This is the fourth post in “My Essential Skate Gear” series (posts made in the order of importance). Most of this batch focuses on one thing: Having a physical space to skate in the winter. I live in Boston. It snows here during the dark months. There are few parking garages around, but they can be a bust. The best option to skate when it snows? Shovel out a (metal) mini ramp. The ratio of effort-it-takes vs. benefit-gained is far greater clearing out any ramp than any street/curb/etc. area (e.g. you need a lot more space to be cleared for street). Why metal? They dry very, very, very fast once cleared. So, here is (mostly) the winter gear/equipment list. No picture for this one. See comments for more details.
• Snow Shovel
• Straight Garden Hoe / Ice Chopper
• Bernzomatic Blowtorch
• Towel
• Disposable Deck(s) / Bearings
• Bones Bearing Cleaning Kit
Comments:
Snow Shovel: Obvious use.
Straight Garden Hoe / Ice Chopper: This thing is a god-send for clearing ramps. I use it to slice the snow into small square “section.” After that, you can use the transition to just “slide” the “snow-sections” off the side of the ramp (I should really make a video about this technique sometime…work smarter, not harder). This tool is also helpful to sheer ice of the ramp when it gets frozen on.
Bernzomatic Blowtorch: When the Ice Chopper won’t get the ice off, the blow torch will. And quite quickly. I’ve also use the torch to “de-wax” ramp coping that scooter-kids/rollerbladers have overly lubricated—it melts the wax right off. And man, those kids get freaked out/learn quickly when they see you brandishing a blow torch. [Insert evil laugh here]
Towel: When you skateboard, you bail tricks. When you do this on a ramp in the winter, your board often ends up in the snow you just shoveled out. As a result, your board gets wet. Hence, you need a towel to quickly dry it off.
Disposable Deck(s) / Bearings: As mentioned above, bailing on shoveled-out ramp means your board is going to get wet. We all know what happens to decks that get exposed to a lot of water (not to mention bearings). So, come late Autumn, I always start keeping a few old decks around (e.g. I decommission them a bit early, and don’t toss them out). These become my “snow decks,” that I don’t care about getting sogged-out. I also have a cheaper set of bearings I set-up during these times, as to not ruin my Super Swiss 6 Bones bearings (cause those things rock / are not cheap).
Bones Bearing Cleaning Kit: This is not a per se winter item, but it just falls within Tier 4 of “essential” items, which is why it’s grouped here. I run Bones Super Swiss 6 bearings. They are great, but like all bearings, they need to be cleaned sometimes. I could ignore this, and just buy new ones when they get clogged-up, but what a waste that is. Hence, I consider the cleaning kit an essential item.
