Sporting gear can be expensive, and for many, it may not be as accessible as it should be. Being able to pursue what you love, and being able to afford to do so, is why I started 3 Rad Kids. Being able to get outside and enjoy nature is one of the best parts about being alive and is of utmost importance to our physical and mental well-being.
I started my life in rural Virginia in 1969. I spent my time bombing hills on narrow skateboards with clay wheels, riding BMX dirt bikes cobbled together from junk parts through the woods in the summers, and sledding and ice skating in the winters. Most of my sporting gear was toggled together from old parts. We were poor and lived near the Chesapeake Bay, so most of our food was from the bay, and the rest was grown in local gardens, canned, and traded amongst neighbors. It was fun because I didn’t know anything different.
While using mismatched or borrowed gear can work for a little while, there is something to be said for having your own gear that is of high quality and ready when you need it. It’s a fact that you can’t advance in your sport if you are using gear that is broken, not the right size, or inferior.
Besides the fact that having proper gear can help you advance in your sport, being outside doing something that you love to do has so many amazing benefits, and we are happy that we can help equip you to get outside! Being outside in nature can help improve blood pressure, boost mental health, and ease a multitude of problems such as anxiety, depression, stress, and much more! This is especially important during this strange time that we are living in, where a good amount of us have been spending more time inside, and are dealing with added stress due to Covid-19.
As I’ve gotten older and my financial situation has improved I have been able to travel from southern Chile to Alaska, and a bunch of places in between, surfing and snowboarding. Now I’m married and have three kids. All three of my children have the same intensity and passion I do, hence where the ‘rad’ in Three Rad Kids comes from. They are fortunate. They have a skate ramp in the backyard, we live 5 blocks from the ocean, and we have a condo at the base of Mount Hood in the Cascade Mountains. But I remember what it was like not being able to have quality gear and having that impede my progress and fun.
At 3 Rad Kids, we believe that you should have the proper gear to maximize your sporting goals, and get outside in the sunshine with all its amazing health benefits, even when you can’t pay full price upfront! We are able to do this by offering an easy lease-to-own program that allows you to order adventure sports equipment at an affordable price with weekly payments instead of an upfront full payment. We know that money is tight for some, and we want to help alleviate some of the stress from large sporting goods purchases like a new surfboard, skateboard, or mountain bike. You should be able to enjoy life right now, not next year!
Ultimately, 3 Rad Kids was started to provide freedom—freedom from financial limitations, freedom from the limitations of substandard gear, and freedom from the worry of debt. Our goal is to allow simplicity in acquiring everything you need and nothing you don’t!
Do you have dreams of surfing, skateboarding, mountain biking, etc. and don’t have the means for the gear that you’ve always wanted? Look no further! Take a look at our affordable lease-to-own options, and get outside!
-Tommy A.
President and Founder
