"I’m not into gear at all. The only thing that’s important to me is that it feels good when I take a picture. You know what I mean? I have so many different kind of cameras just because I like cameras. And after a while, if a camera doesn’t feel good anymore I gotta use a different one. It’s like board shapes: you know, this is what I ride right now and then when I don’t want to ride it anymore I’m gonna ride something else. I’m not obsessed with, like, “Is this eight-and-a-quarter or eight-and-five-eighths?” Kids are so obsessed with that shit. They ask me constantly about sizes and I’m, like, “I don’t know. I just stand on it and I know it’s good.” And it’s the same thing with cameras: if it feels good when I hit the shutter and the photos are what I want, then this is the camera that I’m gonna use."
Jerry is not overly concerned with his gear. It's funny because I've gotten rather fussy about that stuff. I think it's partially practical because I know exactly what I want so having the numbers ensures an exact match when shopping on the internet, contingent upon whoever typed those numbers onto the website. It's also probably from getting older where you are more aware of serial numbers and specific sizes, stuff kids don't think about. That's more in general and not necessarily applicable to skateboarding. At the same time, I'll still go by feel. Sometimes a board or pair of shoes doesn't feel right to me. After thirty years of skateboarding, I have my sense of what is comfortable, what needs a little getting used to, and what is flat out wrong. You just have to evaluate the equipment and see how it matches your expectations.
One thing I never get is skateboarders who say they only care about the shape and not the graphics. I understand that idea fundamentally because the graphics don't matter all that much after they've been wiped away by a bunch of boardslides. I know over the years I've ridden a deck here or there that I was more into the shape of than the picture, but generally I have to at least like the graphics somewhat. The art draws you in and then the shape sells you on the board.
For the quote: Thrasher - May 2016 Volume 37 Number 5
Transworld - November 2009 Volume 27 Number 11
2 comments:
another aspect to that would be the disposable income we have as older skaters. before I'd skate a board til it was razor tailed and 'soggy' as I didn't have cash to replace it. Now if I don't like the feel of a deck after I've skated it a little bit (I'm talking to you Billy Marks Toy Machine deck) it can be replaced with little thought to it as I'm at the stage where, as you said, if it doesn't feel right, its gone. No need to force anything.
True. I try to make educated choices so I'm not wasting money, but it happens. A few lucky kids have scored some nice kicks at the thrift store. I had one Quasi back when they were still Mother and it was great. Tried the same shape a year later and it was not cutting it. I gave myself a month, even though I knew it wasn't right. I was counting down the days until April 1st so I could set up a new deck that year.
I like Toy Machine, but their decks are an acquired taste at best. They seemed so much better at the end of the 90s.
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