Actually get psyched to ride the pine

While still fun, it can be tough to keep on skateboarding into adulthood, what with social norms ensuring those who do end up indefinitely gleaming their own cube. Making boards practically mature: Minneapolis's own Northern Pine Longboards.

Run by two construction workers just now moving into their own shop to make a real go of it, NPL's a line of local-lumber longboards which're handmade with a "borderline obsessive" attention to detail (about eight hours/deck) and given "more TLC" than "any machine can", meaning dudes've clearly never seen the lips on that weird singing robot from Japan. Three of the raddest:

Haiku The current evolution of their first-ever board, the teardrop-shaped hybrid Haiku's "perfect for commuting or downhill", and's described as "wooden poetry", despite angry lawsuit threats from Robert Frost's estate.

St. Croix Named for Grandpa's tasteful-yet-bold sweaters where they get most of their plywood, this 3ft short/longboard mash-up bridges the gap between cruising and tricking out.

Driftwood Among their most technical, this guy measures nearly 4ft and rocks a cutaway pintail, meaning it's great for "deep carving and high speed", or what Keanu Reeves calls "Thanksgiving".

They've also just dropped the twin-tipped Sling Blade, and a 9-ply downhill race deck (decorated with a long-rooted tree on the underside) which they want your help to name, to the extent that they'll be giving one away free to the creative Thrillist reader who thinks up the strongest handle -- also something lonely adult skaters already possess.