Vato Sat & Vato Rat
The Smartr Device Vato Sat takes inspiration from the classic 1980’s Powell Peralta Vato Rat and revamps it with modern concave, an upturned nose, and two different wheelbases for your riding pleasure.
The graphics for the Vato Sat pays homage to the roots of Smartr Device’ first graphic, the original satellite kid.
The Dimensions of the Vato Sat:
Width – 9.75″
Length – 32.5″
Wheelbases – 15″ or 15.75″
The Vato Sat is available through our online store and at Bigpipeline.
The re-issue of the original Vato Rat, exact model displayed above, is now available online from bigpipeline.com
The OG re-issue Vato Rat dimensions:
Width: 10″
Length: 30″
Wheelbase: 16.25″
The rat bones, “vato rat” graphic was born out of Dogtown in Southern California. Dogtown was a poor, rough neighborhood that extended from Southern Santa Monica to Western Los Angeles. The esteemed epicentre for the Santa Monica surf-scene was the cove spot of Pacific Park Pier (P.O.P). At the time, around the streets of Venice, Chicano gang graffiti had emerged to mark territory and display their respective gang members. It was from this Chicano graffiti that inspired Craig Stecyk to create the famous rat bones graphic in 1972. The rat bones image was then used by the Zephyr team to mark their local territory around P.O.P.
(Retrieved from C.R. Stecyk III)
Stacy Peralta was an original member of the Zephyr skate team out of Venice, California and later on would create the skateboard company Powell Peralta alongside George Powell. Craig Stecyk, co-founder of Zephyr Surfboard Productions, quickly started working alongside Stacy as the creative mastermind behind the videos, artwork, and skateboard advertisements of Powell Peralta. In 1984, Stacy asked Stecyk to bring back the rat bones graphic that he had grown up with in his Dogtown, Zephyr days.
(Retrieved from Complex.com)
