It fascinates me how loyal some people are to brands. Personally I own a very varied range of gear, and buy what I think will perform the best, rather then just purely based on brand name.
Kit I learnt on:
Starboard Freestyle board
NP Rafjet Sail 5.9
North Boom
North Mast
NP Extension + Base
Flying Objects fin.
Move on 2 years and now I rock:
Fanatic NewWave 75L
JP FreestyleWave 92L
Starboard Freestyle Board 96L (now for sale, but i'm not ditching starboard! i want to replace my fanatic slalom with an isonic once i get the money together)
Fanatic Slalom 110L
Naish Force 5.3
North Duke 5.9
Naish Stealth 7.0m (loaner)
North Boom (spare)
MauiSails Boom (freakin awesome!)
To be honest thou, If I had plenty of money, I would probably ride Fanatic+North+MFC+Dakine. Gollito, Victor Fernandez, and now Marcillio Browne as well, no excuses with that much talent riding the same gear :D hard to go wrong :) Oh and Simmer sails rock too :D
I think I just can't afford to be brand loyal, damn being a Uni student :(
Whats in your garage? Are you a brand hopper like me, or do you stick to what you know?
nah man, im a NP man.
I believe if your going to buy a NP, North, Gaastra sail, your going to buy the similar mast and boom.
My Kit.
Mistral Syncro 92 (for sale) 
X-Combat Mast
4.2 Combat Sail
4.7 Combat Sail
5.3 Combat Sail
Totally not brand loyal - I have a complete mish-mash of kit, although I would definitely buy JP board again now. I reckon it's probably something to do with the fact that for years I was a student and sailed on whatever I could afford, and I've never really grown out of it....
Wonder if that'll change now and I'll be sailing Naish sails / JP forevermore....?
I am brand un-loyal. I like to stay away from a certain brand, but I wont bring that up here, as it gets under the skin of other forum users and they want my blood for it.
Like others it is brands to avoid rather than brands to buy. Any company that is making proprietary bend curves for their masts or making fragile equipment won't see my money.
I'm a big believer in buying Australian as long as the quality and performance is up to scratch. Cant complain about the KA gear and after sales service is top notch. It's pretty good to be able to talk to the designer about your sail!
no not brand loyal..
4 different(makes) of boards
5 different sails (makes) (none with the matching specified masts)
4 different (makes) of masts
3 differnt (makes) of booms
4 different(makes) of mast extentions
dozens of different fin brands
2 harnesses both dakine...i guess thats some form of loyalty
When I was starting out I ended up with a mish mash of gear and didn't really have the know how to get the best out of it - especially a NP mast for a Gaastra sail which never seemed to rig right. I got retrenched and with the payout traded everything on some new kit. 2 boards, 4 sails, 2 masts, 4 fins - all consistent brand+model. I reckon it really helps me to get the rigs set up right no matter which sails/board. So it's not loyalty in my case - more practicality.
Not brand loyal and keen to try everything!!
Now got:
-1 powerex mast (to that i may stay loyal tho )
-1 aeron boom
-1 5.3 pryde combat
-1 4.7 maui sails legend
-1 T1 speed board (for sale by the way)
-1 goya wxr 84
-1 rrd wave 1
had:
- NP NR 5.0
- ART slalom sails
- starboard fish
- simmer onshore 5.7
- np zone
- naish hokua
- naish boxer
- f2 sputniks
etc...
) all the boards i have ridden (spanning 29odd yrs) have been great fun,) isonic a couple of yrs ago i initially didnt like it because i couldnt gybe it effectively...i even filled in the cutouts to see if that would help...anyway after a couple of months i started to get it dialled and now i love it.
I have owned sails from most of the 'big' manufacturers and back in my student days wasn't brand loyal, so much as bargain loyal. I do think though, particularly with sails it pays bigtime to buy the same brand as that means they will sail and rig the same. There is nothing worse than changing from your 5.8 to a 4.7 (different brand) which feels and sails totally differently.
So these days with sails I stick to one brand, Ezzy, as I have found out of all the ones I've sailed they suit my style the best, they are tough and are one of the cheapest sails on the market. If however another brand comes along and produces a sail that I find more appealing I wouldn't hesitate to change brands. Each year I try the competitors, and each year I stick with the same brand. However, I think sails are a very personal preference, each person likes different traits in their sails etc. Masts - I buy what is meant for the sails, as I think you should with any sail brand. Boom - I actually have a Pryde boom as I reckon they make awesome booms....it does sail awesome although I'm not so sure about the cracked boom clamp tensioner...need to get around to doing the warranty on it.
As for boards out of the 4 I own they are all from different manufacturers and I think it's easier to have boards from different brands as they are usually for different conditions and it's not as critical to have a similar feeling.
So basically I would say i'm brand loyal when it concerns sails, open with everything else. However I'm not so loyal that if a competitor has an obviously superior product I won't buy it.
at the mo i'm going to stay loyal to
chinook UJ's and mast extensions
aeron booms
powerex
naish sails
but if any one would like to sponser me and shower me with freebies my arm could be twisted; otherwise i will wait for black and gold to bring out gear
are fanatic and north an evil company buying up all the best riders to make germans wanna sail their stuff, the only reason brazinho went to them is cause mistral are running out of money cant afford him.. spent all their money making commited reloaded and doin that image makeover.. i heard they r about to go under
very cool boards..
i sail..
09 gaastra manics
09 gasstra masts
09 tabou freestyle and pocket..
aeron boom, its awesome!
only cause its cheap, but i think having the same sail in all sizes is important
OH OF COURSE a good brand should be like ya best buddy dude ya must have one fav sail i have a best buddy
