![]() ![]() The data shows Shake Junt was also outselling Jessup, marking an interesting development as mid-tier brands look to dislodge the top two. The industry is dominated by a few leading brands – some born from within skateboarding, like Grizzly and Mob, and others originating from a wider manufacturing background like Jessup.Īccording to ActionWatch data from earlier this year, Mob firmly leads on sales to the skateboarding industry in the US. Levels of grit vary slightly, from Jessup and Mob’s M-80 to the grippier standard Mob, as do available widths, but the core is pretty standard. “Basically all the smaller brands come from the same source,” notes Ben Woody, VP of Product at NHS, which makes Mob Grip. However, there are a number of companies who have grip produced in Asia and get it cut and printed in the US. Some well-known competing brands even use the exact same factories for their products.Īmongst the leaders, Jessup is understood to be the only brand both manufacturing and selling skate griptape itself in the US, and Mob does have its own exclusive facility. Manufacturing’s moved out towards Asia, but there are still only a few actual grip manufacturers in the world. While grip itself hasn’t changed much, the market has evolved. Whatever griptape Koston was skating in Menikmati is virtually the same stuff on your board today. Most skate grip is made with silicon carbide, and we’ve figured out the optimal grit sizes and how to get it to stick to the deck. Brown said, “Bud was the one who started really bridging the gap between manufacturing and the skateboard industry, attending the skateboarding trade shows and making connections.”Īfter Bud Smith got his first order off Powell Peralta, the skate industry followed on a global scale, and he built Jessup into the biggest-selling griptape brand in skating at the time.įast-forward to 2020 and fundamentally nothing has changed. That was until Bud Smith, who worked for industrial manufacturer Jessup, really seized the opportunity to tap into the fast-growing skateboarding market after his son got a Vision board and told him a lot of kids were getting into it. When skating took off in the ‘80s, brands of industrial non-slip tape such as Wooster and Mactac started selling their products into the skateboarding market, as a way to make money on the same product they already manufactured. ![]() “The lower the grit number, the bigger the grit per square inch – and Pizza Tape was probably 50 grit, where today’s griptape is around 70.” “That stuff was dangerous!” recalls Beau Brown, who started skating in the early ‘70s and went on to found the first-ever skate griptape brand, Flypaper. ![]() One type of griptape used by skaters was so gritty it was nicknamed Pizza Tape – its rough surface was reminiscent of pizza toppings. Others would re-use safety tape, peeling off 1-inch strips from school staircases or truck side steps. For a while, skaters experimented with Slip Check – an anti-slip spray for surfboards invented in 1965 – and DIY concoctions of resin set with sprinkled sand. BRIEF HISTORYĪs surfers developed the first skateboards in the ‘60s, it quickly became apparent that more grip would be needed to garner enough board control on the streets. Burberry graphic? Get ready for late flips.)ĭespite applying it to our decks for years, many of us haven’t even asked some of the most basic questions about the stuff: What’s it even made of? Who’s making it? And what’s up with those pro models? This curiosity led me to griptape geeks, manufacturers, and marketers the world over who gave me the dirt on our beloved sandpaper. ![]() This strip of sandpaper is not only functional, it acts as the skater’s form of self-expression, and you can often guess someone’s trick list or personality profile from their grip job of choice. I try not to judge a book by its cover, but I can never quite help myself from judging a skater by their griptape. ![]()
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