The BBS Alternative
That Is Open,
and Builds More.

The Best BBS Manufacturing Alternative for Brands BBS Won’t Take

BBS Manufacturing has been one of skateboarding’s most respected deck factories since Grant Burns founded it in San Marcos, California in 1996. The brands it produces for read like a who’s who of core skateboarding: Baker, Deathwish, Anti-Hero, Alien Workshop, Real. That reputation is earned. The hard rock maple from Wisconsin mills, the specially formulated glue, the fully integrated production process: BBS is excellent at what it does. The problem is not the quality. The problem is the door.

BBS Manufacturing’s FAQ page has stated for years: “We are not currently taking on any new customers.” For brands that discovered BBS through the boards they grew up riding, that sentence lands hard. There is no application process, no waitlist, no route in for a new brand regardless of their potential or order size. BBS has made a deliberate choice to serve its existing network at depth rather than expand. For brands already inside that network, this is excellent. For every other brand in skateboarding, BBS is simply unavailable.

BBS vs 2HEX: What the Comparison Actually Shows

In a direct BBS vs 2HEX comparison, the access question overshadows everything else. BBS is unavailable to new brands. That is the beginning and end of the decision for most people reading this page. But the product range comparison is worth understanding, because even if BBS were accessible, 2HEX offers a meaningfully broader proposition.

BBS produces premium skateboard decks. That is their expertise and their singular focus. They do not produce trucks, wheels, helmets, hardware or packaging. A brand building a complete product line cannot use BBS as their sole supplier even in the hypothetical world where BBS accepted them. They would still need separate suppliers for every other component. 2HEX produces all of it from raw material at a Guangzhou factory network managed by a German team in Ulm. One partner. The full product line.

BBS Manufacturing Review: Why Their Reputation Is Deserved, and Why It Does Not Help You

A BBS Manufacturing review from the skateboarding community is consistently positive. The boards from San Marcos are considered among the best in the industry. The pop, the durability, the consistent geometry: BBS has earned its position by making excellent products for brands that care about quality. For the brands inside their network, there is little reason to look elsewhere on pure deck quality.

The BBS review that matters for this page is different. It is the experience of a brand founder who contacted BBS, was told they are not accepting new customers, and is now looking for what comes next. That experience is extremely common. The right response is to find the manufacturer that is genuinely hungry to work with you, produces a wider range, and can still deliver quality. That is what 2HEX exists to be.

• BBS: best deck quality in core skateboarding, decks only, closed to new customers, US-based
• PSStix: decks, US-based, open to new customers, collect from San Diego
• HLC: decks plus catalogue trucks and wheels, Europe-based, PE-owned since 2022
• 2HEX: full component range, open to new brands, German management, China pricing, ships to 20+ countries
• If BBS is unavailable and you need more than decks: the conversation is with 2HEX
• If BBS is unavailable and you need decks only in the USA: PSStix is the next option to consider