Category: Skateboarding Product Reviews

The first thing to strike me was that this rig a pirate on its hull! Some tips to avoiding pirates:

1) Investigate the planned route and find out if pirates are active in that area. The Malay Peninsula, parts of the South China Sea, and the Caribbean coast of South America are all areas that still see amounts of pirate activity.

2) Be conscious of the tactics pirates may use. They are creatures of habit, following consistent patterns, striking the same areas at certain times (moonless nights, for example). Alter your planned route and agenda to reduce risk.

3) Maintain radio contact with fellow travellers or main land contacts. Never broadcast your exact location.

4) Keep in mind that most piracy related situations do not turn violent. Pirates tend take a few things and leave. Once pirates do board your vessel, armed resistance usually amounts to a shootout. Do consider that a visible show of arms prior to the pirates’ contact may convince them to choose a lesser target.

5) Plant a decoy in your safe so you can make a show of opening it and handing your valuables over. Hide all other valuables in separate hiding places about the boat. If pirates do come aboard, they’ll expect to leave with something, but that doesn’t mean they have to find everything.

6) Ram the swine pirates’ boat. Pirates’ tend to use small powerboats and come broadside to their target; small boats are no match for a sturdy cruising sailboat.

7) If all else fails remember pirates, under that eye patch, don’t have a missing eye. The patch keeps the eye in darkness to increase its sensitivity to light, making navigation by stars easier. So, just poke them in that eye!

Breakneck Skateboards = 8 inches of love.

Robin Hayes

7.5 x 31.25

When Chinese Alchemists combined tang dynasty, elemental sulfur and saltpeter with charcoal in the late decades of the 8th century, they created a black powder which they referred to as ‘huoyao‘! This powder, as they eventually discovered, was not a method to securing eternal life, but was used to treat skin diseases and kill insects instead.

As they kept experimenting with ‘huoyao’ (gunpowder), the potential of the powder became very apparent and they started to attach arrows to bamboo tubes, launching them with their bows. They soon discovered that these gunpowder tubes could launch themselves just by the power produced from the escaping gas, thus, the true rocket was born!

What has this got to do with a skateboard? Fuck all, but, if you backtrack through Flip Skateboards’ history, you’ll find that Geoff Rowley‘s talents were immediately acknowledged and has overtime exploded in pretty much the same way gunpowder did. He’s one of the biggest guns in industry and is widely respected by skaters all over.

This pro model is of a much more street nature, a skinny bitch with a techno curves. It’s a 7.5 inch Canadian maple stick that flips faster than a chart in a global warming meeting. It’s got enough curves for you to dare take on transitions, but I personally don’t ride skinny sticks on trannies, toothpicks are made for the streets! It’s a great shape and the narrowness comes in at 31.25 inches in length, a nice a short piece of wood that’s easy to manage under your walkers. It’s a contemporary English graphic that covers the bottom, so you’re representing your country whilst flipping through parks and streets on this rocking deck!

Live FAST, Ride FAST
2P

19th May 2008

A pair of limited edition Vans Chukka Lows featuring Independent Trucks branding landed at HQ on Friday afternoon and were shredded at Harlow’s new amazing skate park in Essex this weekend.

These amazing little volcanized, waffle soled beauties sucked the griptape like Monica Lewinski on their debut sesh. They are also seriously comfortable proving these are going to be a massive hit for Vans this summer. Both Independent and Vans are 2 of the most powerful brands to grace skateboarding with Vans launching in 1966 and Indy celebrating 30 Years of making the best trucks in the world this year, so you knew that this collaboration was going to be special and the result is almost perfection.

The Chukka is one of the all time classics from Vans and have been resurrected with a new low cut that feel wonderful on your feet straight out of the box. I skated these all day and ran out out of tricks without heel bruises which isn’t the norm for me personally, but the suede toe and nubuck finish feel tough and Built To Grind. All round props to Vans for making these simply amazing kicks. Go get some today and feel the summer under your feet even if it does rain!

