- Good morning.
I've just showed up at the skate park,
and before I get riding,
I just wanna take a quick moment
and show you the equipment I use for surfskate bowl riding.
So, let's take a look.
All right, the first thing we've got of course is our ride.
I'll do other videos on, you know,
your setup to use in the bowl.
But for me, I'm just in love with the Carver Black Tip.
This thing is just a work of art, the concave on it,
the way it grips your feet, and it's just beautiful.
I use Carver park wheels with Swiss Bones ceramic bearings
on the Carver CX Truck.
So, that's my bowl ride.
And then making a special appearance today
is my Carver Loaded Bolsa,
which I literally have not even ridden yet.
I've had it for, I don't know, about a week, actually.
I just haven't had time to ride it,
and I've got the Big Balls Slime Balls on it for the park,
but this is gonna be the very first ride
on the Carver Loaded Bolsa in the bowl this morning.
And then I just carry this box around with me
in the back of my car,
so I can just put all this loose stuff in it.
And in here we've got protective gear,
starting with the very most important piece
of protective gear and that is hip pads.
In all of the time I've been bowl riding,
literally the only thing I've ever gotten hurt is my hips.
So I will personally,
especially as an old guy who is so tired of getting hurt,
I don't bounce off that concrete exactly,
I will never ride transitions
without wearing hip pads in particular.
A lot of people have asked me which ones I use,
and they're very common.
They're all over Amazon, and they're a dime a dozen.
I mean, they're just all the same,
so it's like whatever,
grab one and they work.
Next thing, I've got all my other protective gear,
and I'm not some expert on protective gear.
I've literally only gone through two sets,
and it's just because on the second set,
I found what I needed in context of what I was using before.
So, the first set that I was using was
just these cheapy little Amazon JBMs,
and they get the job done.
But the problem is the way that they're configured
is you have to put these straps through these plastic loops,
and it makes it very hard for them to get on and off,
and especially for the wrist pads.
So, if you see this design on a wrist pad,
these are really difficult to get on and off,
and it's got this big plastic piece over your palm,
and then you have to shove these through these straps,
through the plastic thing.
This is just very difficult to get on and off.
I've had lots of trouble with this.
And then what I found was these.
These are way easier,
and this is, I think, probably the most common ones
that you'll see.
It's just more of like Velcro strap on.
These are way easier to get on than the other design.
So, you just slip your wrist in there,
and you basically just kind of wrap that one around,
and then you're in it,
versus having to shove those straps,
and especially when it's tight around my wrist,
it's just a pain.
So, that's the design of wrist pads.
I'm not necessarily recommending any particular brand,
but you're looking for that design
and style of a wrist guard.
Much, much easier to work with.
And then as far as knees and elbows go,
well, I again was using these cheapies.
Same issue, they're just hard to get on and off.
And then I found these Pro-Tecs and these Pro-Tecs are,
and I'm not necessarily recommending the brand, again,
I'm just recommending the style.
These are just way easier to get on and off
because the strap just wraps around.
You're not having to feed it through that plastic loop.
Now, one quick note on the Pro-Tecs,
and again, I'm not recommending the brand,
I'm recommending the style that is easier to get on and off,
but on the Pro-Tecs specifically,
I bought a set of large
because that's what the sizing guidelines said would fit me,
and I was swimming in them.
And I think they're made that way.
They're made deliberately for skating, and for bowls,
and you can slide down on your knees in the bowl,
but I found them just to be way too big.
So, I sent the large back and I got a medium set,
so be aware of that.
I think these Pro-Tecs run really big.
You might like them like that.
I didn't like to be swimming in my knee pads and elbow pads.
Oh, and then as far as the helmet goes,
I'm not an expert on this either.
This is literally the only helmet I've ever owned.
It's just a Triple 8,
very common brand that you find on Amazon.
There's probably a lot of more experienced skaters
who know a lot of other brands, but whatever,
a helmet is a helmet.
Grab one, they all work.
The next most important piece of equipment
I carry around in my car for bowl riding is a blower.
And this was sent to me by my friend,
Gavin Conti in South Carolina.
I used to carry around a broom,
and Gavin saw me on Instagram always sweeping bowls,
and so he sent me this because it's way easier,
and it's cool because I can break it down into two parts,
and it goes into this little compartment here.
But literally the whole time I've been bowl riding,
I have yet to show up at a park where on any given day,
I'm either having to blow off debris, pebbles, or water.
So, absolutely if you're going to be
spending any time in bowls,
you're gonna want either a broom or a blower on you
at all times because I use them all the time.
And then the next thing I have is a skate tool.
Always, always, always have a skate tool with you.
You're always gonna be adjusting.
You might be playing around with wheels,
changing out your wheels.
Just never go anywhere if you're gonna be doing
any serious skating without a skate tool.
And then aside from that I've just got
some bottled water and stuff.
Don't hate me for using single use plastic.
Sorry.
But that's pretty much it.
That's what I use for surfskate bowl riding.
It's what I just carry around with me all the time.
It's just always available,
'cause I go to the park pretty much every morning now.
So, I hope you find that helpful.