If you have your own setup in mind or have the necessary trucks, bushings, bearings and wheels already at hand then acquiring the Loaded dervish deck only will not only save you some money but will allow you the freedom and flexibility to try out different set ups which can suit the dervish to your riding style.

The Loaded Dervish is a longboard by Loaded Carving Systems, a USA company. The Loaded Dervish deck is made of a tri-axle fiberglass and epoxy sandwich with a vertically laminated bamboo core. This makes the dervish a board which is both flexible and durable. This flexibility is what contributes to its renowned smooth, agile, lively, responsive and stable ride. If you buy a Loaded Dervish deck only, without anything else, you can customize it later.

The Loaded Dervish deck is shaped in a convex camber which is flexible enough to be compressed when a rider applies his or her weight on it. The board springs back and returns the force that was applied on it when a rider straightens his or her legs and releases some of his or her weight from the board. This results in a livelier ride and little to no loss in forward momentum when carving or going in and out of turns.

The Loaded Dervish deck is available in two degrees of stiffness or flex to accommodate the different types of riders and their riding styles. Flex 1 boards are the stiffer of the two. Meant for people weighing up to two hundred thirty pounds, the Flex 1 board is also aimed at people who have a more aggressive style of riding. Flex 2 boards are meant for people who weigh up to one hundred eighty pounds or prefer a smoother more flowing type of ride.

The Dervish deck has cutouts meant to accommodate most drop through reverse kingpin trucks. This makes the deck ride closer to the ground, lowering its center of gravity. This results not only in added stability but in a board that is easy to push and to slide. With a board running low, there is always the risk of the deck biting onto the wheel when taking sharp turns. The dervish eliminates this possibility by shaping it so that the ends of the board are narrower than the middle of the deck.

As many riders will attest, the Dervish longboard deck is an exciting and fun to ride on. Experiment with different setups on your trucks, wheels, bearings or bushings to suit your riding style. This can all be customized for your Dervish Longboard deck.

While the deck of a Loaded dervish is already pretty enough to look at, there is nothing that should stop us from getting creative.  Using griptape is a great way to add our own personal design to our Loaded dervish.  Griptape, besides being easily cut and shaped, will also provide us with the added traction on the parts of the deck where we need it most.  Here are some tips on how to apply grip tape on your dervish.

The first step of course is to come up with the design idea that you want to put on your deck.  When coming up with a design, try to take into account the places where you will need the extra traction on your board the most.  For instance, if you do a lot of dancing on your board, it might be a good idea to put little to no grip tape on the middle part of the board to allow your feet to pivot and move more easily on it.

Once you have the design planned, you will have to sand your Loaded dervish in the places you plan to put tape on.  Griptape will not adhere well to the spray on grip that the decks come with.  When you are done sanding make sure that you blow off the dust and wipe the board clean.  The tape will not adhere firmly to the board if there is some debris left over from the sanding between it and the board.

Apply the grip tape according to your design.  There are many ways to do this.  Some people use a computer to generate templates which they use to trace over the griptape.  When the shape has been traced, they cut it to shape and then apply it on their decks.  If you have a steady hand and a sharp eye, you can always choose to do it freehand.
One tip is to use clear nail polish to coat the edges between thin strips of griptape and the board after you have applied the tape on it.  Thin strips have the tendency to easily peel off with heavy use.  The clear nail polish will seal the edges and keep this from happening.

Finally, Loaded recommends not to apply a full sheet of grip tape on your Loaded dervish.  This will affect its flexibility because it deadens the feel of the board.  To keep your ride lively, they recommend not putting single pieces of griptape over ten inches long.