Skip to main content

Back Forty Woods Ping Pong Paddles for Shinola

ping pong paddles
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Lifestyle brand Shinola has expanded greatly over the few short years since its inception.

From its beginnings producing American-built watches and wallets to its now well-rounded line of luxurious leather bags, exceptionally engineered bicycles, pet gear, and apparel, it seems like Shinola is on its way to conquering every consumer category, including sports gear. Well, table sports, that is.

Recommended Videos

Never afraid of a collaboration, Shinola has now announced its latest with Oregon wood working company, Back Forty Woods, to bring you what may be the world’s most luxurious ping pong paddle.

ping pong paddles
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Back Forty Woods, founded by three brothers (Jai, Tanner, and Caleb Ralls) with deep Oregon roots, is a unique Pacific Northwest wood shop and design studio focused on using locally sourced wood and timber for furniture, cutting boards, wall art, and of course, ping pong paddles.

“Our family has been in the Oregon timber industry and tree products industry for a long time,” says Jai Ralls in an interview with Shinola. “Our great grandfather was a horse logger and had a small sawmill outside of Portland in the ’30s, our grandfather built and owned a Veneer Mill in Eugene, Oregon; and my dad started a small Oregon family tree farm.”

ping pong paddles
Image used with permission by copyright holder

With such a close connection to the land, it’s no surprise that Back Forty Woods prides itself on its use of new and reclaimed local timber and hand-made construction wherever possible. When it comes to their collab with Shinola, the fiddleback figure handles of the paddles are made of Oregon Big leaf Maple that is sourced near their Eugene headquarters. With more heft than your average pong paddle and a slight taper to the design, the Shinola + Back Forty Woods paddle feels solid in the hand–a true power player’s paddle.

And with Shinola’s amazingly soft American black and bourbon leather (see below) that, according to Shinola, has a “higher oil content to add more grip and spin to the ball,” the boost in confidence you feel from owning a rich, warm paddle, just might be the edge you needed to put a little spin on your game-winning serve.

If you’re the type of guy who considers himself a gentleman of leisure (even if you have a regular nine to five), these paddles are hard to pass up. At $150 each, the price may seem steep, but as the old adage goes “you get what you pay for,” and with Shinola and Back Forty Woods, you get hand-made sports equipment that is as at home as an art piece as it is on the table.

back forty woods x shinola ping pong paddles
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Chase McPeak
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chase McPeak is the former Lifestyle Editor. Chase regularly appeared on Beards, Booze, and Bacon: The Manual Podcast where…
Every Mission: Impossible movie, ranked
The series was adapted from a long-running television series from the 1960s
Paula Patton and Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

The Mission: Impossible franchise is one of the most reliable franchises in modern Hollywood. Spanning more than 20 years and still ongoing, the franchise has produced a number of unbelievable action movies, and, because it's a Paramount franchise, they also represent the most rewatchable movies on Paramount Plus.

Starring Tom Cruise as action hero Ethan Hunt, these movies are always ostensibly about Hunt as an agent of the Impossible Mission Force assigned to save various world calamities. Really, though, this franchise has just become an excuse to watch Cruise do some of the most insane things you've ever seen. The stunts are incredible, but just as remarkable is how consistently great these movies have been. We're ranking the entire franchise from worst to best, but remember that most of these movies are pretty good.

Read more
Discover the 8 best classic movies you can stream on Tubi
These free classics give you an alternative to what's on Netflix

Movie fans are used to searching Netflix, Hulu, Max, and Prime Video for their favorite films. While these services have the most options, the increase in streaming prices has limited the number of options people can afford to choose from. Bundles make it better, but watching movies for free is even better. Look no further than Tubi. This online site has a ton of great, overlooked films in a variety of genres to provide entertainment to the masses without having to pay a subscription.

As older movies get harder to find, Tubi has decided to make it a priority to collect a large library of classics for free. Whether you want to watch a literary adaptation or a comedy flick, all of the pre-21st-century legends are at your fingertips. These are the best classic movies to stream on Tubi.

Read more
Binge-worthy alternatives: 7 shows like The Diplomat on Netflix
Old political classics and new thrillers to check out
Keri Russell in The Diplomat.

Netflix has found another major hit with its original series The Diplomat. Starring Keri Russell as the titular political ambassador and Rufus Sewell as her husband, the show mixes personal issues and international distress. Russell's character struggles to juggle her duties for the United States overseas while being distracted by her marriage, and the show captures the way these two things intersect in most people's lives.

The Diplomat isn't going to teach you a whole lot about politics or international relations, but it does fall in line with a long legacy of entertaining and thrilling series centered on government and the people who run it. With an incredibly binge-worthy vibe, The Diplomat will probably be over before you know it and you're looking for similar shows to scratch that itch. We have you covered with the best shows like The Diplomat.

Read more