What is Dunkees?Before we get to the review, let’s first take a look at the company Dunkees, and find out some info about them. Dunkees was started by Daniel Militonian in early 2009. Combining his unique art and the love for skateboarding, he wanted to create a skateboard that would set every rider apart from the rest. All Dunkees products are made in the US and are hand picked by Daniel to make sure they meet his standards. Daniel is also a member on SB-C, and his username is danielm .
Here’s a link to the official Dunkees website – http://www.dunkees.com/
Now that we know some general background info on Dunkees, let’s get this review started!
Price
Each Dunkees board will cost you $42.99, plus shipping charges.
Where can I buy a Dunkees deck?
Dunkees official site! Here’s a direct to link to their decks!
http://www.dunkees.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_list&c=3
First Thoughts/Impressions
Here is a short video of my first thoughts of the board when receiving it in the mail. In the video, I talk about overall shape, and stiffness. The two things I look at first when choosing a board. 
Shape
The shape made me a little skeptical at first. Once stepping on the board, and getting a feel for the overall shape, I wasn’t too fond of it. I felt the concave was a little mellow for my liking, and thought it’d be a little difficult to get used too once I started skating it. That was not the case though. After the first session, I quickly adapted to the shape of the board, and was enjoying the time I spent skating it.
With most decks, it can be difficult to get used to a newer shape. I was pleased with the fact I could quickly adjust to the board’s shape. It’s not something I can say about many companies when first trying the shapes they have to offer.
Concave
Concave ties into shape in my opinion. As I had previously stated with the shape, I didn’t like it too much at first, but quickly got used to it within a few hours of skating it for the first time. The nose concave was just like almost any other shape you’d expect from other companies. Bigger than the tail, and just a tiny bit wider too. I liked it. Nothing too out of the ordinary, and nothing too technical. The tail’s concave I liked the most. It was a little too mellow for me at first, but quickly found it to be easy to pop, and find foot placements for tricks conveniently. Smaller than the nose, but nothing out of the box.
Overall, I would say the concave is about the standard once getting used to it. A little too mellow at first for me, but very enjoyable once getting used to it. The thing I liked the most was I could get used to so quickly! A definite positive when comparing Dunkees concave to other companies.
Durability
This is the downside I found when skating this deck. I had 4 sessions with the deck before it broke. I will give you a little “skate log” of the time I spent skating each session, and what tricks I mostly did during the session.
Skate Log
1st session on 2/27/2010:
Time skated during session: 1 hour, and 13 minutes.
Tricks done during session: Mostly flatground to get used to the board, and a few box tricks as well.
2nd session on 3/2/2010:
Time skated during session: 47 minutes.
Tricks done during session: A mix of flatground, and box skating once again.
3rd session on 3/5/2010:
Time skated during session: 1 hour, 39 minutes.
Tricks done during session: Mostly flat, as well as quite a bit of quarter pipe skating.
4th session on 3/6/2010:
Time skated during session: 2 hours, 24 minutes.
Tricks done during session: Flat ground, box, quarter pipe, bank, and hip skating.
Total time spent skating deck:
6 hours, and 3 minutes.
Now to talk about durability. For the amount of time I spent skating, the deck held up fine. I didn’t see a single pressure crack after any of the sessions. Although the board did break near the trucks, which would make you assume it was from pressure cracks, that wasn’t the case. I broke the board on a flatground double flip. After thinking about it, I did somewhat stomp when landing on the board, causing it to snap. Not landing bolts contributed too. My front foot was towards the center of the board, while my back foot was around the center of the tail. I can’t honestly say I would recommend this board to someone looking for durability, but it was mostly my fault. There is a slight possibiltiy there was a manufacture defect with the board, but very doubtful. Whatever the case may be for the breakge to occur, during the life span of the deck, I was pleased with the way it was holding up. With no pressure cracks in sight or anything, it was good to see it holding up well while it did. Also, the focused break in the middle of the board was not from me. One of my friends was being a jerk, and decided to focus the board since the tail had already been snapped off.
Overall, it’s not worth one faulty occurrence of breakage to say that will happen to the one you get. I’m sure the other members who were given the chance to skate these had better luck with durability than I did. So give these a try for sure, even if you’re unsure about durability just from my experience with them.
Pop
Some don’t believe in such a thing, but for those who do (including me), I’ll tell you what I thought of it. From the very first session skating it, it had great pop. Not as much as I would hope for, but enough for anyone needing a crisp pop. Of course it lessens naturally from the plies being scraped against the ground, but it didn’t seem to lose its pop as much as other decks did that I have tried. In my opinion, Dunkees don’t have spring loaded pop as some people would want, but it’s not dead either. The thing I’m impressed with the most is when a boards pop stays poppy the whole time you skate it. It’s not something I can say for other boards, but for Dunkees I can.
Overall
Well, there you have it. Dunkees has definitely made a name for itself since starting last year, and I’m sure will they continue to grow as a company. Their boards are everything you could want in a board, except for durability in my case. That’s not a reason not to give them a shot though. I’d recommend Dunkees to someone looking for a deck with a nice shape/concave that’s somewhat mellow, but still able to ride comfortably, and a board that consistently keeps its pop. Maybe not the most poppy, but they hold their own nicely. So overall, if you want a deck with a comfortable feeling shape, an in between steep and mellow concave, give Dunkees a try!
Footage of me skating the board
I didn’t get much of me skating the board, but I did get one decent clip. Skip to 1:05 to see me doing a double kickflip rock to fakie. I had never done this trick before on anything, so this was kind of neat getting a new trick while skating Dunkees. While trying the trick, the board flipped just like any other deck. Nothing crazy, but nothing where you had to kick extra hard just to get the same flip you would with other decks. In short, I landed this trick within 10 minutes without any unordinary occurences.
Appreciation[/B]
I would just like to give a HUGE thanks to danielm, Dunkees, and SB-C for letting me have the special oppurtunity to try Dunkees boards. I have never won a free board, so I was very happy when hearing I got chosen to test the boards. Thanks again danielm, and I wish you luck with Dunkees success!
