Gifts for Skateboarders: What to Get When You're Not Sure

What needs a size, what doesn't, and how to get a ring size without asking

If they've told you exactly what they want, buy that. Skaters are specific, and being handed the right wheels or the right shoes is a good present.

This guide is for the other situation: you're buying for someone who skates, you don't have a list, and you don't want to guess. Everything below is made from old skateboards, so it belongs to skating without interfering with it, and most of it needs no sizes at all.

It works the same whether it's a birthday, Christmas, or a fifth anniversary, which is the wood one.

In this article

• How much do you actually know?
• If you can't ask them anything
• Earrings
• If you can get their ring size
• If they've got stretched ears
• Buying for a wood anniversary
• If you want it made for them
• Still stuck
• Frequently asked questions

How much do you actually know?

That's the only question that matters, and it splits into two answers.

If they've named the thing, get the thing. A skater who has been going on about a particular pair of shoes for a month will be delighted with those shoes. Nobody turns down new shoes.

If you're guessing, that's where gear stops being a safe bet. A setup is a stack of small decisions, and swapping one part changes how the board feels. Wheels a bit harder than they like, a deck half an inch wider, and your present becomes something they have to get used to instead of something they enjoy.

So when you're not sure: go for something worn rather than ridden. It can't clash with anything they already own.

If you can't ask them anything

You want it to stay a surprise, which rules out asking for measurements. Two things get round that.

The bearing pendant. It's a real skateboard bearing worn on a cord. Another skater recognises it across a room, which is most of the point, and it's the piece people here pick more than any other. The cord adjusts, so there's no length to get right.

No size needed

Recycled Skateboard Bearing Pendant Necklace

A real skateboard bearing on a cord that adjusts short or long.

£30 See the pendant

If a bearing is too on the nose, there are other pendants that read as jewellery first: carved shapes, hearts, geometric pieces and a choker.

A bead bracelet. Elastic and no clasp, so wrist size stops mattering. It's the loudest thing I make, and there's no metal in it at all, which is worth knowing if they've reacted to jewellery before.

No size needed

Recycled Skateboard Wood Bead Bracelet

Striped beads on elastic cord. No clasp, and no metal anywhere in it.

£29 See the bracelet

Earrings

The easiest category to buy from, because nothing needs measuring and there's enough range to match almost anyone's taste.

If they wear small and plain, there are studs and short drops. If they wear big, there are hoops, spirals and long carved pairs. Colour runs from bright stripes to plain maple with nothing in it at all, so you can go quiet or loud depending on what you've seen them wear.

No size needed

Unusual Wooden Earrings

Studs, hoops, spirals, bars and long drops, bright stripes through to plain maple.

£10 to £25 See the collection

If you can get their ring size

Then a ring is the stronger present, because it gets worn every day rather than on occasions.

You don't have to ask them outright. If they already wear a ring, borrow it while they're not looking and measure the inside across the middle, or take it into any jeweller and they'll size it in seconds. That's usually easier than getting the answer out of someone without giving the game away.

On colour, the spread is wider than people expect. Some rings are loud, some are nearly plain, and those two suit very different people, so go through the rings collection rather than taking the first one you see.

Size needed

Wooden Rings from Recycled Skateboards

Made in their UK size after you order, in a standard or slim band.

£49 Choose a ring

If they've got stretched ears

Easiest win in the guide, because wooden plugs are hard to find in anything but small sizes and they'll know that already.

You do need the gauge, and there's no way round that one, so ask outright even if it gives the game away. The wrong gauge can't be worn at all. If they only ever say it in inches or American sizes, the gauge conversion chart will translate.

Worth saying this isn't only a skater gift. Plenty of people buying these have never been on a board.

Gauge needed

Custom Ear Plugs and Tunnels

Made to their gauge, as plugs or tunnels, in the colours you pick. Finished with a skin-friendly natural oil and nothing harsh.

£15 to £45 Order their gauge

Buying for a wood anniversary

The fifth wedding anniversary is traditionally the wood one, and that catches a lot of people out. The usual suggestions are a chopping board or a photo frame, which are fine but sit in a kitchen rather than on a person.

A ring or a pendant answers the tradition and gets worn, which is a better result for most couples. If they skated when you met, it also says something a chopping board can't.

Same advice as above applies: get the ring size settled first, or pick a pendant and skip the problem.

If you want it made for them

Most people don't realise this is an option, and it's usually the one that goes down best.

Rings, plugs, tunnels and hair forks can all be made to order. You choose the colours, and for rings the band width too. If something on the site is sold out, or you want a colour combination that isn't listed, just ask me, because I normally have more colours in than the site is showing.

Still stuck

Get a gift card and let them choose. It arrives by email, so it still works on Christmas Eve or the night before a birthday.

Frequently asked questions