You may have seen our new vault on Instagram. So what is a vault? A vault is any apparatus that a practitioner of parkour would use to practice moving past an obstacle. They are typically built in a likeness to gymnastics vaults. Confusingly a vault is also something that we do. We 'vault over a table' means that we pass over a table using any variety of vaulting techniques. And yes you can vault a vault on the way to a vault (bank) under a vaulted ceiling. This particular vault differs from Revolution Parkour's typical vaults in that it has a varnish on it instead of coats of paint. The varnish will protect the wood like paint but still allow us to see the beautiful grain of the wood and protect any design that we put on it...in this case Yoda. To show off the grain even more we decided to stain Yoda, which is a long, tedious and worthwhile process. Unfortunately though, we wanted to use a marine varnish so that we could take the vault outside if need be and this type of varnish creates a darker coating to protect against UV light. This is why in the 'before varnish' and 'finished' pictures it looks drastically different.

One pro is the protection against the elements but an even more important aspect is a different type of grip. The varnish offers great grip for shoes and we wanted our second tallest vault to be something that the younger students would be comfortable practicing their moonsteps and tacs on.

Like a few of our other vaults this vault has a similar frame which allows for a heavy base so our students don't have to worry about it moving on them. This is why all of our vaults have a wheel system (except for the Vader Vault...which is due for a paint job don't you think?)

The con's of this vault are that it is a fixed height. It cannot be broken down like our Antique Vault. Currently, it is slippery when wet and amazingly grippy when dry. Before taking it outside we will have to give it an extra coat with some sand, walnuts or other grip enhancing material. Ultimately, we created a vault that we love and that we think really stands out.

Tell us what you think we should do for our next vault!

By Matt Antis, for RVPK updated 1:00 PM PST, Friday May 31, 2013