Old Guys RIP Too: How long have you been in business?
Chris Terins from S1: We started S-One Insoles twenty years ago in 1995. They were super absorbent replacement insoles for skate shoes. We had a rad skate team … Peter Smolik, Dan Drehobl, Lavar McBride, Quim Cardona, Paulo Diaz … And then in the late 90s, Osiris put them in all of their shoes for a few years. And Tony Mag from Osiris invited me to go over to Korea (all the skates shoes were made in Korea in the 90s in the old Nike factories – Nike had left Korea to go to China and Vietnam), and I had a few days solo in Korea and I was just cruising around and I found a helmet factory ! I grew up skating vert, and always wore a helmet skating vert, so I was instantly stoked. I think I was 26 at the time.
Old Guys RIP Too: Why did you start making helmets?
CT from S1: I always wore a helmet skating vert, so when I found the helmet factory I was like “yeah – this is rad.” There was only Protec and TSG at the time. So we started making helmets and calling skate shops. We started making helmets in 1999 or 2000. We were advertising in the skate mags and doing rad collab helmets with pros, so that all helped launch things fast. We ran a lot of ads with Slap, Big Brother, Transworld and Skateboarder magazine.
Old Guys RIP Too: Who started S1?
CT from S1: My partner Dan and I met in college at Pepperdine University in Malibu. I grew up in NJ and was raised on backyard vert ramps, and he was from Ventura CA and grew up bombing hills, playing in punk bands and skating the streets. We started S-One right after college in our early twenties, and it has always been very DIY.
Old Guys RIP Too: What makes you different?
CT from S1: In 2010 we noticed that a lot of vert and bowl skaters were getting knocked or worse in traditional soft-foam skate helmets, so we set out to make a better helmet. We made the S1 Lifer Helmet. The Lifer fits deep on your head like a soft-foam helmet, but it’s 5x more protective. The S1 Lifer Helmet really separated us from our competition. Guys that have been skating vert all of their lives truly understand the importance of a quality helmet… Lifers.
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