In a post I wrote earlier this year, I stated that I was not sure if the Outlaw Slinger from Banshee Bungee was going to be able to pull me across the water. Well it did! One the flip side, we found a problem. It did not pull me fast enough to do anything that I would want to do. Now before I create a problem, I have always been told to solve the problem first, so I am going to take that route.
To solve the Banshee Bungee problem, I have came up with a few different solutions.
1. Buy the Federal Offense. This would give us twice the power, and is sure to get us across the water in order to hit a rail. Need more people to pull this thing back!
2. Get a bigger board. This would help get us on top of the water, and hopefully help create more speed.
3. Use a skim type board. A skim board would help us keep the speed because skim boards have less rocker than a traditional wakeboard. I believe the rocker that is designed into a wakeboard causes a lot more drag, and having less of this would defiantly help keep our speed to the rail.
4. Use a better starting platform. By using the grass as the starting point, I lost a lot of the initial pull that the bungee needs to get me going across the water. A nice plastic surface would have been perfect.
5. I could always loose 20-30 lbs, but I doubt that is going to happen.
So what do you think? Do you have any ideas on how we could make this work?
Either way, I put together a short video for all of you to enjoy. It was rainy and cold, dealing with the apartment manager was not fun, and thank you to my buddy Andrew for helping me out. We had a blast testing the Banshee Bungee out on the water, and I am determined to figure out how I can make this work. From there the possibilites are going to be endless. Enjoy!
One of my major gripes about living in the Midwest is that there is always a huge gap from time snowboarding is over to the time we can get on the water and wakeboard or wakesurf. Not to mention we have to deal with the same gap when we go from the water season to the snow season. I like to call these two gaps Fall and Spring. One of my goals is to fill the gaps, and lucky for you I have found another way to do just that. Have you ever heard of a skateboard/longboard called the Freebord?
Freebord came out with an innovative way to turn longboarding/skateboarding into snowboarding without snow. With this board you can now cruise down a hill like you would on a longboard; however it will now feel like you are on a snowboard. Their goal was to replicate the snowboarding experience and bring snowboarding to dry land. With the freebord you have total speed control, you can slide to a stop, and you can now carve down the hill like you would on the snow. It is hard to put into words how the Freebord system works, but I will take a stab at it.
The Freebord is a skateboard/longboard hybird that is longer than your typical skateboard and it has additional caster wheels positioned behind each of the trucks. The board has special bindings to keep your feet attached to the board, and the bindings also help you preform snowboard type maneuvers down the hill . With the addition of extra caster wheels you will be able to slide sideways down the hill as you would on a snowboard. Like I said, it is hard to explain, but if you can imagine snowboarding down an asphalt or concrete hill, you are well on your way to understanding the freebord experience.
Lucky for me, Youtube was invented, and we have fanatics of the Freebord that have produced a few videos of it in action. Since actions speak louder than words, check out the video, and I will let you decide if this is how you want to shorten the gap all of us in the Midwest fall victim to. Enjoy the video, and I hope to see more people Boarding the Midwest All day, Everyday.
In the wakeboard, snowboard, and wakesurf industries you cross paths with many great people. Ragboy and Ragboy Jr. from wake9.com fit this description like a glove. I am pumped they took time out of their day to talk with me, and now I get to share this conversation with you. Enjoy the video, and I hope you get the chance in your life to have as much fun as the people over at wake9.com have.
The time is right, the stars have aligned, and it is time to get a new snowboard. But what do you do with your old board? Well here are 10 ways to recycle your old board!
10. Give it to someone in need
9. Hang it on the wall as an ornament
8. Use it for Urban Jibbing
7. Rent it out
6. Turn it into a picture frame
5. Get crafty and make it into a bench
4. Make a book shelf out of the board
3. Let someone new to the sport use it so they don’t have to rent
2. Cut it in half and use it as a pair skis.
1. Hey get creative and figure it out on your own
If you think you have a better idea for your old snowboard. Please leave a comment and share it with the rest of the world!
In a post I wrote earlier this year, I stated that I was not sure if the Outlaw Slinger from Banshee Bungee was going to be able to pull me across the water. Well it did! One the flip side, we found a problem. It did not pull me fast enough to do anything that I would want to do. Now before I create a problem, I have always been told to solve the problem first, so I am going to take that route.
