Must have mesh to sesh – non hesh.

Stikboards are a plasticy skateboard deck that can be ridden like a skateboard on slippery substances like grass, snow or even sand. Big deal, right? Somehow the “inventor” came up with the idea of riding these things on garden mesh, a plastic mesh used in landscaping. Whether he engineered it that way or it was a happy accident, these things seem to slide really well on the stuff. My first take on this was that it was just about the lamest skateboard related thing I’d ever seen (in the past week or two at least.) I mean, they actually advocate spreading the mesh out at a skatepark. I ‘d love to be there when someone tried that at Burnside… Then I started poking around and watching the videos and my mind changed a little. They show a backyard skate spot setup with rails and such, launch ramps… set up on grass, but with the approach and landing covered in mesh, which is supposed to be inexpensive. I’ll be damned if it doesn’t appear to work pretty good, although the video is postage stamp sized, circa 1995. It occurred to me that any institutional arguments against “street stikboarding” would be nullified. It’s all soft plastic that wouldn’t harm the architecture. Of course the liability and insurance issues would still be there. Let me make myself clear. Stikboarding is both incredibly lame and very clever. I’m not ever going to trade in my skateboard for a stikboard, I’m just impressed that they actually appear to work so well. If you’ve got the equivalent of $75 Amreican and live in New Zealand, you can pick up a stikboard direct from the source. Watch the “ramps” video in the gallery section. Don’t forget your garden mesh if you want to sesh…

Update: Here’s some video you can actually see. Found it over at Silverfish’s link to this post.