HOW TO GRIP A DECK WITH DENNIS DURRANT

Welcome to ‘How To’, a walk through tutorial series highlighting the best (and occasionally quirky) steps to efficiently tackle whatever challenge is presented to you!

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In this episode, Element professional Dennis Durrant runs you though the best steps to grip a skate deck. Tune in and now, and nail Dennis’ techniques!

What you’ll need: a deck, griptape, skate tool, an Allen key and a blade.

1. Peel the paper off the back of the grip. I use my finger as a guide, just so I know where the end of the board is. Make sure it’s all lined up and then pat it down.
2. Get the paper from the The back of the grip you’ve just peeled off and then rub over it to get any the bubbles out.
3. Once you’ve got the grip on, what you want to do is grab a skate tool or something that you can use to go around the edge of your board with. You’ll see a line around the edge of the deck appear. That also helps to stick down the edge of the grip.
4. Once you’ve done that, go in at the corner with the blade. Cut in from the edge with the blade on like a 45-degree angle, and just kind of pull the grip as you’re cutting around the template of the deck. Make your way around the whole thing.
5. It’s good to hold onto the pieces of grip you’ve just cut off. What I do is fold them together to then sand around the edge. It makes it less of an edge for the grip to peel up.”
6. What you want to do next is to find your holes for the bolts to go through. you’re going to need an Allen key for this. Find the hole (a bit of guessing and checking) and simply push them all through.
7. Now that’s done! you are ready to put your board together!