Whoops we killed grip

[Angus Scrimm]

Okay so Mr. De Camp was kind enough to send me, not one, but two samples of Alchemy: The Matrix pattern and The Evolution.

In appreciation I decided to offer up these reviews to let anyone who was interested know my experience with it.

First off, The Matrix shape seemed like the most functional for me. I do a lot of flip ( mostly kickflip ) variations and if there was something to be had for the designs-- that was the one that made the most sense to me. To be honest, my second fav was the Flower of Life and the Evolution with its more chaotic & less structured design seemed the least appealing of the three.

I originally wanted to set up the Matrix pattern on one of my 8 1/4's, I just thought they would look great together, but unfortunately I was still waiting on a new shipment. Eager to try the grip, I still had some custom 8.12's lying around from a small run I did and thought the Evolution would look cooler with that graphic so I opted for it instead.

It's pretty crazy looking when you get this stuff, it's actually all die cut. The packaging comes with instructions that say to get someone to help you with it. I texted my friends 13 year old son then was off to her house, grip and board in hand.

It seemed a little strange to me that it would take two people to apply it, but here we go. I had him just simply put his fingers on one end while I peeled the backing. It was a bitch at first-- catching on all the little die cuts.

I decided to look a little closer at the instructions ( yes, instructions for putting on grip ) and it suggested working it side to side in a diagonal manner. This helped my time considerably and I probably should have looked a little closer at them to begin with. The grip started peeling much quicker but was still fighting me. By the time I reached the mid portion of the board, it came right up. Towards the tail I hit only one minor snag then was peeling smooth again.

I held the grip up and lined it to the board using the spider web design as a reference, this was pretty easy because there's a very distinct middle line. I then asked my 13 year old assistant to simply press the middle of the grip to the board. I was pretty surprised how efficiently it went after that, I expected all those intersections and die cuts to bubble up everywhere but instead, it went just as smooth or even smoother than a regular old sheet of grip. That was unexpected.

I rasped the board with a screwdriver and cut off the excess with a new blade. Mr De Camp had suggested not rasping & cutting from the top but with all these years of cutting grip up from the bottom, it was hard not to. I kind of used both techniques and then spent a little extra time cutting my top screen logo away from it's coverings, Low and behold-- it came out pretty sick!



Had I payed attention to the instructions at first it would have gone much quicker, but still: peeling the top 1/3rd of the grip was a bit time consuming. Now that I have some experience with it, I'm fairly certain I could set my next sheet by myself-- no problem-- although having someone there just to press down that middle part once you get it lined up, would probably be key.

Maybe I was tripping but even beyond the die cuts, it does seem a little different. I would say it's 'grippy' but less 'sandpapery?' My assistant who is only thirteen but has been skating since he was three, noticed it to the touch right away. There is a noticeable weight difference and the backing seems thinner and more pliable than regular grip. The way it laid down so smooth was strange. Id say the best way to describe the difference in texture is it doesn't seem possible for it to get that little 'wrinkle' in it.

I'll tell you more about it how it skates, etc. later-- or maybe even sooner, if I dont sleep..
stay up!

Angus

[_fucktard_]

I wonder why it's suggested to cut it from the top instead of the bottom? Can't see the pic, getting the red X. At work, this pc blows. Is the grip somewhat translucent? Just got a Krooked deck with Krooked written from top to bottom, would be cool if you could kinda see it undeneath. Since it's die cut I bet it would be a pain in the ass to cut it in half length wise. with a 1/4 space running nose to tail. Curious to hear how it wears ands kills shoes.

[Boston666]

Grip looks nice......(but you sould go to the spam section though)

[Angus Scrimm]

I wonder why it's suggested to cut it from the top instead of the bottom? Can't see the pic, getting the red X. At work, this pc blows. Is the grip somewhat translucent? Just got a Krooked deck with Krooked written from top to bottom, would be cool if you could kinda see it undeneath. Since it's die cut I bet it would be a pain in the ass to cut it in half length wise. with a 1/4 space running nose to tail. Curious to hear how it wears ands kills shoes.

To bad your getting the red X I think it looks pretty tight! Then again it was still the 80's when I landed my first 360 flip so I made it through the paint pen craze and even the griptape ( Wooster anyone? ) that came in a million colors & you could 'peel' into shapes ala Hosoi, etc.

I dont know why he suggested cutting from the top. It's not translucent per say but held together by clear interlocking parts, kind of hard to explain, but you could take a straight edge and an blade to cut it length or width wise easily.

My top screen was where a lot of the intersecting pieces were radiating out from so I could see most of it and guess work the rest. The clear is different too. Unlike the stuff of my youth, it seems to take on whatever color the board is underneath. Even on dipped black, it doesn't look like there's clear griptape anywhere on the board at all.

[Mike D De Camp]

Grip looks nice......(but you sould go to the spam section though)

- sike.

A.S. I recommend the top cut because of the adhesive we use. It can grab a blade on the bottom side (If you cutting from the underside / adhesive side.) and that can be hazardous. It cut's, but is best at least for the first time, going top down.

Sick Wooster ref. tho... Doh, Im showing my age!

PS we updated our website: www.alchemygrip.com
PEEP how it does what it does...

Daf_Dennis - did you ever get your grip?

Thanks for taking the time to write that. Im hyped that you get it!
Gotta get me one of your boards ~ Please let me know how much with shipping_

[Mike D De Camp]

AlchemyGrip
 
Whoops we dropped a catalog. http://www.alchemygrip.com/cat2010.pdf

[susej]

Will I be getting any soon?

