Kape skateboards made from recycled ocean plastic

[skateboarder4life]

is this legit? anyone skated one? how does the board feel?

[neonbrown]

is this legit? anyone skated one? how does the board feel?

I love turning plastic polluting our oceans into microplastics polluting our groundwater.

[hayduke lives]

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is this legit? anyone skated one? how does the board feel?

[close]

I love turning plastic polluting our oceans into microplastics polluting our groundwater.

my first thought when a friend sent me a link to these

[yourfuckingdad]

Plastic was a mistake

[Lou Strux]

Plastic was a mistake

Shoulda made them out of wood veneers from recycled maple trees.

[GuessAgain?]

Just had ad for these on IG. Anyone on here ever tried one?

While I’m not fully convinced on the environmental impacts as stated above, wooden skateboards aren’t exactly the most environmentally invention either and these would last 10x longer (as they would have you believe)

I get that this industry is our sacred thing but i’m not against people attempting to progress the product - with the rise in deck prices it would probably save us consumers a lot

If I had one of these as a kid i’d have probably progressed a lot quicker instead of learning kickflips on a soggy, squared off, chipped-to-shit handme down board

[skateboarder4life]

they need more than 1 size that's for sure

[kneebone]

Pretty in-depth review on Andrew Cannon’s YouTube. He had mostly positive things to say about it, but did mention that they are thicker and heavier than traditional maple decks. That and the lack of size options are the dealbreakers for me.

[backside_frontside]

I also saw an ad for this on IG today. In theory I think it's neat, but in reality, all I can think about are the microplastics it will generate as you skate it.

[dr.prestige]

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is this legit? anyone skated one? how does the board feel?

[close]

I love turning plastic polluting our oceans into microplastics polluting our groundwater.

To be fair, polyurethane is a plastic too, our wheels do the same shit

[steve]

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is this legit? anyone skated one? how does the board feel?

[close]

I love turning plastic polluting our oceans into microplastics polluting our groundwater.

[close]

To be fair, polyurethane is a plastic too, our wheels do the same shit

And its the best option for wheels. Plastic, recycled or otherwise, is not the best option for a sustainable, rideable skateboard deck. Some feel good greenwashing shit

[TwisT]

I like these boards. I mean on a surface level. All black deck that stays black. I do really like a board that gets damaged. It gives me a reason to buy a new one.

I remember the pop on those revtech decks being off. I didn’t only try them out at slick indoor parks

[Texas_Tone]

They should advertise to surfers and make cruisers, this shit is for them not us

[TheCrimsonShroud]

Plastic was a mistake

People were a mistake

[gringo_viejo]

Complicated feelings about this! (I was drunkposting in here last night and then deleted it because it was a big ramble.) So here comes another big ramble.

In the broadest of broad strokes, I like that they're trying something different. The idea "I don't want to burn through five wood decks a year; I want one deck to last all season" is valid.

The guy's video on their site seems sincere about wanting to make a better skateboard (Linus pumpkin patch approved!)

I didn't realize they'd been around so long making boards. There's a Ben Degros video from 2020 testing one of their earlier bamboo+fiberglass attemps.

...which is weird because that seems like it would be better, environmentally. Leave the plastic out, stiffen the renewable bamboo with the fiberglass layer, done.
(It'd be a cradle to cradle "monstruous hybrid," but that's another whole long discussion.)

The microplastic situation might not be worse than skating with rails? One plastic board per year vs 4 sets if rails per year? I dunno...

Apart from the environmental angle, their pitch seems to be that it lasts longer, slides better, and sounds/pops the same as a regular board. So far so good.

Then they introduce this idea that it's all one molded piece. It isn't laminated, so it cant delaminate. And the reinforcing fibers run the whole length of the deck, strengthening it sort of like reinforced concrete. Now THAT tickles the nerdy design-school part of my brain.

But then: the reviews say that it's thicker and heavier than a normal board (Homer voice: "that's bad!")

Structurally, if you're fiber-reinforcing a material, the whole point is to make it thinner and lighter.

So for now I have to tell them what I'd tell any first year design student. It's a good idea! Keep working on it. But it's not there yet.

Edit: went ahead and watched the "levi goes pro" part. If they didn't zoom in on the logo, you wouldn't know that he was skating a "different" board. So what do I know? Maybe it IS "there yet." Or maybe if you're pro level you can skate a walmart deck and make it look good.

[skateboarder4life]

am i the only one that likes heavier boards? I'd get all 8 ply if i could and i've never broken a board. heavier board is like more feedback and feels better

[PalaceButtPlug]

am i the only one that likes heavier boards? I'd get all 8 ply if i could and i've never broken a board. heavier board is like more feedback and feels better

Anti-Hero is making 8-ply boards with 3 plies of volcanic rock. Wish granted:

https://www.dlxsf.com/dbx/

[patrick c.]

Not to derail the thread but the part of the reason there is all that plastic in the ocean is that most of the plastic we recycle in the US mostly just gets dumped in South Asian countries without robust environmental protections
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/southeast-asia-flooded-with-imported-plastic-waste-meant-for-recycling
In the US we've been taught since grade school that recycling was an environmentally responsible practice and that cutting down trees for wood/paper products was not.  The result is that microplastics are inescapable and accumulating continuously in our bodies with unknown health consequences.  You can eventually grow more trees but plastic takes millions of years to naturally break down.

[Ghost Face]

RHCP want's their logo back.

[Scab Picker]

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am i the only one that likes heavier boards? I'd get all 8 ply if i could and i've never broken a board. heavier board is like more feedback and feels better

[close]

Anti-Hero is making 8-ply boards with 3 plies of volcanic rock. Wish granted:

https://www.dlxsf.com/dbx/

DBX decks are lighter and more flexible than regular 7-ply decks from DLX, despite having 8 plies, because basalt weighs less than wood. I wasn’t a fan of the 8.5” with 14.38” wb shape, but I still want to try that SE shape Cyprus and Manderson skate.

The concept of these boards is interesting, but I agree with others about not knowing how this will affect our water supply. Even if they get recycled, all of the plastic that gets chipped off from popping the board will get into the water supply whenever it rains. Also, this will remain a gimmick unless NHS or DLX make something similar.

[xandeo]

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am i the only one that likes heavier boards? I'd get all 8 ply if i could and i've never broken a board. heavier board is like more feedback and feels better

[close]

Anti-Hero is making 8-ply boards with 3 plies of volcanic rock. Wish granted:

https://www.dlxsf.com/dbx/

I remember having a Habitat board around 2006 or so that had one or two of the plies made out of hemp. I remember the board having a Wenning graphic and being really good and lasting a long time, it simply wouldn't break... I always wondered why no one else would do it.

[somethingmustbreaknow]

do you go around by car, bus, bike, on your skateboard? there's way more microplastics coming from those tyres/wheels than ever possible from some plastic skateboards sliding over a crusty ledge. so these people worrying about that are worrying about a no issue. it just doesn't make sense if 28% of all of the globally emitted microplastics are coming from tyres alone. it just doesn't make any difference, like at all.