First Try!
November 22, 2016 12:05 PM   Subscribe

You Make It, We Skate It! Does what it says on the big cardboard box: The Braille Skateboarding crew opens a package at the beginning of each video, they put together a skateboard with the components inside, and then they skate it. The first one was a deck made from billet aluminum. They built another board with machined wheels | A Lego deck | Ultimate carpet board | Baseball wheels | Bouncy ball board | Bearings for wheels | 3D-printed trucks | Glass deck! (Plexiglass deck!) | Crocheted grip tape | Aaron Kyro lifelike deck | Magnetic wheels | Skateboard stilts | Tree stump deck | Barrel board | Memory foam deck | Scooter deck | Supermini deck | Hockey puck wheels | (partial) Best of... it just keeps going! The ingenuity is extensive and the skill impressive. Keep an eye out for games of SKATE (or SK8 depending on time limitations).
posted by carsonb (20 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
I was really impressed by how easily they adapted to the completely different shapes and stiffnesses of the boards. Serious skills.

I enjoyed how, as the videos went on, how they got into predicting the dynamics of it depending on how stiff they felt the board was and how things were mounted. There is a (apparently second attempt?) bullet proof glass board that shows some interesting discussion from them on the relative merits.
posted by Brockles at 12:35 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Oh man I was considering putting together a Braille Skateboarding post just yesterday! They really put the fun and friendship back into skating. I hopped on a board for the first time in years because of them.

“Worst board at the park” is wonderful.
posted by other barry at 1:02 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Also, worth noting that Aaron has a series of 'how to skate' videos that are excellent if you are interested in learning, or are (like me) looking to keep up with your kids, etc.

My son and I have taken to yelling the "First Try" call out for random, non-skate related situations like, making a sandwich. (Although I do occasionally say it when he lands an impressive trick.)
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 1:08 PM on November 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


My daughters absolutely love Stupid Skate. The Braille guys certainly seem to have a good clean time and some goofy fun. Its been interesting watching how their production has evolved -- apparently now they are building out a warehouse space.

Then again its an imperfect world.

A few videos back it seemed to be getting stale, Kyro wallowing in the predictability of their progression and then it was like, yeah, they're all kind of alike. Braille's range of verticals helps keep it moving though: Stupid Skate, You Make It We Skate It, Learn to Skate, Skate Support and Skate Everything. I'm a big fan of John Hill too so this Skate Everything video (++axe) was extra-good times.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 1:49 PM on November 22, 2016


This is kinda making me want to try and learn to skate. At the age of 45. Despite all my instincts screaming how idiotic these guys are to climb onto half these "boards".

I'll probably just keep on sticking to pole dance...
posted by egypturnash at 1:49 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


They really put the fun and friendship back into skating.

I started noticing pretty quick the way Aaron interacts with the little kids running around in the background of the videos. Really endearing inclusiveness and interaction that felt different from a lot of the clubby skate productions I've seen. It's almost as if he's an educator of sorts...
posted by carsonb at 1:53 PM on November 22, 2016


I can't tell you how much I don't care about this, but these guys are so fun and engaging, I'm still watching 4 videos later.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:05 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Magnetic Wheels is great.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:36 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I picked up a cruiser board and got back into skating this summer after 10-ish years away, and I stumbled* on the Braille guys while looking up videos to improve my footing. They've been a major source of inspiration and education. They strike just the right tone to show off skating as a thing with a lot of fun to offer at every level of skill.

*there has been a great deal of stumbling.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 2:40 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I feel like if I just watch a little longer, I will start to figure out what the words they are saying actually mean.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:48 PM on November 22, 2016


The video where Aaron almost slices his neck open on the glass board is legit terrifying.

I returned to skating at 30 after barely knowing how to skate in my teens and I've been teaching a ton of similarly aged newcomers, and I use a lot of skateboarding made simple and skate support [especially those with lance!]
posted by gnar_gnar at 6:02 PM on November 22, 2016


I figured this one out while watching the second video with the big scooter wheels and the hi-rise trucks: Landing 'primo' is when the board spinning under your jumping feet lands on its side and you land on the other side. It looks like a good way to break an ankle.
posted by carsonb at 6:03 PM on November 22, 2016


Okay, I seriously had shit to do today. One more, and then I'm totally stopping.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:41 PM on November 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


I am about ready to ship them a multitool, so they can open boxes efficiently, although if I do that, they may never actually be able to get it out of the packing.
posted by ursus_comiter at 8:39 PM on November 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is kinda making me want to try and learn to skate. At the age of 45. Despite all my instincts screaming how idiotic these guys are to climb onto half these "boards".

egypturnash, don't be afraid to give it a go! I'm 47 and my wife is 43 and we both skate (and we both love it). We started a couple of years ago, with our then 14 year old son. While our son now skates bowls and vert ramps and does kick flips, etc. my wife and I are still mostly limited to just cruising around. It is absurdly fun. The big caveat of course is that if you skate, you will fall occasionally. But if you are careful, and wear protective gear (which we all do at skate parks) it can be a fun and relatively safe hobby.

If anyone who is of an age more likely to be yelling at kids on their lawn than doing a smith grind down a stair rail is interested in skating as old folks, me-mail me if you have any questions.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 9:59 PM on November 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


I am about ready to ship them a multitool
I assume they would attach wheels to it and try to skate on it.
posted by agentofselection at 11:21 PM on November 22, 2016 [5 favorites]


Youtube's automatic closed captioning routinely interprets "skate" as "cake", and that makes it even more fun.
posted by ardgedee at 4:03 AM on November 23, 2016 [1 favorite]


This is kinda making me want to try and learn to skate. At the age of 45. Despite all my instincts screaming how idiotic these guys are to climb onto half these "boards".

40 here. Me too. I mean, I skated a bit as a kid and a teen, but I could never get it right. Even my ali was shit.

Of course now I'm sad I got rid of my board.

I didn't start playing hacks sack until I was 30, and it's turned out to be one of my great joys in life. (If only I knew more people that did it!!) I can see skating hitting that exact place in my brain.

I really wish I hadn't gotten rid of my board from highschool. Hurrumph.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:30 AM on November 23, 2016


I've been skating for thirty years now and these guys are a lot of fun not to mention very nice in person. The dirty secret is that they are despised in the "core" corners of skating, especially Aaron Kyro. He is branded a kook by many in the scene for daring to make skating accessible. Skateboarding is essentially how I define myself and to see that certain elements of something I love can be so cruel has really put a damper on my public skating. Now, I hit parks early or find spots that the average tech skater would never visit like drainage ditches or the simple parking block. Still, I am glad that Revive is around.
posted by extraheavymarcellus at 12:33 PM on November 23, 2016


The dirty secret is that they are despised in the "core" corners of skating, especially Aaron Kyro. He is branded a kook by many in the scene for daring to make skating accessible.

From what I've seen, he's branded as a kook because he's a scientologist and claimed scientology made him a better skater, not necessarily because he's trying to make skating accessible.
posted by dazed_one at 1:35 PM on November 23, 2016


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