WORLD'S GREATEST GEAR | DUSTIN CRAVEN
These dudes are better than you: They’re pros, they’re superior—they’re goddamn champions. Their meals are tastier, their girls are fitter, they shred circles around you and while they shit greatness, you want to be them. You’d sell your soul to the devil to live out their lives. But you can’t. They’re untouchable.
Shockingly, the gear they ride is readily available. Like, go-down-the-street-to- your-local-shred-shop available, which is really something considering how everything about their lives is so top-shelf-one-off VIP. You can learn from what these pros ride and the reasons they choose the product they do. Hell, companies pay them millions (read: thousands) for their design ideas and feedback on performance.
Is this some of the world’s greatest gear? You bet your ass, and just because the opinions are of those who are paid to endorse it, it doesn’t mean it’s not true.
DUSTIN CRAVEN
“I think gear comes out of the plastic perfect. When things are new they feel amazing. I’ll set one board up and ride it for everything until it is wrecked. With outerwear, I hate yellow, and will just run the usual shit in the pockets: cell phone, Whistler pass, goggle bag, wallet… and mitts work for me. I think my fingers already have too much space between without fabric entering the equation. What else? I’ve been told that I do some of the worst sticker jobs. I’m like a little kid with stickers I just put them wherever.”
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Board
This board is a little on the stiff side and for riding deep days that’s very helpful. I don’t just use it for backcountry, I find I can get a lot of control out of it in the park and when riding pipe, plus the black graphic is very sexy. I like to have camber between my feet, it might just be a thing from my halfpipe days. You can really carve on some camber. Capita boards come with a recommended stance and they seem to know what they’re doing, then plus 15, negative 15—easy. Basically, if I look down and my nose is bigger than my tail and it’s not set up backwards, I’m stoked.
Bindings
The size large is most comfortable for my over-sized feet. The Contact Pro is stiff but also super lightweight. I find them very responsive but not as aggressive as a pair with full carbon.
Boots
Vans boots are sick! I like that they have a small break-in period. I feel like I can ride them out of the box without worrying about breaking them in. BOA works for sure but sometimes you just can’t beat a set of laces.
Outerwear