I'm currently skating on Hockey skates, and I'm looking at buying some figure skates. Now, I'm not playing hockey, but the hockey skates are a lot of fun, and I do love the fast footwork and fast skating side of things, but I'm also doing figure skating lessons, and enjoy the figure skating maneuvers - not for competition, just for fun, exercise and the challenge of learning something new. I'm not completely switching, but will probably end up skating with both, like having a road bike for fast commuting, and a mountain bike for weekend back-trails. I like freestyle skating moves too, which are more suited to hockey boots. Anyway, I digress...
I am currently skating twice a week, at Australian Intermediate 2 level, which means two-foot spins (correct entry and exit), tap-toe jumps and bunny hops. I've used rental skates for a couple of lessons to use the toe picks, but I plan to continue with the figure skating lessons, so I'm looking at buying my own figure skates. (Funny story - I performed a tap-toe jump in the rentals two weeks ago, and when I tapped the boots together, one of the boot straps got caught in a slot on the other boot. I landed with both feet stuck together.)
As an adult at this level, I've read that I should be going for Jackson Freestyles. Jackson seems to be all we get in Australia - all the skate shops stock them, and most places ONLY stock Jackson. I'm a little concerned about fitting, and I may have to fly interstate to try some on. I have tapered toes, wide feet and high arches, which seems to be a weird combination that doesn't match any brand, and as I said, in Aus, it's Jackson or nothing anyway.
Anyone had experience with purely measurement-based fittings and mail-order?
On the other side of things, anyone had experience with alternating between hockey/figure boots, and learning both at the same time? I haven't had major problems with tripping over the toe pick on the rental boots, as I'm pretty conscious of it when switching, although the Freestlye boots have a much more aggressive toe pick.