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Product Review: Slip Tape
by Bud Stratford
A few weeks ago, Mike [Brooke] told me that he was shipping me something new to check out. When I asked what it was, and he said "Slip Tape", I cringed slightly, and gave the lackluster "Oh, rad"- which, translated, pretty much means "You're frickin' kidding me, right?". Sure enough, the man was not joking; A few days later, a package containing one sheet of Slip Tape (among other things) arrived at my door.
The first rule of journalism is: Wear your biases on your sleeve. My bias tends to go against products that are not, strictly speaking, "essential" to skateboarding. I need: One deck, one sheet of griptape, two trucks, one set of hardware, two risers, four wheels, eight bearings, and four spacers.
Anything that some guy might think that I need to add to that short list, in my book, is pretty much pure fluff. And, guys do regularly invent these crazy accessories that "Every skater needs!" Which, all too often, most skaters do not need, nor want- and, thus, the crazy accessory fades into obscurity, where it rightfully belongs.
Still, begrudgingly, I went about giving this stuff a fair shake.
Because, it's my job. It's what I do. Sometimes, I like my job more than other times. This was gonna be one of those times, I thought, that I was just gonna seethe it entirely.
What is it?
Slip Tape is basically a stick-on, plastic slickbottom that- according to the advertising- is supposed to "save your graphics" from immediate and certain destruction. See, this is just the type of thing that I find a wee bit hokey. I mean, what kind of serious skater really cares about "saving your graphics"? Isn't half of the fun scratching the pretty pictures off of your board?! Whatever.
The Test Unit
Being the unequivocal bastard that I am, I pulled a Tricky Dick, and broke a few rules along the way. Slip Tape, I'm sure, was designed to be put onto a brand-new, virgin deck- complete with brand-new, virgin graphics, of course. For my testing, I chose a 1997 Cleveland Prototype- a well-used, well-scuffed, and well-loved personal favorite of mine- with Independent 136 's, and my signature 45mm wheels. This is, for lack of a better phrase, my "technical street" board- but, the real reason that I picked it was to see how well this stuff would adhere to a scratched, scuffed, waxed, and stickered board. Frankly, I didn't think it'd stick very well at all. Frankly, I was wrong about that.
Just the facts, ma'am.
Slip Tape is about 25 thousandths of an inch thick (.025"), comes in a 9" x 31.75" sheet, and very much resembles Ptex- which most people know as the plastic that snowboard and ski bases are made out of. It's pretty much a clear plastic, but with a very slight milky haze to it. It tends to lighten up your graphics a little, and they seem very, very slightly fogged once the Slip Tape is applied.
My only real problem with this stuff concerned it's size. At 31.75" long, it is actually a half of an inch shorter than my board- so, the last ½" of my tail wasn't covered, which is a little bit of a bummer. And, at 9" wide, it's not nearly wide enough to cover most old-school decks. All of which, I'd have to assume, are probably very, very easy fixes. Maybe it'd even be nice if it came in a few different sizes, to fit different boards. That'd be pretty handy, actually.
Putting it on the board.
That's pretty straightforward; you put it on as you would put on ho-hum, everyday griptape. Except, onto the bottom of the board, instead of the top.
As far as cutting it out- again, you do it just like you would griptape; Stick it to the board, and use a nice, new razor blade to trim off the excess. I actually used a utility knife on this, as the plastic really is kinda thick. It wasn't too hard at all to trim to a neat, template outline with a big handle helping things out along the way.
While I was doing the trimming, I inadvertently stepped on a piece of scrap Slip Tape. And, if I had any doubts about it sticking, that experience pretty much put my fears to rest. Getting it off of my shoe was pretty damned difficult. After that, I decided that I'd hate to have to try to get this stuff off my board. This stuff definitely sticks, no doubt about that.
Just to be on the safe side, though, I gave it a little hair-dryer heating treatment, which always works wonders on grip tape. Basically, the heat loosens up the adhesive a little, and makes it stick a little easier, while making the griptape a wee bit more pliable at the same time. So, I figured, I'd be safe, and give the Slip Tape the same treatment.
Skating it.
See, here's why I say that their ads are off the mark: This stuff is obviously meant for sliding, and this whole notion of "graphic preservation" should be summarily damned. Anyone that rode any slickbottom board built between 1989 and 1993, and liked it, would love this stuff to the Nth degree. Seriously- they'd love it. You'd love it. I love it. But, let's all love it for the right reasons, okay?
A little history: The first production "slickbottom" boards came out around 1989. The first company that I remember making them was a little independent company from Colorado called Naked Industries that specialized in uncut, blank decks. A couple of months later, Bad Boy Club/BBC introduced the first pro-model slicks (as "slickbottoms" came to be called) in the form of the Jeff Phillips model. Incidentally, both of these boards had screened graphics, which were then covered over by the Ptex bottom- which is exactly how Slip Tape works. Then, a few months after that, Santa Cruz introduced their own Tom Knox and Eric Dressen pro-model slickbottom decks- they called them "Everslicks"- and, supported them with two-page ads in every magazine on the market… and the rest, as they say, is history. Within a year, some 90% of the boards on the market were slicks. And, two years later, they vanished- lost to the limbo of history.
Slip Tape has every advantage of the old "slicks". And, yet, it has none of the vices. Slicks tended to be very inconsistent- either waaaay too slippery, or waaaaaay too sticky, depending on the brand, what you were sliding the board on… even the outside temperature had a noticeable affect on those old slickbottom decks. And, those decks weighed a ton, and generally felt like skating a huge, wet noodle… as opposed to all-wood decks, which feel crisp, clean, and poppy in comparison. These are basically the shortcomings that led to the death of slickbottom decks.
Slip Tape, more than anything else, is consistent. It slides the same, time after time. It's a bit slicker than bare wood- but, not death-defyingly slippery. Yeah, sure, I wilsoned onto my bum a couple of times- but, that's to be expected. I mean, I haven't ridden a slick in, what, maybe fifteen years or so? But, it only took me about 5 minutes to get comfortable with it, and begin really enjoying it. That's not too shabby.
The first day that I had it out, I bumped into some kids at the skatepark, and I had them try it, too. They were all a little bit skeptical at first, too. These kids were 14, 15, 16 years old- definitely, not newbies. But, they were all kinda curious- so, they all ended up trying it.
One of the kids even took it down the handrail a few times- and, bar none, they all ended up approving of the stuff. The handrail kid said that it felt a lot like a brand-new wood board that stays brand-new feeling, slide after slide. "Buttery" was the term that another kid used to describe the sliding characteristics of this stuff, and I'd have to say, they're both right on the ball.
The Final Word.
For being a "hokey" sort of product that I really wasn't entirely enthused about testing, this actually ended up being one of the funner things that I've ridden in quite some time. I was very, very pleasantly surprised, and I had a really good time sliding on stuff that, under normal circumstances, isn't really all that skatable. I had an absolute blast testing this stuff- and, what's more, I'm still riding it. I wish I had more of it, actually; I've got a few other boards in my quiver that I could see this really working well on. If it came in bigger sheets, that is.
I'd like to thank Mike, as well as Yatz Co, for giving me the opportunity to check this stuff out. www.sliptape.net
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