Zac

I’ve skated Thunder lows for well over 5 years now and so very much converted and bias. When thinking about it though, what makes a truck worthy of a repeat purchase or a venture into a new turning or grinding realm?

This is it, the very subtle differences in grind ability and turning circle. If it ain’t grinding, the way I see it, you ain’t going fast enough. So, that just leaves us with the comfort factor of turning circle.

Although a very subtle thing, the turning circle could mean the difference between life and death. Think Naval warfare in the age of the sail, the reliance on maintaining advantage due to positioning. The ‘line’ was the usual choice of formation, one large flagship, say HMS Victory; Nelsons flagship, behind the other. The more nimble, faster small ships would rush out first, assessing the location of the enemy fleet and its movements. The line of flagships goal was to cross in front and upwind of their enemy, to cross the T as it was called, so that each ship in the line could discharge its full fire on the enemy fleet, and with HMS Victory housing 106 smooth bore cannons it gunna smart!

So, ultimately: Big Guns use Big turning circles.

Use this information as you will, but all I know is that Thunder Lows grind, turn and last. With the addition of a hollow king pin and a black and gold paint job they would be considered ‘booty’.

ARRRRGGGHHHHH. See www.dlxsf.com for more pieces.

Robin Hayes

Here’s another review for your pork pies. This time I’s got a lovely pair of Vox feet coverings to put to the test.

But beware, heavy biased review cause these guys have got one of the raddest teams out there- Drehobl, Strubing, Hewitt, Oyola– pure gnarl – and as such I might as well name drop some amazing death metal bands that you won’t care about just to make this review a bit better than “these trainers are ok to skateboard in“.

The first thing I noticed about these trainers was some weird looking logo on the back of em – turns out these are a Pro Skatepark trainer or something. That’s right, now even skatepark manufacturers have their own shoe- this one being “Dreamland Skateparks” – the dudes responsible for Saffron Walden. I think this is weird and I don’t really understand it.

I do understand Rademassaker– a two man German based primitive death metal band. This is what death metal is all about in my opinion, absolutely shit; poor recording and poor musicianship, making their demo collection, “Satanic Zombie Hordes” absolutely amazing. No epic long intros or crap math rock song structures, just absolute pure shit Death metal- it’s too good to be true. “Vomit on your corpse” has one of the best ever song intros and I’ve been jigging to “Painful death” all week. They sound like a drunk Celtic Frost, Autopsy, Slaughter or Pungent Stench. Much better than these trainers.

Oh yeah, the trainers. I skatedboarded in them, and would you believe it, these trainers are great to skateboard in. BUT the first time i went “street” skating in them it started to rain, and the burgundy red colour of the suede started to run into the white laces – which means i had to look like a complete tit with pink laces for a couple of days. Not cool. Unlike Chakal, a proper old school Thrash Death band from Brazil, formed way back in 85 and still gunning it. I don’t know why Brazil has such a rad death metal scene. Their first full length LP, “Abominable Anno Domini” is frightfully sick- pure speed metal that makes you want to wear as much denim as possible. One of their song’s, “The Dead Wall“, features an Arnold Schwarznegger impersonator reciting some poetry and steals the guitar solo from Hotel California. So rad. You think Chakal would rock in pink laces?

All this talk (or writing, whatever) of death metal is making me feel like a poser, so i took said trainers in search of something dead to get a second opinion. Luckily, I knew the whereabouts of a dead fox floating in a flooded war bunker. It took me fucking ages to drag it out- it was well heavy because it was full of water. After eating some jellybabies I took some photos of the dead fox staring at a hole in the trainers. I’m a pussy on my skateboard, and these things had started to get holy already. I reckon these trainers, coincidentally, would probably last loads longer if all you skated was tranny and didn’t ollie much.