[Mike D De Camp]

Will I be getting any soon?

absolutely! How is everything over there?

[Mike D De Camp]

Ha ha, "look at the traction tape_"
Roger Skateboards >

Roger TX Toast Tour Focus Groups

[Angus Scrimm]

Now that I've had some time to ride the grip, I think I could give a proper review.

After I set up the board it sat for sometime. Although eager to try it, my other board wasn't quite on it's last legs so I wanted to get the proper use out of it before I tried the new one with the Alchemy grip on it.

After a couple weeks Mr. DeCamp informed me if I could supply him with some photo's, he could use them in an online add he had coming up in a week. The timing was perfect. I dismissed my ( old ) board who's time had more than come, and called my friend Mike Fretias. We've shot photos together for over 20 years, so I knew together we could produce something together no problem.

I told my assistant ( my friends 13 year old son ) to have him and his buddies meet us up at the park, I would have some new griptape for them to check out and the reaction of his crew was pretty crazy when they saw it... which brings me to the first part of my review: People trip on this stuff.

Generally people think I cut it out myself, when I explain it's die cut and comes that way, they trip out even more.

Straight up: it's cool looking. and it's an instant conversation starter. It's been a help to me with what I'm doing because once people react to the grip the next question is usually: " What kind of board is that? " If you don't like attention this may not be the grip for you but with what I'm doing, it's great because it generates interest wherever I go.

Performance wise I went straight to warming up and taking photos, so the review aspect was a little forgotten.



To the grips credit I went straight to tricks without feeling held back in anyway. When my assistant asked how it was after a couple runs I simply torqued my toes and heels back and forth, they felt pretty locked. " Good to me " I said.

About a week after the photo sesh, I hit some loading dock banks with my Alchemy set up & a new pair of Old Skool Vans.

My previous shoes had about had it. If you look on the photo you can see where my old shoes left a lot of white sole on the fresh grip. This continued for a little bit with my new pair. After having this board for a while now the wear doesnt seem any more exceptional then regular grip. Make no mistake about it though: At first you will be leaving a LOT of your Vulc sole on the board, especially the first week. Which, speaking of Vulc soles and regular grip, brings me to the next part of my review: The performance.

I will say that after a couple weeks I DID notice something:

At the park I was trying to do a big kickflip fatty to flatty style out of a nice steep bank. The kind where you get a lot of speed and flick hard, but drawn out---  so you get that almost sloooooow down effect-- sucking it up to you as the board rises up to your feet, trying to come back together for the big catch at the peak of it's height. I know you flippers know what I'm talking about.

I had the board for a while now and was quite comfortable with it. With a conscious effort I would picture my Vulc sole running up the side of the grip and catching along the design ( which now had a distinct "feel" to it ) to assist my flips and without a doubt, it worked. My kickflips out of that bank seemed to be leveling out higher and catching up to my feet better...

 Unlike the patterns we put on our boards in the 80's trying to match Hosoi, etc. or whomever, these are actually in mind with your foot sliding up the board on or off at the same angles as tricks. Funny as it may seem, I get it now ( the effect Mr DeCamp was referring to ) but only after running it for a bit.

So in closing: There was no problem knocking tricks out right away so at no point did it hinder me. In fact, after I got more in tune with it I could literally "feel it" straight powering for me on those kickflips. It wears on your shoes hard at first. There is definitely a performance aspect, hard to explain, but noticeable enough to say that already after only one go of this stuff I think a plain sheet of grip across my board wouldn't be nearly as fun or work as well. and it would seem not only weird now, but well... kind of boring?

Case in point: I dig it. From turning heads, to conversation, to it actually feeling better under my feet than regular grip-- I'm looking forward to trying the other patterns in the line and seeing how those work as well, stay up!

AS

[susej]

Will I be getting any soon?

absolutely! How is everything over there?

Things are alright. Have had some injury issues, but otherwise not bad.  Been doing some work on Chill Out Park, and I'm pretty stoked with that. Couple of skate contest/events coming up that I'm looking forward, and a box of new Naysayers on the way, so I can't complain. Now I just gotta get some grip for them... 

[Angus Scrimm]

Grip looks nice......(but you sould go to the spam section though)

- sike.

A.S. I recommend the top cut because of the adhesive we use. It can grab a blade on the bottom side (If you cutting from the underside / adhesive side.) and that can be hazardous. It cut's, but is best at least for the first time, going top down.

Sick Wooster ref. tho... Doh, Im showing my age!

PS we updated our website: www.alchemygrip.com
PEEP how it does what it does...

Daf_Dennis - did you ever get your grip?

Thanks for taking the time to write that. Im hyped that you get it!
Gotta get me one of your boards ~ Please let me know how much with shipping_

No worries-- thanks again for the grip and putting the boards in the online store-- I mailed you some boards out today, let me know how they work out for ya!

[Bro]

So the grip tape is actually legit.
Good luck on your success bro.

[susej]

Thanks Mike, got the package yesterday. Gave a couple sheets away, one to the shop owner, and one to a team rider. I'll use it on my next deck (in the next couple of days), and send you some feedback.

Initial response from others was that it looks pretty rad, but then people showed their apprehension about trying something different. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Mike D De Camp]

I couldn't be happier. or more Thankful.
That's amazing. Much appreciated!
Hope you all have a great holiday!
~Mike