The series of “Quivers” profiles continues, now with a trip down to Texas to visit with Bob Loftin.  A longtime member of the ‘Fish, Bob is famous for his skills and stoke on a longboard, not to mention two excellent skater websites he’s behind.  So, what’s the man behind Bob’s Trick Tips riding these days?

Here's my quiver as of yesterday afternoon  -- empirical proof of Loftin's Theorem: the number of hours skated is inversely proportional to the number of boards owned. Sorry!  No crazy dropped speedboards, customs, or hi-tech slalom stuff here.  This is my well-worn quiver of decks, not a one without scars and probably all needing some repair of one kind or another.   I've been slowly replacing all the bushings in my boards with Khiro Inserts of various hardnesses. The setups tend to change from week to week, as I like to imagine equipment inadequacies to explain my own skating inadequacies.

Sometimes it seems stupid to have so many boards, but I just never seem to wear anything out. Mike "Grumpy Ol' Bastard" Moore says I "skate light", haha. So the boards just accumulate.   Click “Read More” to see them.

From left to right in the photo above, then the bottom...

43" FibreFlex Funshape

Invader 950 trucks and Gravity wedge risers

70mm white Krypto Classics 78a

This is a fun board for carving hills, riding around the neighborhood, etc. The flex is tight and snappy, but not bouncy at all. Very stable setup that turns well too. Acquired from the mighty ATXJim! Man, I miss skating with Jim.

Libtech 44" longboard

Randal-II 180mm trucks with 1 thin riser per truck.

60mm Conspiracy "Alien Shot" wheels (95a or 97a, depending on surface)

I use the board in skateparks a lot. Good for parks, vert, or longboard freestyle. Nice mellow concave. A great all-around longboard. If I had to have only one board, this would be it. In fact, I just ordered another of these to have as a backup – the new graphic with the nekkid green lady on bottom. Nice!

Comet Proflex 40" Spoon Nose deck

R-II 180mm trucks with 2 thin risers

66mm 80a ZigZags, or various wheels, depending on the situation

This is my preferred board for hills. Not a real "speed board", but it’s good for hills, carves real nice, and has a kicktail with a little nose. The spoon rocker really makes you feel connected to this board. Good for sliding with harder wheels!

Gravity 42" Mini-Carve

Indy 136 trucks with Gravity wedge risers

82a Gravity Street-G wheels

I like to do longboard freestyle on this board. It’s good for board walking tricks, since it’s flat. I’ve had this board for probably 5 or 6 years. Mini-Carves just don’t wear out.

Loaded Vanguard 42"

R-II 180mm trucks - no risers

76mm Gumball wheels 78a

Fantastic carving board. It is the "Flex 2", which is pretty bouncy under my weight. Turns great, and has a fairly low ride. No, I can’t ride this like the Adams do! Those dudes are off the charts. Mr. GorillaBiscuits seemed to enjoy riding it down a hill. Muy bien!

Capital USA freestyle board – 7.3” x 28.5”

Tracker Fulltracks - no risers

Burley Keith Renna freestyle wheels

This is my freestyle board. I try to spend some time keeping my FS basics up to speed every couple of months. This deck eventually became the Terry Synnott shape before Capital went belly-up. Terry's model now comes from Outlook Skateboards. Great FS board that is perfectly symmetrical. Ride 'er either way. This board and wheels are pretty beat up. I ride my freestyle stuff until it just doesn't work anymore. I have 3 of these decks in reserve and 1 that will soon be mailed to Grumpy for his son's freestyle antics.

40" Comet Park Tail, from 1999. The first of the Comet park boards.

R-II 180s with 2 thin risers

66mm ABEC-11 Strikers 81a.

For years, this was my go-to board for skating ditches. This deck has seen many sessions at Austin's Turkey Bowl. Proudly purchased at the Purple Skunk! It is the old "medium" flex, which they stopped making. The deck is pretty beat up, and the tail is really worn down, so I may retire it soon, and place with honor next to my Acme 48" Retroman.

Conspiracy "Alien Shot" deck - 8.5 x 32.5

Indy 166 trucks, 1 thin riser per truck

Autobahn dual duro 52mm wheels

On the rare occasion I want to ride a shortboard, this is it.  A really good setup for skateparks, street, or whatever, with a little longer wheelbase than the average newschool board. Great wheels.

Gravity 47" Hyper-Carve

R-II 150s, no risers

Pink Powerballs 78a 72mm

This is another board that is really good for surf-style walking tricks, casual hill riding, etc. Acquired from Grumpy Ol' Bastard himself!

Not pictured: GorillaBiscuits made me some killer slide gloves. Watch out Sergio! I’m coming for you! But first, let me lose about 25 pounds. Bearings and whatnot:  I like Bones Reds or Mini-Logo, as they are nice and cheap and fast. I also like Biltin Bearings a lot. I also like a nice double-sealed bearing with grease - nice and quiet and they last a long time.

Thanks, Bob!  Bobstricktips.com is down, as of this writing.  It was one of the original links posted on the front page of the 'Fish and a great resource.  To see why Bob just might be the original longboard freestyle guru of the internet,  you gotta go to YouTube.  Type in "bobstricktips" and check him out.  To see Bob's other web project, you can click on down to Texas and visit "bonelessone ".  It rocks.