Soul "Monster Plates" - this is not right!!

[rjnakata]

Soul "Monster Plates" - this is not right!!

I saw this and although nowhere near the same utility as Apex Geckos the attempt was made and the look has been stolen!  This is a Canadian company!  are they related?

https://www.soulwaterman.com/collections/soulstick/products/monsterplates

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by rjnakata
Canadian company!?

[bigwavedave]

Website states they're meant to keep the boards they're selling from breaking. Definitely copied the Apex design. Doubt plastic (acrylic?) will be as durable or effective as Apex's carbon fiber product.

Didn't this guy post pics of his boards last year in the "board porn" section with actual pornographic topsheets? 

[SunSurfer]

The "guy" is Corran Addison, ex designer/maker of Riot snowboards. Look him up on Wikipedia to see his achievements. Posts here occasionally.

[bigwavedave]

1 hour ago, SunSurfer said:

The "guy" is Corran Addison, ex designer/maker of Riot snowboards. Look him up on Wikipedia to see his achievements. Posts here occasionally.

Yup, that's the guy

[Jack M]

Perhaps @Corran can weigh in.

[Corran]

Just saw this.

No, they are not a copy of the Gecko plates. Plates like this have been around since the 1990's. Some have webbed "fingers", some are fuller in design. It's all be done ad nausium. The Gecko plates are fantastic, but they are not original in either concept nor execution.

The Gecko plates are a full carbon, high end, ultra performing plate and they work very very well. And they cost a lot too. I was going for something totally different - a very cost effective way of bringing say, 80% of the effect for 30% of the cost in vibration absorption, combined with a riser plate (boot overhang clearance), allow a more natural flex of the board than binding directly on the board. The shape came about simply by creating a basic outside dimension, and then using my CAD software literally creating the webbed fingers in the simplest way possible with the program. I could have gotten more complex, or fancy, with the fingers, but this was simply the quickest and simplest way to achieve the approximate proportions I wanted. The fact that the fingers are there at all immediately creates some visual similarity with the Gecko's, but I'd never even seen a pair of them prior to someone else brining this up (I had seen a Japanese design thats similar and pre-dates the Gecko, and that one certainly influenced my end design - in fact the maker of the Japanese plates has since sent me a set - very well built).

If you're riding hard boots, or hard charing, my plates are not what you want. If you're riding soft boots, surfy style, and want to be raised and have some damping, then they work.

[rjnakata]

12 minutes ago, Corran said:

Just saw this.

No, they are not a copy of the Gecko plates. Plates like this have been around since the 1990's. Some have webbed "fingers", some are fuller in design. It's all be done ad nausium. The Gecko plates are fantastic, but they are not original in either concept nor execution.

The Gecko plates are a full carbon, high end, ultra performing plate and they work very very well. And they cost a lot too. I was going for something totally different - a very cost effective way of bringing say, 80% of the effect for 30% of the cost in vibration absorption, combined with a riser plate (boot overhang clearance), allow a more natural flex of the board than binding directly on the board. The shape came about simply by creating a basic outside dimension, and then using my CAD software literally creating the webbed fingers in the simplest way possible with the program. I could have gotten more complex, or fancy, with the fingers, but this was simply the quickest and simplest way to achieve the approximate proportions I wanted. The fact that the fingers are there at all immediately creates some visual similarity with the Gecko's, but I'd never even seen a pair of them prior to someone else brining this up (I had seen a Japanese design thats similar and pre-dates the Gecko, and that one certainly influenced my end design - in fact the maker of the Japanese plates has since sent me a set - very well built).

If you're riding hard boots, or hard charing, my plates are not what you want. If you're riding soft boots, surfy style, and want to be raised and have some damping, then they work.

Fair enough and thank you for the explanation.  That you had not even seen the Geckos prior to designing is important.  That they provide a surfy feel could be a real positive.   I do apologize for the accusational tone of the original post. I may have gotten a little ahead of myself there. 

[Corran]

1 hour ago, rjnakata said:

Fair enough and thank you for the explanation.  That you had not even seen the Geckos prior to designing is important.  That they provide a surfy feel could be a real positive.   I do apologize for the accusational tone of the original post. I may have gotten a little ahead of myself there. 

All good. I've been ripped off several times over the years so I can understand the sentiment. I've since seen some Gecko plates and they are REALLY SWEET. Not cheap, but probably worth every penny

[lowrider]

On 2/3/2020 at 5:31 PM, Corran said:

 Gecko plates and they are REALLY SWEET. Not cheap, but probably worth every penny

My opinion is that the jury is still out on the worth every penny .When you spend that much money on something are you going to say I don't notice much difference but I've never tried a real isolation plate either ? Any time you change the footprint of bindings you will get different results. By all means try it if you like  it  and it works for you great !