Paddle boarding - using a street paddle to skateboard

Skateboarders are always looking for new and interesting ways to use their skateboards. And just when you think you've seen it all, along comes someone like Jack Smith of The Skateboarder's Journal with a "Paddle Board"!

In paddle skateboarding, you stand on a longboard-size skateboard, and use a "paddle" to push yourself along. Jack says it's "similar to what the stand-up paddle surfers are doing, except without the waves." He uses a paddle called the "Big Stick", made by the good folks at Kahuna Creations.

"It's a great upper body workout!" says Jack.

Steve McBride from Kahuna Creations says,

"The Kahuna Big Stick (Street Paddle) is a culmination of a multi-year quest to come up with a new way to stand up paddle on the road. It is simply an idea that I came up with and after many moons of refining. After filing patent claims, we came up with the Kahuna Big Stick as you see it today. Prior to January, when we introduced the product at Surf Expo, we had a handful of riders testing and giving feedback, so it was very underground. I am now hearing all the time of people that are really stoked by the Kahuna Big Stick. The thing cool about it is that skateboarding experts to housewives that have never been on a board in their life are experiencing the stoke of riding.

Experienced riders are excited about taking the sport to a new level and newbies are really excited about safely getting on a board and stroking their way down the road.

The idea was generated when my car broke down 15 miles from my shop. After pumping my leg for miles, my back was sore, my legs were sore and felt my frame was out of whack...from there I thought there had to be a better way, so the quest began.

I don't think most people are coordinated enough or patient enough to learn how to pump on each foot. I have fitness trainers that are also super stoked about the health benefits of Street Paddling on the Kahuna Big Stick."

So there you have it! Want to see what it looks like? Check out this YouTube video of Jack Smith's recent "paddle/push" from Cambria to Morro Bay. He used the same RollsRolls board he used to skate across the USA in 2003, and the Kahuna-Creations "Big Stick". He's now offering a discount if you buy from his website - just put in the code "Old Skate Guy"!

You can also check out paddle skateboarding on the Paddleskate website, where Don Losee, who has been into paddle skateboarding for years now, has all kinds of info on the fitness benefits of paddleboarding. Don says, "One Paddle Skate ride up and down my local bike path is like doing 2000 crunches. But way funner!" Don also sells paddles and boards.

Paddle skateboarding is just another branch in the wild and crazy evolutionary chain that skateboarding has developed into today! Thanks to guys like these who keep progressing and pushing the boundaries on what can be done with a skateboard!