It’s that time of year again and I don’t know about you, but we’re all getting nagged by our partners/family/friends about what they can buy us for Xmas. Let’s face it, they probably have a tough time understanding much about our kiting passion but still care enough to want to buy us a gift we really want. So we’ve decided to make it easier for you (and them) this year by building a Santa wish list with cool kite gifts being the very focus. Feel free to use it to be as subtle or obvious as you’d like sharing what you really want Santa to bring you!
‘Stocking Filler’ smaller items
- Surfboard wax
- Wind sock – every kiter should have one of these in the garden!
- Progression instructional kitesurfing DVDs – watch and learn to be a better kiter from your big screens at home. UPDATE: Now buy Progression Gift Vouchers for all our digital collections.
- Board tool to change your fins fast
- Handy collapsible water bottle – you can clip it to you and kite with it
- iTunes voucher / Google Play gift cards – Give credit to download our premium instructional videos via our Progression Player app to watch even on the go
- Waterproof Smartphone cover – watch our Progression Player while still wet, track your GPS via your smartphone apps, or even kite with your phone and be sure not to be stuck without a way to call a taxi after your downwinder!
Under $50 (around £30 / €40 / AUD60)
- Wind meter – Attaches to your smartphone so you can share your wind readings with others
- Key Pod – a way to lock your car keys when you go kiting – no more hiding them in that super secret place (ie. behind the drivers front wheel!)
- Kite anchor (water and land versions) – makes self launch and landing a whole lot easier
- Waterproof headphones – A few options out there but just for the headphones either X-1 or Water-Fi
- Camrig line mount – we use these mounts for a lot of our filming of our new wave riding videos (released Spring 2015!). They give an amazing view point for seeing your mistakes and your successes!
- Water sunglasses that don’t fall off when you wipe out
- Kite magazine subscriptions for The Kiteboarder / Kitesurf UK / Kitemag Oz
- Waterproof car seat cover
- Wet gear bags – strong enough to hold a sodden wetsuit
$50-100 (around £30-60 / €40-80 / AUD60-115)
- Go Jo – a great tool for beginners to make sure they never lose their board again!
- SJ4000 Sports cam – a good recommendation from Kon in our previous blog post – only $99 for a camera that does a lot of what a GoPro does.
- GoPro / Action Camera pole – Seem to be popular for the action sport selfie fans
- Mystic merino wool gloves – extra special luxury wetsuit gloves for when it gets really cold
- Easy changing robe – save your dignity and protect the eyes of the passers by!
- Vibram ‘5 finger’ booties – good if you need to wear booties as on a surfboard as you can wiggle toes to help move your feet
- The World Kite and Windsurfing Guide – a coffee table must have
- KiteWorld magazine subscription – print and digital versions available
For the ladies
- Kiter inspired bikinis (that stay put in the water too!)
- Stylish surfsuits and rash guards
For the boys
- Finisterre Clothing, cold water people – so for those who live in the colder climates there are some beautiful shirts, jumpers and woolen underpants!
- And for warmer weather every guy needs a tank top! And you can’t go wrong with Volcom
$100+ (around £60+ / €80+ / AUD115+)
- Sliding spreader bar – Dynabar XT V8 – makes toeside all that much easier
- Soloshot – film yourself with the Robot cameraman (another gadget we’ve use to help film our upcoming wave riding videos)
- Trainer Kite – so many to choose from but the Ozone Ignition is a safe bet. Otherwise check for deals at a local kite shop in your area.
- Indoboard – a fun way to exercise your core muscles
- Impact vest – looks good and protects your ribs and adds a little buoyancy
- GPS waterproof watch – training computers to monitor just how hard you ride
I think the Progression team would love most of the above so let’s hope Santa will also be kind to us this year (not that we have much space left in our board bags!). Good luck with your own Xmas shopping and we hope you have a very merry one, and a super windy New Year!
For even more gadget ideas check out our previous post by engineer Konstantin Othmer