It’s one of those warmer winter days and finally a day you can take your longboard skateboard out for a ride, but before you take your board off your skateboard rack and hit the hills there is one major thing that every longboarder should make sure they have. Safety equipment. I know it’s something your mom used to say all the time when you were a kid, “wear your helmet” but those sometimes nagging words of advice were spot on. Having the proper safety equipment is key to making sure your day doesn’t go from awesome to ER.
There are many different types of helmets out there, the key is picking the right one for the type of activity you will be doing. The first thing everyone thinks of when they hear the word helmet is a bicycle helmet. This is not what you want on your head when you’re longboarding. Why? simply put, it’s the wrong tool for the job. For average riding I recommend a skateboard helmet, it’s sturdy, strong, and durable. For bombing hills a full face helmet is the ONLY thing I trust.
Helmet
While not a necessity they can help out a lot when you take that nasty fall. Some people find pads to be extremely restricting and would prefer to just risk their skin on the open road. It’s all preference when it comes to pads.
Pads
“But I don’t slide” well that’s fine. Slide gloves are the greatest things ever invented for longboarders. Eventually you will fall, it’s the nature of the beast, and the most natural thing for most people to do is put their hands out to catch themselves. Without slide gloves this can turn your hands into hamburger which is, (take it from me), not a pleasant experience whatsoever. Slide gloves, while restricting the movement of certain fingers, allow you to be able to put your hands on the ground at high speeds if you need to either balance yourself, or break a fall. Put these in the “must have” category and do yourself a favor and grab yourself a pair asap.
Slide gloves
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