THE
SKATERS
EDGE
14
SKATE STORAGE
All skateboarders seem to have an area
where all their skate-related items gather.
Whether it be a large box, closet, corner of
your room, section of the garage, kitchen,
bathroom, wherever, all the things that are
vital to being a complete skater have to be
collected in one area for quick reference
and utilization. Oftentimes all these items
become scattered around the house only to
be impossible to find when they are needed.
Having this happen to me too many times, I
decided to find a place where I could put all
these important items. After numerous
areas were found, tried, shifted, rear
ranged, and abandoned, I figured the best
place to keep them was in the trunk of my
car. Here was an area that I could logically
think through and arrange into a small skat-
ing supply area, providing everything I
would ever need in a skating situation. It's
only fitting then to dive into a little spring
cleaning before the rains actually stop and
set up your trunk (or, really, whatever stor
age area you choose) into a skater's supply
unit.
Section One
Devote an area of your trunk, probably a
corner or fender compartment, to all those
items that you might use to locate where
you are and where you might be headed.
Items like city, state and county maps. The
best acquisition I ever made was a city
street map book that breaks down the city
in a very detailed manner, the type a deliv-
ery person might use. You can usually find
these at larger office supply stores. Also
toss in your shoebox of skate maps, notes
and etchings, those little bits of knowledge
that more often than not lead to the best
skate spots. If possible, add a pair of
binoculars. This piece of equipment has
been a useful tool in locating skate spots
from tall buildings or surrounding foothills.
The pair that I have isn't actually a pair, but
rather only the left eyepiece off a set that I
picked up at a garage sale. It works just fine
for scoping spots. Add a pad of paper and a
couple pencils for related notes and a
cheap instamatic camera for visual note
taking. A small tape recorder is a good
asset where taking written notes is an im-
possibility, like when in transit to or from a
skate spot. Keep in mind this section is de-
voted to finding and documenting all skate-
spots and activities.
Section Two
This section of your trunk will most likely
take up the majority of space available. It's
dedicated to all the tools used to make an
unskatable spot skatable. The priority tools
are a heavy bristled broom and a square
edged shovel. Try and locate a shovel/
broom pair that can be used with one han-
dle only, just switching the heads from one
to the other when needed. If the handle is
too long to fit conveniently in the trunk, just
trim it to size, a short broom is better than
no broom at all.
A pair of shrub shears are very useful to
clear out weeds and branches from a skate
spot. Better yet, if you can get hold of a
machete knife to do this job, toss it into this
section of your trunk; after all, it fits better
into the skater style of weed removal. Add a
can of nails, a hammer, along with a small
chisel to remove unsightly blemishes from
the skate surface. How about a large can of
bondo and extra fast hardener to smooth
cracks and holes in pools and ditches or a
coffee can of quick drying cement (pow-
der). If your budget allows, a small electric
pump is another one of those invaluable
skate tools to have, along with an extension
cord of sufficient size, and a long rubber
hose to suck out the liquid wastes as-
sociated with many skate spots. The next
best thing is a large, rectangular plastic
bucket to scoop up the scum. Metallic
buckets make too much noise when scoop-
ing up the water from a spot, a sure way to
get prematurely busted before you can get
in a good session. Also a rectangular buck-
et will remove more scum per bucket stroke
when you get down to the last few inches of
water. A good box of old rages or blankets
is vital in, order to remove that last bit of
moisture that never seems to evaporate
from the skate surface. A coffee can of high
absorbent kitty litter is also useful for this
task. Just sprinkle it on, wait for it to do its
trick, and sweep it up. This section of your
trunk is used for any tools you feel you may
need to get a skate spot in condition for
shredding. Other addendums here might
be a flashlight or Coleman lantern for night
skates, a thin piece of sheet metal for cov-
ering a gaping drain hole, a length of rope,
etc.
Section Three
One section of your trunk is needed
specifically for food fuel items. A nice big
ice chest is great, but often times they're
too large to fit into a standard size trunk. If
you own a Belchfire 88 that corners like a
steamboat, with a trunk big enough to sleep
four, then put in a big cooler. Most cars of
today don't fit this description and have to
settle for a smaller "six-pack" style of
cooler. No problem, as long as you can fit in
all your perishables and something cool to
drink. Beware, though, of owning a cooler
filled with ice cold beverages; you'll usually
become everyone's best friend for the day.
Section Four
Devote the fourth area to items used for
personal needs. First item in this section
should be a well equipped and maintained
first aid kit, complete with aspirin, band-
aids, ace bandages, and all the necessary
body repair items. Add a dark pair of pants
and sweatshirt for those cold, late night ex-
cursions, along with an extra pair of socks
and skate shoes in case you lose one in the
drink. How about a sleeping bag for those
overnighters with an inflatable K-Mart raft
in case you take the big slam and have to
sleep it off. This section is simply devoted
to all those personal comfort things unique
to each individual skater.
Section Five
A section very important to most skaters
is the one dedicated to your favorite skate
tunes and the mode of conveying them
over the skating area. One way is to leave a
spot for your blast box, tapes, and extra
batteries in the trunk compartment. The
size of the area needed varies from the
small hand held transistor radio to the
monstrous, 10-pound magnet speakered,
quadrophonic, dual tape, TV console, arm
stretching, buddy system ghetto blasters of
today. It's really up to you. Another way of
achieving good musical output for your
sessioning is to hook up an old indoor
stereo speaker to your car's audio system
and leave it in the trunk. Using a good
length of wire, you then can place it on the
roof of your car for sufficient musical blasting.
Section Six
Last but not least you need a section de-
voted to your skating gear. Arrange this
section of your trunk with the most fre-
quently used decks on the top of the pile.
Add your well equipped tool kit complete
with spare parts, accessories, and a com-
plete roll of the skater's main tool, duct
tape. Find space for your pads and helmet,
putting them in a small duffle bag just to
keep them all together and for quick re-
moval from the trunk. The skate gear sec-
tion will see the most in and out traffic, so
you may want to locate it in the front and
center position. Think about all the things
you use the most when actually skating and
locate them in this area.
Closing the Trunk Lid
This should be no problem if a well
thought out plan of attack is utilized to ob-
tain the ultimate in skate trunks. Actually
you'll probably have a sufficient amount of
space for everyday, normal things that you
may put in your trunk, whatever they may
be. Hopefully, and by not taking me too
seriously, you've picked up a few good
ideas on what you might like to take or have
on hand when you go out on a skate excur-
sion in the future. After all, it never hurts to
be prepared. Take care and skate safe.
Bob Denike
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