Chris Daniels
The Gripskin Fingerboards Review
Hand-crafted in the Swiss Alps by fingerboard legend Manu Oberle, Gripskin fingerboards have a world class reputation. Known for beautiful split plies and precise shaping, the fingerboard deck is the epitome of perfection.
Manu and I go way back. We were moderators on the FingerFlipInc forums back in the day, and he was one of the first European fingerboarders to interact with the English speaking community (along with Afrobi and Eurollt founder Joe Leclercq). We even had a great time at Blackriver's anniversary party in Wunsiedel over a decade ago. Manu bleeds fingerboarding, as can be seen by his devotion to deck crafting and in his fingerboarding style.
I ordered my first Gripskin in May of 2020. It was the light / dark split ply. Upon arrival I was enthralled by the craftsmanship. Perfectly drill baseplate holes, hand-sanded edges and a beautifully mellow shape, I had to get this one setup!
I quickly threw on some Blackriver Trucks and Flatface Wheels and started seshing. Sometimes decks look beautiful, but don't perform well. This was not the case here! The board's performance matched the visual beauty.
Fast forward to May 2022 - I'm still rocking the setup. I saw Manu had a new stock dropping, so I decided to pick up another deck. This time I got the Leaf model this time. When the package arrived, I saw a second split ply deck included as well!
Like the previous deck, the Gripskin Leaf fingerboard performed exceptionally well. The mellow, wide shape lends itself well to advanced fingerboarding techniques like flick hesitation and early catching.
There's only a few deck companies that deserve to be known as Master Artisans. Gripskin fingerboards deserves its place among Prete as the pinnacle of Hand-crafted fingerboard decks.
Interested in purchasing a Gripskin?
Chris Daniels
Fingerboarding since 1998, Chris has been continuously involved in the online fingerboard scene since 1999. A pioneer in the English-speaking fingerboard scene, he has moderated and administrated multiple major fingerboard forums including RZF and FingerFlipInc (FFI). In 2008, he founded the global fingerboard community FBWeekly as a way to connect fingerboard scenes around the world in one portal. With over 20 authors representing fingerboarders from around the world, FBWeekly quickly became an important source for fingerboard news.