When you see skateboarding in a park or in the streets, chances are what your seeing as a representative of skate culture is not great for longevity in the sport.
The rule of thumb is "Always wear a helmet PERIOD. but if you can't for whatever sad reason you come up with, absolutely wear it if you at some point rolling faster than you can run.
For skating downhills, ALWAYS wearing a helmet and utilizing a few other good protective wear can really keep you skating everyday as long as they are worn properly.
Vert style knee pads are a great starting point, with that extra cushion built in for slamming after a high fall, they can last a downhiller many many crashes and still work even when shredded to pieces with my good friend duct tape.
Next is slide gloves. You need slidegloves and pucks. Preferably with puck risers and knuckle protection in the gloves. The taller pucks or puck risers will help your form and progress. You'll thank me later.
Butt pads. Yes Butt pads probably the most underrated piece of protective gear on the planet. Your hips and tail bone can only take so many slams, but with these crash shorts aka Butt pads, they can make a session of learning how to slide or in most cases fall be mostly pain free.
some good cheap butt pads/ crash shorts are Football girdles. You can get them at any used sports equipment store for like $20-$35.
Remember, Crash pants= longevity in skating downhill.
Now if your skating over 35 mph, or open roads with lots of things you can hit that don't move or are moving against you, a full face helmet with a visor is absolutely necessary. You need your head covered and that includes your mouth and jaw, and eyes. Get one, even if it's an old biking full face.
Now comes the part where I teach you how to fall. Generally falls are not expected and catch us off guard, but if you want to keep it safe just in case you fall there are some things you can do to make it suck less.
First: fall on your knees and hands. Which ever way you fall whether that's forward off your board or backwards, try and turn over and get to your knees and gloves immediately. (Believe it or not vert skaters and transition skates use this tactic even when they are going up a vertical surface). Get to your knees.
2nd: if you can help it always fall feet facing downhill. It's better to crash with your feet first than your face. Makes sense right?
3rd: Slow down before you crash so you can always keep it in control. Seems obvious but you don't want to crash when your out of control, so always try and keep your speed within the boundaries of what you are confident in and capable of. As you skate more and fall more, you will progress and improve to where you will find yourself going bigger faster and being in more control with confidence more often.
Roads can be soft with the right gear. DATTEBAYO! (Believe it!)
Some protective brands I recommend.
Downhill crash certified half shell: S1 lifer.
Downhill certified Full Face: Bell Drop or Predator Full face.
knee pads: TSG Downhill protection pads/DHP.
Gloves: Cone Gloves, Mids Gloves,
Loaded Gloves with the leather and knuckle protection.
Pucks: Beefcake Skate 1" pucks.
cutting board melted to your gloves works fine. Double stack it for that puck riser effect.
Crash Pants: Old Bones Therapy crash Shorts, TSG Crash Shorts, Run of the mill football girdles from your local sports store.( thigh, hips, tailbone, upper quad protection at least).
I really hope this helps you get to feeling confident and get comfortable going fast and ripping down hills. now get out there and throw that meat into the Pavement!
❤️
