Every gear critic will say demo, demo, demo. But every new board or kite I've ever upgraded to has taken time to get used to and improved over time.

Most of the gear these days is awesome.

Is there any real benefit of demoing gear? Is it really fair to judge a board or kites characteristics after the first use?

BJW - are you for real, or are you just an average rider who doesnt know the difference...

If you ride hard - the whole game changes and is instantly noticeable - do you think when designing kites, they take awhile to get "used to it".

A couple of runs out n back - and thats it ! It gets binned instantly if it doesnt work

Theres enough shop bull sales yarns to fill another Ocean - unfortunately noobs and average riders get rolled from believing it.

A great example is when a kite company enthusiastically says "its a radically redesigned kite" - translates to "oh we messed up there". Better try another design.

So demo demo demo unless you have more money than skill...