15 years later and I am stepping back onto a skateboard again. Hopefully I still remember how to install grip tape, because my balance is already questionable.
It Started at Work
A coworker brought a skateboard into work and was messing around with beginner tricks. Naturally, I had to know if I still had it.
I stepped on the deck with way too much confidence and immediately lost my balance. It was embarrassing. I can blame the loose trucks and floppy slip-on shoes, but the honest truth is simple: I could not stand on the thing.
That should have been the end of it. Instead, it woke something up. I started thinking about skating again. Not in a serious, sponsored-video, stair-set kind of way. More like, “I wonder if I can still cruise around without wrecking myself.”
The Board That Got Me Rolling Again
I hopped on Marketplace and found a complete Element deck for $50. Barely used. Complete setup. It even had a Star Wars graphic on it.
Back when I was skating, Element felt like top-tier gear compared with what I could afford. My buddy had Element stuff. I had whatever I could get. Finding one cheap made me feel like I scored.
Then another coworker asked if it was a Walmart board. I said, “No, it’s Element. This is good gear.” He told me the newer stuff was tied into a big-box retail setup. I am not here to write a business investigation into skateboard brands, and if a lower-cost deck with a cool graphic gets more kids skating, that is a good thing. But it still did not sit right with me.
Skating always felt like freedom, expression, and not caring what anybody thought. I wanted something that felt more personal.
The Board I Actually Wanted
I used to run a laser engraving business with my brother and my buddy Casey. At one point we engraved skateboard decks for a local guy with his own skate brand. So when I decided I wanted a better deck, I reached out.
I ended up with a Lost Soul Skateboards deck, and this one felt different immediately. It was local. It had personality. The artwork was limited. The logo and colors worked. Even the paper that came with it made the whole thing feel intentional.
This particular deck is number 34 out of 44. That mattered to me more than it probably should have. It made the board feel less like a product and more like something I should not mess up.
Why I Was Weirdly Nervous
There was a time when gripping a skateboard deck felt automatic. Peel the sheet back. Line it up. Stick it down. Trim the edges. Done.
Fifteen years later, apparently my body forgot how to balance before my brain forgot how to grip a deck. Honestly, I was more nervous about the grip tape than the skating itself. Not because it is difficult, but because screwing up fresh grip tape somehow still feels illegal.
I kinda felt bad covering up this fresh deck.
Tools on the Bench
- Fresh razor blade
- Screwdriver
- 3/8-inch wrench or skate tool
- Allen key, depending on your hardware
- Grip tape
- Deck
- Optional: Woodford Reserve for morale
You do not need much, but you want everything close before the backing comes off. This is also not the job for the old razor that has been opening boxes since last winter.
Step 1: Remove the Trucks
If the board is assembled, remove the trucks before gripping it. I used a wrench on the nuts and an Allen key on the bolt heads. Keep the hardware together so you are not crawling around the garage looking for one tiny nut later.
Beginner tip: Put the nuts and bolts in a cup, tray, or magnetic dish. Do not trust the workbench goblin.
Step 2: Line Up the Grip and Save the Number
This is where you slow down. Grip tape is simple, but it is not forgiving once it sticks. I lined the sheet up over the deck and checked both ends before committing. The goal was to cover the areas my feet need while leaving the limited-edition number visible.
I am sure there is a cleaner way to measure this. I went with the classic garage method: look at it, adjust it, stare at it longer than necessary, and finally decide it is good enough to continue.
I left a gap so the 34/44 number stayed visible. It helps identify the rear of the deck, but mostly I liked showing that it came from a limited run. The cut was not perfectly straight. That bothered me for a minute. Then I remembered this thing is going outside into pavement, missed tricks, and bad decisions.
Step 3: Stick It Down From the Middle Out
Once I was happy with the placement, I pressed the grip down from the middle outward. Do not slap the whole sheet down at once. Work slowly, press it into the concave, and push air toward the edges.
Beginner tip: Ugly edges can still skate. Big air bubbles are annoying forever.
I did not end up with bubbles, which felt like a small victory. If anything is lifting, fix it before trimming. Once the edges are cut, there is much less material to grab and adjust.
Step 4: Use the Screwdriver Trick
Run the metal shaft of a screwdriver around the deck edge. Press firmly enough to rub the grip against the wood. You are not cutting with the screwdriver. You are burnishing the edge.
This creates a pale ghost line for the razor to follow and knocks down some grit before that grit destroys your blade. I went around more than once—partly to make the line clearer and partly to convince myself I was ready to cut.
The board already knows what shape it is. Your job is to listen to it.
Step 5: Make the Cut
Start at the edge, hold the razor at a shallow angle, and follow the ghost line slowly. Let the blade do the work. If it starts tearing instead of slicing, change it. Grip tape is brutal on blades.
I had to remind myself this was not surgery. It is grip tape. The goal is clean enough to ride, not perfect enough for a museum.
Some cuts were clean. Some were not. Around the nose and tail, a few spots looked rough, and the number strip was not perfectly straight. Then the obvious thing hit me: I am going to skate this board. It will get scratched, chipped, kicked across pavement, and probably launched into something stupid.
The tape was stuck. The board had grip. The job worked.
Step 6: Find the Holes and Reinstall the Trucks
Push through the truck holes from the bottom. Do not guess from the top. Use a screwdriver, Allen key, or bolt and stay controlled so you do not tear out a large chunk of grip.
Line up the hardware, start everything by hand, and tighten the nuts evenly. Make it secure, but do not go full gorilla on it. Once the trucks are back on, the deck starts feeling like a skateboard again instead of a project on the bench.
The Finished Setup
The grip was down. The edges were trimmed. The trucks were tight. The number was still visible. The board had that fresh, ready-to-ruin look that only lasts until the first real session.
This is where I remembered something I had not fully embraced in years: useful things are supposed to get used. The first scratch is not failure. It is the beginning of the board becoming yours.
Good enough to skate is good enough.
What I Learned
- Use a fresh razor.
- Press the grip from the middle outward.
- Use the screwdriver trick to create the edge line.
- Push the truck holes through from the bottom.
- Do not chase perfection.
- Go skate the board.
If this is your first grip job, expect it to look like your first grip job. Maybe the edge is not perfectly smooth. Maybe the line is not perfectly straight. Maybe next time you need more prep, a slower hand, or four razor blades instead of one. That is how you learn.
The orange stain, black and pink graphic, local-brand connection, and the whole setup just felt right. Once it was gripped and assembled, it finally felt like my board instead of a nice deck I was afraid to touch.
Welcome Back to Skating
This whole thing started because I stepped on a coworker’s skateboard and immediately realized I was not as young, loose, or balanced as I remembered.
But that is kind of the point. You do not get back into something by waiting until you feel ready. You get back into it by buying the board, gripping the deck, accepting the imperfect cuts, and rolling around until your legs remember what your brain has been pretending it still knows.
I bought a new deck and was weirdly nervous to cover it up. Then I covered it up anyway.
Now the only thing left to do is take it outside and rip it.