Top WORST Skateboarder Gift Ideas

Cheap Lame Skateboards! Back in September I reviewed the SpongeBob skateboard, and told you to NOT buy it. It is cheap junk with a cartoon character slapped onto it, to try and seduce you into ruining your kid's skateboarding experience. It's horrible. And as I was doing my own Christmas shopping, I saw PILES of junk like this in toy sections of stores. Stay Away! If your complete skateboard costs $30 or less brand new, it's a horrid piece of junk that will likely injur anyone who rides it. Love your kids this Christmas, and get them a REAL skateboard!

There are several boards out there with a similar design - they all came from the original "Wave" board (called the "X board" in Korea, where it was designed). They look like fun toys to play with, and that's EXACTLY what they are. Toys. Gimmicks. They are fun in their own way - don't get me wrong, I like all kinds of things that aren't skateboards, but these are also NOT SKATEBOARDS.

So, if you are wanting to get your skater something fun and cool, don't get them one of these unless you KNOW they want one. And if you do get one, don't be hurt if a month later they're done with it. Ripstiks are toys, plain and simple.

For some ideas of GOOD shoes, check out my Top 10 Skate Shoes list, or read what other skaters think on the Best Skate Shoes page!

the question of whether or not you should wear pads when skateboarding is a messy question. I wrote a little FAQ article about it called Should I Wear Pads When Skateboarding, but to sum it up I think you SHOULD wear a helmet. Elbow pads and wrist guards aren't so important - it's better to learn how to fall correctly, than to rely on pads. But, elbow and knee pads can help a new skater feel more confident to try things, like dropping in, and some skaters get hurt easier than others (I'm one of those)! Knee pads are ONLY useful if you are skateboarding on huge vert ramps. If your skater skates around in the street, and at the skate park, knee pads are worse than useless - they are constrictive and restrictive, and a waste of money!

"Oh, I don't know what he would like. Let's just get him a gift card to a skateboard shop!" GREAT IDEA! However, mall chain stores like Zumiez are NOT skateboard shops! They are POSER shops! They are designed to LOOK cool, and to suck in poor unsuspecting skaters who don't know that though the people behind the counter look hardcore, they are not.

Well, sometimes they are. But most of the time, mall shops like Zumiez give horrible customer service, don't know what they are doing, and hire people who look the part. Also, Zumiez and stores like it don't support skateboarding - they just take your money and run. Read The Problem with Mall Chain Stores for more.

If you can get a gift card from a locally owned shop, that's a much better plan.

There are a lot of lame skateboarding games on the market right now. It's sad. Shaun White Skateboarding, Tony Hawk Shred, and the older Tony Hawk Ride are all not very good games. It's just that simple.

EA's SKATE 2 is older, but still the best skateboarding video game to get!