Niche niche niche niche. Skateboarding is dead, so I’m going after the Nietzsche markets. Ba-dum-bump! But seriously folks… I can’t remember how I found Bitter Bushings, literally like 10 minutes ago. I did manually type in the web address so I must have read it somewhere. Then only thing skateboard related within arm’s length of my current location is a copy of Skate Slate (ahem) Longboarder magazine. Something compelled me to check out these bushings that are made for cold weather. Bitter Bushings hail from Canada, which makes sense. Does it seem like snake oil or another pointless “invention?” Owner Clint McLean certainly takes a no-nonsense approach in his demo vid. I doesn’t hurt that he looks like a lumberjack either. He takes two identical setups, popsicle sticks with Indy’s, and put’s them both in a giant freezer to simulate cold weather. One has Bitter Bushings and the other doesn’t. One turns afterwards and the other doesn’t. I’d like get more information on the development process he went through because the lack of detail or background makes it seem like the skateboarding equivalent of cobbler’s elves delivered them in the wee hours of the night. In case, if they actually work,…

We’ve seen wine corks before, and now we have tires. I wasn’t going to post this but I really liked the video at the end of the post. Something about the sound quality made me pay attention. This setup is so loose that he looks like he’s riding one of those caster snakeboards, and riding it well. Good stuff, check it out on Kraffftwork.com. There’s some fun things on there, get off your high horse and enjoy it. – Holy cow. I just came back to this . This guy is a genius. Check out the chair board. – Thanks to OCD (ha ha I mean Kyle) for the tip.

I only fly a couple times a year. I used to bring my skateboard with me as a carry on, but with laptops, camera bags and especially kids, it became more of a hassle than it was worth, so I began to look for skate bag options. I had one of those old Thrasher bags that were essentially oversized duffle bags from back in the day, but the zipper crapped out. It wasn’t very heavy duty and didn’t inspire great confidence as far as aiport travel. Enter the Body Bag from Old Man Army. It’s oversized enough to fit multiple skateboards and gear. In fact, mine is packed right now with my board, my kid’s board, my helmet and pads, and his helmet, plus my clothes. OMA really researched this before they had them made. They aren’t just some random bag rebranded as a skate bag. It’s got a million pockets, tie downs and straps, including a removable shoulder strap. There two spots on the bottom where you can unzip and poke your trucks through the bottom of the bag if you want. The inside looks like a space suit. They researched the maximum dimensions for luggage and made this…

Me, I swear by my Bones Bushings, but if I ever find myself in pinch, I could follow the advice over at Sa Ka Roulé and repurpose some of those newfangled plastic corks and make some bushings. In fact, maybe I’ll start building up a reserve of them tonight. I was saving these things for a while, I thought there must be something I could do with them, but this idea never crossed my mind.