liquidforce kite and gear, which is apparently a good kite to learn on so yeah.

And does the type/size of board mean alot?

Once again, any advice wud be tops!
One last qstn, does any1 know what is the average winds in newcastle? (nobby's beach/ stockton area to be specific) Light winds?

and spend $40 and get some kinda 'learn to kitesurf' DVD.

this will help you HEAPS !!!! and u can watch it ova and ova again before u get paid lessons - it will help u get more outa your lesson time and on the water faster....even once your on the water u will come back to the dvd again and things will fall into place.

i'm not sure whats the best dvd these days but i dont think u can go too wrong, i had this one and you can buy them from kite shops or online etc...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Kiteboarding-Guide-DVD/dp/B0006V5LWK

Man I'm a noobie myself.. I got a LF havoc in feb. and its awsome. I reckon its a real good kite to learn on. Its really forgiving (loads of depower). ofcoarse make sure u know what u r doing (get lessons)and make sure you kite with other people. But yeah I think you'll love the havoc and probably find that your skills progress quite quickly. I think I kinda managed to get up and going when i still had/have a lot to learn about the details that make a good kiter and I put a lot of that down to having a forgiving kite that allows you to depower a lot, giving you a chance to think and sort things out without having a bit of a panic which could be easy to do as a begginer. Get into it man. its expensive but you'll love it.

the guys have made some great points-
the dvd's are a great resource,
$1500 for 07 kit is saving >$1000,
lessons are essential,
2007 bridle/depower kites (regardless of brand) are easier and safer to learn on- and have advanced significantly from the 06 kites (much less inverting)
join AKSA for 3rd party personal liability

as for the board- bigger is better for learning- (length easier to turn than width)- and can be used later for light wind- boots/wakestyle board for more advanced, stick to the foot straps to learn- proof 151 or the wlf 140x46 would be my pick to start. trade up/get a smaller board in 6 months.

if you don't want to trash a new kite learning - get a $20 2 line stunt kite, tie the lines to a short piece of bar, and practice flying it one handed- when you don't crash it anymore , chances are your new kite won't get damaged.....

p.s. did I mention lessons are a good idea?

good luck , safe kite-ing, and man are you going to love it !!!

Sounds like a decent deal and probably worth going for.

I used to fly Liquid force, the spectrums, they were ok kites but the quality of build was crap. Burst bladders, burst le, torn canopy, stitching coming apart etc
I'm not sure what build quality on them is like these days havent used one since.
However the fact that you are buying from a reputable outlet is to your advantage....you can always take it back

good luck have fun.......

i reckon that 1500 deal is pretty good, in fact im spewin i don't have a another 1500 to get a new board and light wind kite.
i bought a 10 m havoc in jan, and had a lot of noob moments which gave my kite a good trashing and its still going strong, i found it pretty easy to learn on (not that i would know beacsue i haven't flown a different kite)but i reckon for an 07 kite, board and harness with 3hr lesson you can't go wrong.

and for the record i've never bought anything for surf connect, so no ulterior motives

Once again, cant thank u all enough for all ur advice. Cheers