Powell Peralta Flight Skateboard Deck Review

JUMP TO: SPECS  |  PROS & CONS  |  WHERE WE TESTED  |  HOW IT PERFORMED  |  SUMMARY

Author: Brent Herman | Updated: Jan 30, 2023
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The Powell Peralta Flight Deck is a US-made skateboard deck that claims to be “stronger, thinner, and lighter” than traditional 7-ply maple decks. What sets this deck apart from others in the industry is that instead of being made from the usual seven plies of maple, it is made of five plies of maple with a couple of added layers of fiberglass. These fiberglass layers are what allow the board to flex and bend as opposed to cracking or snapping.

I must admit that I am wary of what I consider to be skateboard company “gimmicks” – like technology that is supposed to make decks stronger. I have been a skateboarder for around 20 years, and I have seen many “game changing” technologies come and go in the skateboarding world.

Whether or not these revolutionary products simply didn’t work out for the companies that created them, or whether they were simply marketing tactics without substance to begin with, I cannot say. But when I skated this deck for the first time, I believed that this time something may be different.

SPECS

WHERE WE TESTED

I took this board everywhere I would normally skate around Indianapolis, Indiana – from street spots to indoor and outdoor skateparks. I went to parks that were street-oriented, as well as parks with more transition. I even flew with this board out to Denver, Colorado, where I skated at an incredible park with a giant pool and a wide variety of obstacles.

HOW IT PERFORMED

DESIGN & SHAPE: When I first got this board, the first thing that caught my attention was the graphic. I really liked the colors and the art itself. I took it out of the box and started analyzing the board shape and concave. I noticed that the concave was rather mellow, which I prefer. I also noticed that the nose and tail were narrower than the Reals, Krookeds, and Bakers that I usually skate.

It almost looked like an old school short surfboard that is widest in the middle and tapers on the nose and tail. This particular deck was Ben Hatchel’s pro model and in my usual size of 8.5” wide. The deck was a bit thinner than I am used to and I later learned that Flight Deck construction only features 5 plies of maple instead of the traditional 7.

Admittedly, when it comes to skateboarding products, I am a creature of habit. Over the twenty-odd years I’ve been skating I have found the things that I like about my setup, and I usually do not stray too far from what I know – with the exception of a different deck brand every now and then.

With that in mind, I was a bit concerned about how difficult it would be to skate a board with a different shape and construction method. The narrow nose in particular made me concerned that my flip tricks would be mistimed until I got adjusted, but I actually got acclimated to this deck rather quickly.

PERFORMANCE: From the start, I noticed that this board had a remarkable rigidity which seemed to result in an amazingly solid pop when I performed ollies and flip tricks. Most fresh decks have that feeling, but with this deck it seemed more pronounced. It also seemed to me that this board was lighter. The advantage of a lighter deck is that it requires less force to pop it into the air. Although it was different from traditional maple decks, I found it to perform every bit as well if not better.

DURABILITY: This is the area in which the Powell Peralta Flight Deck really shines. I am on the larger side for a skateboarder being 6’ tall (1.82m) and over 200 pounds (90kg), so breaking skateboard decks is a fairly common occurrence for me, especially when filming for a street part or trying high-impact tricks.

I skated this deck for months without so much as a crack in the deck. There were even times that I landed with too much weight on the tail or nose and the board flexed, but never broke like I would expect from traditional maple decks.

The one downside related to this extended life and thinner design is that it developed a pretty severe case of what we call “razor tail”. As you can imagine, this is when the tail gets worn down until it is actually so thin that it is a bit sharp. Besides being a potential hazard, the thinness of the tail can also throw off timing when trying to pop tricks.

VERSATILITY: This deck stood up to every test I threw at it – from street spots to skateparks. I did not try any massive gaps or full-sized halfpipes since neither one of those are within my skateboarding wheelhouse, but from what I experienced I would imagine that this deck would fare well.

Even if the exact deck reviewed here isn’t your preferred shape or size, Powell Peralta offer the Flight Deck in a wide variety of both. I recommend that if you are a beginning skater you seek out and try various shapes and sizes of deck in order to find what works best for you. If you are an experienced skater like myself, I would still recommend giving this innovation a try.

SUMMARY

Unlike many innovative deck technologies that came and went, it would appear that Powell Peralta Flight Decks are the real deal and here to stay.

All in all, I found that the Powell Peralta Flight Deck is a true game changer for my skateboarding. I often have felt limited in tricks that I try, or spots that I skate, because I am worried about snapping a new board. The strength and performance of this deck has made me feel more “free” when I skate – I was willing to try harder tricks on bigger gaps.

The main issue I have with the deck is that it costs nearly twice as much as other decks. However, when you consider the fact that this deck lasted four times longer than many other decks I have had, I consider it to be a worthy investment. This is especially true if you are the type of skater that breaks boards easily or often.

In my experience, I only retired my deck after four months of skating because of the razor tail that it developed, which is bound to happen after that much skating. I was so impressed that I actually replaced it with another Powell Peralta Flight Deck.

DISCLOSURE

Stoked Ride Shop provided me with a free deck for this review, but the views expressed here are all my own. The review also contains affiliate links, which help us keep churning out more content.

MORE INFORMATION

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