What’s up this is Tim with Tactics Boardshop,
today we’re gonna talk about 15 useful things to bring with you when you head out street skating.
Venturing out and exploring new spots with your crew of friends is one of the most fun aspects of skating.
But it’s definitely a bummer when you show up to the spot unprepared.
The first thing you should bring is your skate bag.
Every good skate bag should have at least a skate tool, a few extra parts like bearings and hardware,
some shoe laces, and whatever else you think you might need.
Check out our skate bag essentials video if you wanna know what to put in there.
Sometimes when you show up to a spot, it’s completely covered in rocks, leaves, and other crap.
Having a broom can save you a lot of time kicking around rocks or using your board as a makeshift push broom.
Next, bring a ton of wax.
You never know if the ledges you’re on your way to check out are going to be buttered up already, or dry as a bone.
So even if you already have some wax in your skate bag, bring an extra brick or two just in case.
Next up is, bring a spare deck.
This is especially important if you're going to skate a big gap and might snap your board,
so have one or two spares in the trunk.
They don’t have to be brand new decks, just have something so your session isn’t over if you break your board.
Make sure your tool is in your bag just in case you need to swap decks.
Bring enough cash for gas, food, and beverages.
Don’t be the guy who doesn’t contribute any gas money or is constantly begging his friends to buy him food and drinks.
Try to be as self-reliant as you can and budget out your cash so you don’t burn through it too early.
Another thing that can be extremely versatile is a metal sign.
If the spot has a huge crack that messes you up, or if you need something to roll up a curb because the runway is short,
a sign can be a quick fix to help with some of the factors that make the spot un-skatable without having to use Bondo.
If you have room in your vehicle,
having a sheet of plywood can open up a lot of possibilities for spots that don’t have enough runway or landing.
Just lay it down and skate it!
Something that comes in handy when checking out new ledge spots is a rub brick.
Sometimes a ledge looks perfect from the car, but when you get a closer look at it, it’s rougher than it seemed.
So having the rub brick is nice so you can give the ledge a rub down to smooth it out.
Just be careful about where you do this because it’s loud and takes a bit of time,
so use your best discretion and don’t get busted doing this.
Check out our rub brick tutorial if you’ve never used one before.
If you’re out filming, be sure to bring extra batteries for your camera or a powerbank if you’re filming on your phone.
Also be sure to have extra storage for the footage.
Bring extra tapes, sd cards, P2 cards, or whatever else you’re recording on.
There’s nothing worse than getting super close to a trick,
and then not getting the clip because the camera died or you ran out of tape.
If you have a popular spot that you go to a lot, and it has big cracks,
holes in the ground, or rough patches on the runway or where you pop,
it’s useful to have some Bondo with you so you can fix up the spot so you and everyone else can continue enjoying it.
It is a bit of a time commitment to use Bondo,
so I wouldn’t recommend it for a quick hit or using it at a high-bust area.
Use your best discretion before deciding to Bondo a spot.
Check out our video on how to fix skate spots with Bondo if you want to know more about that.
Something that’s especially useful during the winter months is to have lights.
When the sun starts going down at 5:00 PM, it doesn’t give you much time to get clips, so lights are clutch.
Having a professional light setup and a generator is a huge investment
and might not be practical unless you’re part of a big-budget skate video project.
But just a simple LED light that attaches to your camera can make night clips look really sick.
Make sure to bring extra batteries for the lights too!
A crow bar is useful if you live in a place that has lots of sidewalk grates.
It makes it a lot easier to pry up the grate so you can prop them up with an extra board and skate them like kickers.
Bring extra shirts with you, especially if you sweat a lot or live in a hot area.
Having a fresh shirt in the clip always looks nice, unless you want people to see how long you battled your trick.
If you’re filming follow lines, be sure to have your filmer board with cruiser wheels with you
so you can get those smooth tracking shots.
It also helps to have it when you’re the pack-mule hauling everything to the spot.
A crescent wrench can be useful if you come across a spot where there’s a bench
or some other obstacle that is bolted down, and all you need is a wrench to free it.
But if you do un-bolt a bench or a trash can to skate,
be sure to put it back and re-tighten the bolts so everything looks the same
so you don’t spoil the spot for everyone else or your own future visits.
Thank you for watching! Let us know in the comments what you bring on your street missions,
and have fun skating out there!