Old Kook's Snakes Skateboard Shoe Laces Review

Old Kook's makes super strong shoe laces for all kinds of things, but they focus mostly on skateboarding. I tried out the Snakes shoe laces, made specifically for skateboarding, and they made me happy. Shoe laces are the first thing to go on most skate shoes, and they usually break VERY fast. It always ticks me off when a lace breaks, and the laces that come with most skate shoes are flimsy and pathetic. They might as well be yarn. Old Kook's laces might not be cheap, $10 a pair for the Snakes, but I think they are worth it.

The problem is, skateboarding is viscous to shoes. The jarring, the landings, the tricks - skate shoes are doomed to wear out. But usualy, before the shoes are anywhere near needing to be replaced, you have broken your shoe laces several times, and have them all re-tied over and over again, with weird knots here and there along the lines. It looks bad, and it really ticks me off.

You see, the top of your skateboard is basically a huge sheet of sandpaper. Every kickflip you do, every ollie, basically everything fun flips that board around and grinds down your laces. And to make things EVEN BETTER, most skate shoes come with extra flimsy laces. It's like a conspiracy.

Old Kook's laces fix this entire problem. These laces will eventually wear out - everything does at some point. But I would be surprised if they wore out before your shoes did. I would be shocked. And so would Old Kook's - so they GUARANTEE that the laces will out-live your shoes, or they'll replace them! How about THAT?!

Snakes Laces are designed for skateboarding. They are made from especialy strong fibers that are braided together to create rediculously strong shoe laces. According to Old Kook's, these shoe laces are stronger than steel cable of the same diameter. They have 1600 pounds of tensile strength. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but they are tough, and the ones I tested haven't broken yet!

They're also coated with urethane (the same stuff your wheels are probably made of), which helps to protect them from getting worn down by your grip tape. This also makes them slippery - you have to double-knot them to keep they tied.

Snakes Laces come in lots of colors: Blue Racer, Black Viper, Grey Whip, Green Mamba and Red Cobra (which is more like pink).

And you get that amazing warranty, plus these laces are made in the USA, which is a cool bonus. At $10 US a set, these might seem to steep - and I understand that completely. Most skate shoes come with extra pairs of laces, so you might want to just stick with the ones the shoes came with. But if you do many flip tricks, or even ollie much, you might change your mind!

There are three other lace styles that Old Kook's makes:

• Super Shoe Laces - These are the original laces made by Old Kook's. They have elastic strands inside the laces to help them be more flexible, and they work with most shoes for pretty much any activity. I didn't try these out - they're pretty generic, but should work just fine. They cost only $5 a pair, and they have the same guarantee to outlast your skate shoes!
• Dura-Force Laces - These laces are made just like Snakes Laces, but are made thicker and longer, so they won't fit in most skate shoes. They are aimed more at military, law enforcement and snowboarding boots. They cost $20 a pair.
• Straight Jackets - These laces are weird. They would work just fine for skateboarding, but they take doing some surgery to your shoes. Basically, Straight Jackets are Velcro strips that replace your laces. For $10, you get the Straight Jackets Velcro strips, and the kit for installing them into your shoes. With this setup, you would have a very hard time wearing these out before your shoes. On the flip side, they change the look of your shoes, and I don't know how comfortable I would be operating on my brand new expensive skate shoes!

So, what it all boils down to is that if you have the money, I would easily highly recommend Old Kook's Snakes Laces. I didn't try the other styles, but I bet they're good quality too, for what they are designed for. But, unless you are doing something pretty insane, I would say stick with the Snakes - they've worked well for me! But if you want to save a few bucks, the Supers have the same guarantee. I just haven't used them myself, so I don't know for sure!

The only reason I give Old Kook's Snakes Laces 4 1/2 stars instead of 5, is that the slipperiness of the laces is a little weird. But I realize that they are slippery because they are awesome! Even so, it's odd and makes tying them funny.

But that is only one little issue - which is why it's only 1/2 a star! If you hate dealing with snapping skate shoe laces, Old Kook's are the way to go. I don't know of anything better on the market - or even similar! Check 'em out.