I’ve got bets that US Death band Rottrevore can’t ollie, and if they did I couldn’t give a shit because their music is loads better than writing about trainers. If I were you I would rather go out and buy their best of compilation “Disembodied“. This stuff is raw, really sludgy underwater sounding that’s so bassy and unclear that you can hardly distinguish the difference between the guitar and the bass. Fooking rad. In fact, I was humming “Spawn of Ignorance” whilst pretending to be Hewitt carving this Liverpool fullpipe. Pure art. And by the time you read this, it’ll probably of been took down and thrown in a skip. Pure death metal.

And the trainers were good to skate in too…go to the Vox site for more.

ZOMBIE
Skate pic by http://blogdaskulls.blogspot.com/

I’ve had more pairs of Vans TNT 2’s over the last few years than the Tony T himself, I swear! Thing is though, when a shoe is this good, it’s easy to go with what you know and settle for quality every time! They remind me of the eS Koston 1’s, a beautiful piece of shoemanship, manufactured by one of our industry’s most reliable sources and a recipe that will stand the test of time.

Unlike all the pairs I’ve had in the past, this is to be my first pair in the Mid-Cut range. Even though the dynamics that drives this sneaker remains the same, it’s the love around the ankle that brings it to a new level and gives you a whole new perspective of what ankle support really means. This shoe ranges between the famous Half Cab, Skate Hi and the OG TNT lows, it’s a smooth blend of 3 classic skate shoes with explosive resulsts.

The tongue has been thickened with a padded collar for extra comfort and a superior fit. The sole is thin and allows you to exercise accurate board control, whilst the waffle sole keeps you safely attached to your jessup for piece of mind grip. The outsole is a Vans standard, sturdy and grippy, yet soft enough with a bit of flex. When you tuck your feet in for the first time, the padded ankle support hits home immediately and you suddenly wonder why not all shoes are made this way, I guess not everyone has the same taste.

It’s a winner if you ask my opinion, I’ve been riding this shoe for a good 2 months now and it’s got enough waffle left to keep me rolling at least another month, if not longer. Sure the suede is taking a beating, but the smallest drop of industrial super glue keeps yours stitching in place and the shoe lives on!

These shoes are guaranteed to blow your mind, give them a go, you wont be sorry!

More at www.vans.co.uk

Live FAST, Ride FAST
2P

7.75″ x 31.25″

Life’s what you make of it, fuck strategy, just play it with an open hand and you’ll be surprised at the results. I’ve been riding 8″s consistently for the past few years and have long since stepped on anything less than 7.9″, so to me this was a bit of rediscovered challenge.

First impressions; The shape, like my previous THINK board, is absolutely smitten! It’s probably slightly wrong to say this, but the nose and tail of these boards grows my bulge a bit, it’s so perfect, I really feel in control when I execute a fandangle flip and the board usually corresponds to my thought process… when I kick a flip, the board flips with a kick! It is slighty concaved though, but that isn’t a bad thing, specially for vert walls and tight corners! It’s not long wheel based either and feels snug under your feet, it’s probably similar for bitches who wear sheep on they’re feet, I get it now!

The other thing about this wood is that it’s like Eveready batteries, “never say die“. They last way longer than other boards I’ve skated in the past and retain they’re shape, pop and stiffness till the very end of they’re so called skate-span. I’m so fixated on these wooden treasures at the moment that I’m finding it hard to THINK about riding anything else (THINK they’d sponsor me? I can do back smiths and I believe they’re the industry standard these days?!)

Get the Toyota of skateboarding, a reliable board that will ride its ground whenever you need it to, it’s a good board company and they put the S back into skateboarding, all of this without a team for the Olympics…BAD ASSES!

9/10
Live FAST, Ride FAST
2P

With a name like Zooted, this Flip Parka suggests it will give you the meaness and don’t-fuck-with-me attitude of some really hench drug dealer. And it does exactly that. Makes you feel tough as nails.

