Skate Safety: Protect Yourself

No matter what skill level you are or where you skate, safety is important. Sure, it’s just the nature of skating that everyone who ever steps on a board is going to end up with a gnarly bruise at some point, but when it comes to preventing more serious injuries, it’s worth investing in some strong, lightweight pads and a helmet to protect your vulnerable spots.

In the last few years, tons of companies have developed pads especially for skaters - bulky shields are gone in favor of tougher, sleeker plastic and foam that won’t restrict your movement on the street or on the ramp. There are a lot of great pad brands and models on the market, but some of the best are the ones you’ll see on dudes like Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist, the pro-grade 187s. With a no-slip foam construction that’ll keep them in place no matter what and replaceable, lightweight plastic guards, the 187s are a rad way to keep your joints protected so you’ll be skating harder and longer.

It’s the same deal with helmets - as more and more skaters get out skating on the street, more of the sickest skate brands and biggest skaters are teaming up with protective gear companies for signature helmets. Any helmet is better than no helmet, but for a sweet pro-quality helmet, you can’t go wrong with TSG gear, which is designed by riders.

The best part? The better you protect yourself now, the longer you’ll be able to skate, so make sure when you head out to your local shop this weekend for Local Skateshop Day, you pick up some of these pads and helmets with the rest of your new gear.

This Weekend: Local Skateshop Day

You’ve all been uploading some sweet vids and pics to the SkateHub app over the past few weekends - now it’s time for you to head out and support your local shop by visiting this weekend, Oct. 9/10, for Local Skateshop Day.

Now in its second year, Local Skateshop Day was started last year by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) as a way to promote core skateshops and the ways core shops give back to their local skate communities.

Check with your local shop to see if they’re participating, and when you head out to your local shop this weekend, make sure you take pictures of some sweet gear - SkateHub supports making sure your local shop stays in business, so for this weekend, for every picture you take of yourself at your local shop and upload to SkateHub, you’ll earn 20 ptz.

You can head over to the IASC site for more info, or if you’re a shop owner, on how to get involved.

It Seems Like Everywhere You Look…

…there’s another town on the news voting down the idea of building a skatepark for its young skaters. But in the last few days, we’ve been seeing too many deaths caused by there not being enough places for skaters to skate.

Let’s face it - skateparks give skaters of all ages and skill levels a safe place to practice their sickest street or vert moves without the threat of cars chasing them down or being cited for skating illegally.

Of course, getting a skatepark built in your community is easier said than done. Between major national newspapers ripping into skateboarders and lack of public funding, building a skatepark isn’t the easiest task, but it’s been proven time and again that skateparks make communities better and safer.

If your hometown doesn’t have a skatepark nearby, check out the Skaters for Public Skateparks organization - they have some rad info on how to get a movement started to build a skatepark near you. In the meantime, check around your town - there may already be a group of people trying to get a skatepark project started.

In the meantime, stay safe skating, and keeps your eyes peeled for another SkateHub contest - we’ve still got a few more copies of Stay Gold to give away!

Team Pretzel Grip Dominates Downtown Showdown

Congrats are in order for Team Pretzel Grip (Girl/Anti Hero) for taking the best Team Performance at the 6th annual Vans Downtown Showdown yesterday and winning $30K on a sick course. For full results, head over to Vans, and make sure to check out Top Am Nick Merlino and Top Pro Vincent Alvarez.

Shred or Die’s Gear 4 a Year

Want to be in the Tampa Am and be featured on the flow teams of seven of the sickest skate brands out there? Then head over to Shred or Die for their Gear 4 a Year contest.

Gear 4 a Year includes some gnarly prizes, including a year’s worth of product from Armourdillo, Toy Machine, Bones, Quiksilver, DC, Dakine and Theeve. You’ll also get your pic in The Skateboard Mag and a free week at Camp Woodward - when you enter, there’s also a chance you’ll be featured as the video of the day and win a GoPro HD camera while Gear 4 a Year is going on.

Instructions and rules are over at Shred or Die - this contest is too sweet to miss, so start filming your sponsor video now!

This Weekend: 6th Annual Vans Downtown Showdown

It’s that time again - Vans is heading to Paramount Studios in LA for its 6th annual Downtown Showdown this weekend on a course based on custom designs from Black Label, Girl, Foundation and Zero. Teams will be able to snag part of the $85,000 purse for prizes like top team, best pro, top am and best obstacle performance.

As always, Downtown Showdown is going to be the event to watch this weekend - with skaters like Leo Romero, Billy Marks, Collin Provost, Chris Pfanner and Chris Cole expected to show up and slaughter the course, it should be one to remember.

If you can’t make it out to LA, Downtown Showdown will be webcast at www.vans.com/showdown on Saturday (Oct. 2) from 5-10pm. If you’re watching, you’ll have a chance to win $10K in prizes from Vans and the Showdown’s other sponsors - check out www.vans.com for more info.