Some boards are so responsive, so intuitive, that the skater can trust their deck to be there on time no matter how many flips or Fakie are on the agenda for each ride up the quarter pipe. When you want to fly on pure Force like a Jedi, perhaps you’ll find that it’s time to fly Blind.
In many ways, the history of great skate companies is the story of personal disputes among the integral personalities who rose to become the first stars of the sport. It almost wouldn’t be right if cocky Blind Skateboard did not emerge from such divisive origins.
Mark Gonzales founded Blind Skateboard Company after splitting with Vision Skateboards, choosing the moniker as a backhand slap to to his old label. Blind Skateboards has been a full-service skate company since 1989, manufacturing premium trucks, bearings, pads and helmets, wheels, decks, clothes and other accessories crucial to the lifestyle of the skater.
Like many successful independent skateboard ventures, Blind has since been acquired by industry giant Dwindle Distribution, who manages some of the most prominent brands in skating equipment.
Blind Skateboards, with the death-head logo adorning every board, is particularly favored by the dark skater contingent, especially punks and metalheads. The outfit boasts an impressive roster of both pro and amateur pipe-riders, featuring some of the hottest vert skaters on the circuit, such as Ronnie Creager and Jake Brown. Past riders have included such luminaries as Guy Mariano, Danny Way, and Jason Lee.
The company has a bizarre sense of humor that plays especially well in a trail from their popular DVD What If? This video features Blind team’s professional skaters escaping from a pair of Keystone Cops on their decks, evading the hapless flatfoots in a hilarious sequence that comes to a gut-busting climax when Jake Brown, receiving a quick payoff of folded cash from Ronnie Creager, tackles the official skateboard-riding cop and breaks off the hot pursuit.
All of these smirking adult delinquents have something to smile about: riding for the outlaw skater who knows that a board is more than just a way to amaze yourself and your friends with defiance of gravity and other laws of physics…it can also be a way to get moving down the road in case your skating offends the enforcers of more local ordinances.
The original 2005 release of What If? contained a treat for those who were on time to pick up the Blind Video: Video Days. Blind’s legendary indie production from back in the day features founder Gonzales, Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson and Jason Lee, all captured by skate videographer extraordinaire Spike Jonze, co-creator of MTV’s popular show Jackass. The 1991 Video Days production is an essential piece of skating lore, bringing together these classic names for a truly magnificent parade of old-school talent and lighthearted madness.
Blind Skateboards is a nihilistic, streetwise label for the urban vert skater who doesn’t need to see where they’re going to know exactly where they want the board to take them.
Popularity: 32% [?]
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I think Ronnie Creagar is the best skateboarder on the Blind Skateboards team. He rocks and knows how to throw it down not to mention that he is a technical master
I’ve gotta try one…cool graphics too!
Awesome
Blind do have good graphics, and used to be one of my favorite companies; Till I found out dwindle decks come from China!
And you wonder why the economy is shit, and the American dollar is getting killed all over the world?
Support you local skate brands! Look for the ‘made in the usa’ label!!!
I’ve got to get one. It looks really sweet!
A Blind sounds super cool.
I will have to try one out. All my life I have collected the Blind Tech Decks because the graphics rock! I always need a board that will be durable and it sounds to me that Blind boards are off the hook.
Thanks,
Melissa.
I skate Blind…and I love it.
You don’t even need to be a vert skater to skate one though. I hate vert, but my Blind board is great on the streets too.
I’ve ridden a couple of these, even whacked em with a baseball bat, they take a lot of abuse! I’m gonna get a couple more….
1. These decks are made outside of the USA. I am not a nationalist but hey, I would prefer to see the work kept in the states.
2. These decks are made outside the USA. They take more energy to ship into the states and that is bad for the environment. I would rather a few more dollars for a domestically produced board with a smaller carbon footprint.
3. None of the decks are wider than the typical 8″ needed to be considered a serious vert board. These are street decks. Don’t bullshit me. Gonz should know better.
gangstered want 1
hell has riched us get me a almost impacted deck ing 2 hours and you get sex dudes
Nothing seems to be easier than seeing someone whom you can help but not helping.
I suggest we start giving it a try. Give love to the ones that need it.
God will appreciate it.
strangeR Says:
March 24th, 2008 at 12:30 am
3. None of the decks are wider than the typical 8? needed to be considered a serious vert board. These are street decks. Don’t bullshit me. Gonz should know better.
GONZ IS NO LONGER AFFILIATED WOTH BLIND AS HE OWNS AND RUNS KROOKED so HE SHOULDNT KNOW ANYTHING THAT BLIND DOES
it doesnt matter what the board looks like, if your going to use it its going to get messed up but fuck it i want one!