Living south of the river in wartime Peckham meant this got two very different test situations. The first being in my normal persona of skinny white Englishmen from an academic city, and living in an old house with crap central heating. With the boiler out of action, I was forced to wear a coat indoors and this parka made me instantly feel like I was in a sauna, in Summer, on the outskirts of the Sahara. Bloody hell is this thing warm!

So cup of tea and sitting in front of the three-bar later, I took it out for a stealth mission to town for supplies. And it did it’s job of making me look like I’d kick the shit out of you, because I didn’t get mugged once. The massive pockets could have concealed knuckledusters, a machete and anti-tank missiles with ease, whilst the fluffy hood kept my face hidden from the pigs. Old ladies were dropping their shopping and running across the other side of the street when they saw me coming. But I helped them pick it up of course, because it’s all an act ain’t it, and I’m really a nice bloke.

So for making yourself look like a drug dealer, but keeping your shivering body warm whilst you run home for some cocoa in front of Gardener’s World, this Flip Zooted Parka is the best thing you can buy.

Moose.

The Flip squad are as true to skateboarding as milk is true to a cow, or goats for that matter, they are truly independent in this game and I see them as inspiration to everyone who enjoys skateboarding for what it is, not what it appears to be.

Long gone are the days of baggy jeans and 25mm wheels, but Flip still roll with the same passion for steez today as they did back then. They’re clothing lines are fun and have always been one of my favourites, especially Tom’s friends, it’s one of my all time favourite skate Tees, these guys know what’s platinum.

The Blood Stain T-shirt is one of the softest Tees I’ve ever owned. It’s 100% cotton and slightly fitted, not much, but I’d class it as a slimmer fit which comes up slightly shorter than your average medium. The print looks like a bandana that runs across the shoulders with Flip crosses bleeding throughout. Total hesh.

Specials T. They released the ‘Guns of Navarone‘ with this one, I knew off the cuff that I was going to get on well with this T in particular; it’s simple, black & white, it’s Flip and it’s the Specials! Its pure cotton and easy to the touch, again, it too sports a smooth print which blends into the fabric unnoticeably. Hit up the ‘Rat Race‘ with this one and find yourself looking for a ‘Ghost Town‘.

Heathen Hooded Sweat. Flip’s latest campaign comes in the form of ‘Hölle auf Rädern’, which simply means Hell on Wheels; yes we know, it’s fucking cool, so I’m happy to know they fly the flag on that one. The hoody is fairly straight forward, except it has the ability to completely fuck with any 3 chip camera that points in it’s direction, so I wouldn’t recommend rocking it whilst filming your million dollar lines, but if you’re not shooting for something, then rock it by all means, it’s fresh, it’s zebra like and has a German badge, Vorsprung durch Technik!

Find all things Flip at at www.flipskateboards.com

Live FAST, Ride FAST
2P

Before the invention of electronic cutting equipment, the lumberjack used handsaws and axes to fell wood wherever the harvest took him. The hooch drinking loggers would lift large trees onto trucks headed for sawmills and once cut into strips, the wood travelled far and wide to be used for various goods. One day back in time, some bright spark decided to bolt some trucks and wheels on the bottom of a piece of this stuff and skateboards were born. But take note, the Hella Flannel came first…

Flip Skateboards joined the chain of wood loving in 1991 and probably know more about lumberjacks than most others. Flip pro and part owner Geoff Rowley loves spending his time camping out in bear country with his tache and thunderbluster for company so if there’s anyone on board the good ship Flip that knows what a lumberjack shirt needs, then its him. I’m sure he would be the first to tell you that these new 100% cotton threads are soft, warm and are instantly likeable, partly because they come with no unnecessary overbranding that seems to wreck most skate companies’ clothes these days and also the fact that you can wear them into the ground.

These shirts are rocking, expect Flip to be giving you good wood for a few more years to come…

Chuck Bangers is ‘extremely sorry’ that you don’t have one of these shirts yet…