# Longboard Tour!



## Androgynightmare (Feb 1, 2016)

Hai!

I'm gonna be catching out for a national longboard solo tour of the South/South-West in late February.

Anyone have any experience or suggestions?

My plan is to use Rails-To-Trails and whatnot where possible, and roads the rest of the way.
I'll be regularly stopping in towns every few days to spange & gather food.
I plan to only hitch when nessicary. 
My pack will be relatively light, so not a huge weight issue.

I'd love to hear any recommendations you've got!

Thanks!


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## MarsOrScars (Feb 1, 2016)

Unrelated, how long have you been long boarding? I've seen some of those boards go pretty freaking far with little effort so it seems like a good way to go cross country.


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## Aurum (Feb 2, 2016)

Out of curiosity, what's your gear list like? And what board you taking with you?


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## Androgynightmare (Feb 2, 2016)

MarsOrScars said:


> Unrelated, how long have you been long boarding? I've seen some of those boards go pretty freaking far with little effort so it seems like a good way to go cross country.


I've been skating for a couple years.
I average 20+ miles a day just out of boredom, so crossing the country would be more of a lifestyle change than a distance change.


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## Androgynightmare (Feb 2, 2016)

Aurum said:


> Out of curiosity, what's your gear list like? And what board you taking with you?


Just basic shit. Honestly.
"Bare necessities" and whatnot.
I've got one of the Longboards by Penny Board. Nothing to brag about, but I would actually trust it to the ends of the earth.


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## CelticWanderer (Feb 2, 2016)

Be sure to practice stand up slides and shutdown slides with your pack on. It can save your ass from having to bail with a pack on. If you can I'd go for a drop down deck. It'll save yer legs. And look into the YouTube series long treks on skate decks for getting you stoked as fuck about yer journey


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## Kal (Feb 2, 2016)

CelticWanderer said:


> Be sure to practice stand up slides and shutdown slides with your pack on. It can save your ass from having to bail with a pack on. If you can I'd go for a drop down deck. It'll save yer legs. And look into the YouTube series long treks on skate decks for getting you stoked as fuck about yer journey



Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Aurum (Feb 2, 2016)

Androgynightmare said:


> Just basic shit. Honestly.
> "Bare necessities" and whatnot.
> I've got one of the Longboards by Penny Board. Nothing to brag about, but I would actually trust it to the ends of the earth.


 If I'm to be honest. A penny board is NOT the board I'd take on a trip like what you've described, and personally i dont think it qualifies as a long board, You'll find when your pack's fully loaded, that small of a wheel base/deck to be precarious. Further, penny boards are a bit flashy, and people that don't skate might see it as a sign you have other valuable shit in your pack.

I'd advise you take some very large/durable wheels, and like 3 sets of bones reds, an entirely METAL skatekey, some decent generic trucks, and get as cheap a deck as possible, maybe marr up the bottom decal, and slap a little dust on the grip so it looks like an old board. Oh, and trash bags to cover your board when walking/camping in a wet or very damp area, nobody likes carying a deck that's waterlogged.
Maybe check out your local shops, see if they have any dropthru or drop down decks setup in store and just stand on it with your pack loaded and feel the difference in stability, penny boards are small & plastic so keeping it in your pack might be nice if you have a large pack/free space for when it's wet outside, but trust me you will want a full sized long board, or even like an old school shaped pool board for doing some real long distance travel.

Also, you'll really want some nice slide gloves, even if you don't slide often. I've been training the last 6 months or so for a long trek with my board, and being able to fall/slide on my hands when I bail with my pack loaded up, and not mangle my palms has been so nice.


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## CelticWanderer (Feb 2, 2016)

For cheap boards check out kracked skulls. I used the drop through mounted deck to get across the panhandle of Florida and it didn't fail on me till it got run over


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## Androgynightmare (Feb 2, 2016)

Aurum said:


> If I'm to be honest. A penny board is NOT the board I'd take on a trip like what you've described, and personally i dont think it qualifies as a long board, You'll find when your pack's fully loaded, that small of a wheel base/deck to be precarious. Further, penny boards are a bit flashy, and people that don't skate might see it as a sign you have other valuable shit in your pack.
> 
> I'd advise you take some very large/durable wheels, and like 3 sets of bones reds, an entirely METAL skatekey, some decent generic trucks, and get as cheap a deck as possible, maybe marr up the bottom decal, and slap a little dust on the grip so it looks like an old board. Oh, and trash bags to cover your board when walking/camping in a wet or very damp area, nobody likes carying a deck that's waterlogged.
> Maybe check out your local shops, see if they have any dropthru or drop down decks setup in store and just stand on it with your pack loaded and feel the difference in stability, penny boards are small & plastic so keeping it in your pack might be nice if you have a large pack/free space for when it's wet outside, but trust me you will want a full sized long board, or even like an old school shaped pool board for doing some real long distance travel.
> ...


You do know Penny does make longboards, right?
Like, I wouldn't take a little penny board anywhere. Let alone long distance.

Honestly it's pretty much the same geer you just described but with a different deck.

I'll look into the gloves though.


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## Eriku (Feb 7, 2016)

Definitely get a dropped board for long distance, and learn to use both legs to push!


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## xpolx (Mar 5, 2017)

be interested in finding out what happened with this trip if yer still out there?


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## Androgynightmare (Mar 7, 2017)

I completely gave up. Not even gonna lie.

I started in Miami and by the time I got to Fort Pierce FL I was so burnt out and disenfranchised I decided to fuck off and just do the usual dirty kid thing.


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## Androgynightmare (Mar 7, 2017)

Longboarding across the country doesn't work unless you have a good cushion of money or all the time in the world.
Cause you need to eat way more than usual, a lot of the small towns you pass through aint shit for spanging, and it's also really physically taxing.


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## Drengor (Mar 7, 2017)

Sorry to here that bud! I bring my longboard with me when I hitchhike - better than walking around big towns. I'd never imagine using it to get from town to town though, thats just nuts to me! Try a bike next time? Definitely less effort/distance.


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## xpolx (Mar 8, 2017)

yeah i get that i always mix things up between hitching skating kinda best of both worlds company when i feel like it just rolling and moving when i cant deal with folk, <3


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