For the majority of fingerboarders, they started out with a tech deck and then got more serious with it through the online scene. I remember after I got my first tech deck, I went onto youtube to watch various Tech Deck tutorials.

My first ever tutorial/ yt video I watched (from 7 years ago LOL)


Then I came across Gary Chin's how to kickflip video & that's how I discovered real fingerboards..
So I went on flatface and looked at some decks and swore to myself that I would never pay for any of the products on the site   .. Now here I am 3-4 years later, having spent a couple hundred dollars on this hobby...

Interested in hearing your stories and first reactions to "Real" fingerboarding!

Mine reached level 16 and then it evolved.

I always messed around with tech decks when I was younger. Then one day my friend and I found an old tech deck and started taking slow motion videos of kick flips on our iPhones and just kept messing around...that lead to looking at videos on YouTube and the relaization of "wait, they're not using tech decks!"  

I also saw Berlinwood completes on Flatface and told myself I would NEVER spend that much money on a fingerboard...and here I am now with 2 pairs of YTrucks, a pair of BRTs, and countless decks.  Ohh, and this is all in the span of about 8-9 months right now

I started with what my ancestors started with. Straw, lots and lots of straw.

I played with Tech Decks from when I was 5 years old to about 9 years old and kind of just put them in a box and forgot about them but about a year ago I (oops) shoplifted a DGK Tech Deck and started playing around and one day I googled how to do some tricks and I saw a pretty sweet video from Homewood Fingerboards and he wasn't using tech decks, so I did some research and ended up buying a 4 Corner Fingerboard. I also told myself I wouldn't spend a lot on fingerboarding and $250+ later, here I am!

I found Mike Schneider's channel recommended to me on YouTube looking for 'techdeck tricks'

When I went from techdeck.com to FFI I saw a deck from Heart Attack and I got some info on how they were made and started making some for myself using two techdecks clamped together as a mold. They were awful but I still never went back after that lol.

I discovered Brandon Jones' "how to make a wooden fingerboard" video and tried to do it myself. Later on, I found FFI and got myself a nice Holland Shortwood deck with the beer can graphic, haha anyone remember those?

DadeKing wrote:

I discovered Brandon Jones' "how to make a wooden fingerboard" video and tried to do it myself. Later on, I found FFI and got myself a nice Holland Shortwood deck with the beer can graphic, haha anyone remember those?

yessss! i always wanted one. shortwood had some dank graphics

i had a tech deck and watched like taylor rosenbauer videos on youtube and found blackrivers site so i ordered one of those bollie/berlinwood completes and after that i just balled out on fingerboard gear

dr.oak gave me my first tech deck. I later caught my first proper fingerboard in the wild.

pro tip: masterball

check this shortwood old mold out

My cousin started fbing, then I started to skate and then gave fingerboarding a try. Glad I did too

About the same way everyone else did it seems. I looked up how to do some tricks online and saw they weren't using tech decks so I decided to order a wood deck. I got a BW Elias Assmuth deck cause that's all they had at the time.

went from blue eyes white dragon, to red eyes black dragon

I used Tech Deck's for 6 or so years (maybe even . Than I watched one of the early Pissing Fingers videos and saw 'European style fingerboarding' for the first time. I soon invested in a Chinawood complete and never looked back

- Jono

played with tech decks all the time as a kid, then my buddy learned how to kickflip.. game changer right there. he taught me how to and then we started fingerboarding more. in 8th grade he got a close up from flatface and told me about it.. thats when i got introduced to "real" fingerboarding.

searched a gang green song on youtube, came across a matt lieber video with the song in it that i was searching for.
can't find this mini on youtube no more..

I made my first wooden decks before I started buying from well known companies. My homemade were some of the best crafted decks I've used, I wish I could still get wood!

we had Tech Decks at school when they came out. No one of us knew that real tricks are possible, so we were only skating on our thigh or some obstacles, where no pop was necessary. Over the years i've been using it for 1-2x per month, because i missed skateboarding. Still didn't know i could do real tricks on a fingerboard  
I saw BRR stuff in local Skateshops and thought just wtf, why should someone spend that much for a toy...
Early 2014 i discovered a wider Tech Deck in ToysRus und bought it. At home i googled for the first time 'fingerboarding'... totally stoked from what i've seen, i became addicted instantly, started watching hundreds of tutorials, practised a lot and bought way too much expensive stuff.

I used to mess around with Tech Decks in 2009. All I could do was a fakie ollie. Back in August 2013, I found my old Tech Deck box and went online to find out something about "real" fingerboarding. Then I bought my first wooden board - a 29mm wide Mitt for like 10$.

#coolstorybro #madting

Danny Hynam wrote:

Mine reached level 16 and then it evolved.

movin-like-burnie wrote:

went from blue eyes white dragon, to red eyes black dragon

LOOL

I learned some tricks from a friend in 5th grade (2001ish   ) on tech decks... never got online until like 2005 and I only recently started watching fingerboarding videos. I started useing wooden decks I made in 2002-3.. they sucked but I got better at making decks. I still used TechDecks along with my shitty wood decks untill like 2013 and I bought some Roswell's decks.. then I began buying all kinds of wood decks. I still mess with TechDecks. NEVER FORGET

I "evolved" after searching how to kickflip, found Gary Chin and looked at some of the stuff on his channel. I then spent all my pocketmoney on a BW elias 29 and put td regs and td wheels on. All went from their really.

I started skateboarding about 4 years ago, then about 4-6 months later i subscribed to mallory curtis, and mike Schneider. I got my mom to bring me n a shopping spree at walmart, we bought like 10 tech decks! I shredded themm for months, and kept buying more for about a 1 year. I worked for 15$ then i went and bought my first wooden deck. It was a BK 32mm green deck. I shredded that thing for about 6 months, during that time i was starting to make my first decks(which now are Skate Candy) in about 6 months i bought a 4cfb complete, then a BK complete. Thats were i started getting really serious. That was also the time i started evolving my deck making. This time was around early 2012 i think. By 2013 i was riding my own decks. And it was sick! (but they were nasty looking at the time, lol) I never really got a good fingerboard until i got my first sponser, that i rep till this day, Entre Nos. Thats were i really evolved from a tech deck

My older bro gave me some tech decks in 2009... We never really landed anything but it was awesome to make preety setups! We would change the wheels from deck to deck, etc...
In 7th (2011) grade there was the trend of having tech decks ... I already had them and It was a way of fitting in , so I followed the trend. About  2 weeks later the boys got tired but I keept it going ... I tried to land better ollies , shuvits ... IT WAS FUN ! Then I found out there were people who had wooden decks and made SICK tricks

I remember that some kids of our school had a ff deck wich made me and my friend so freaking jeaulous ! We just wanted it to try that spongy tape and wide decks!
About 5 months later we bought two decks from a canadian youtuber who opened a company ... Thornwood fbs ... The quality isn't that great but at the time we felt like the coolest kids in school!