The holiday season is almost here. Pumpkins are being swapped for poinsettias, and pumpkin spice lattes traded for peppermint mochas. If a simple walk through your local shopping mall is any indicator, it’s not too early to start picking out gifts for friends, family, and loved ones. If you count a skateboarder amongst that lot, you’ve got some work to do.
More particular than the average public, a lot of homework has to go into choosing the right gift for core skaters. But you’re off to a good start. That gift won’t be found in a department store or Amazon, but within a dedicated skateboard shop. Here to answer your call, BoarderLabs is launching the season with a first look (more to come) at boards and other items that our valued customers (the person you’re buying for) want most!
5 Holiday Gift Ideas for the Skateboarder in Your Life
1. Electric Skateboard
The evolution of skating is here. Empowering the public with a new way to ride, electric skateboards are at the top of many wish lists in the holiday season of 2016. But not just any e-skate makes the cut. Will the board perform in less than ideal surface conditions, rain included? Will it go fast enough for those that demand high-performance speed without requiring a charge every few miles? Will it maneuver on skatepark ramps or bomb hills? Only a few e-skates can accommodate the preferred style of your rider. Look to Boosted Boards, Evolve Electric, FiiK, Inboard, and the Mellow Electric Drive System as the best alternatives. Click the links and view the specs of each to align them with the characteristics and riding style of your favorite boarder.
2. Give a Penny, Take a Pennyboard
Pennyboards are one the most budget-friendly boards you can find. More importantly, core skaters have embraced them with open arms. Coming straight out of Oz (Australia) the brand has taken the world by storm, Canada included. Known for high-quality raw material construction and insane attention to detail, Pennyboards are inexplicably durable. They gained in popularity for their ever-changing custom designs, and stayed so because of the quality. And the designs are downright festive – making them a perfect gift for the holiday season, no wrapping required. View our current selection of Pennyboards.
3. Send Them Up the Slopes with a Snowskate
Whether your skater also has a penchant for skiing/snowboarding or they’ve simply expressed interest in hitting the slopes, the snowskate makes for an epic present. This revolutionary entry into the hybrid skate scene has forever changed what is possible in the snow.
Vancouver-based Landyachtz and Harfang Snowskates (based in Quebec) have entered (invented!) the market with the funnest skate-concept we’ve seen in decades. With the holiday season aligning with ski season it simply makes sense to consider this as a top gift for the skateboarder in your life.
4. Give them the Finger…boards
The holiday season allows for frivolous and fun things. Get your boarder something they might not normally buy for themselves (for practical reasons) but they would LOVE to have. Fingerboards (not to be confused with cheap Toys ‘r Us plastics) have developed a cult following, inciting highly competitive contests and calling for the construction of fingerboard skate parks around the world (well, at least within our shop). Expertly constructed, complete with fully-functional trucks and wheels these mini-boards have redefined creativity and craftsmanship in our industry. This gift will be a big hit, and will make a serious collector out of the recipient for years to come (making all future gift ideas a breeze!).
5. Skate Shop Gift Card – Keepin’ it Simple
If that skateboarder in your life is simply too fickle to satiate with a tangible gift then keep it simple – get them a gift card. That way, they get what they want, when they want it, and you will never be left wondering if you made the right choice. Forget Starbucks cards this time around, get them a BoarderLabs skate shop gift certificate/card, and make life easier on the both of you this holiday season.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the BoarderLabs Holiday Gift Guide, coming soon!