How to safely place skates inside rolling suitcase?

[bayroan]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am scared that my skates will get knocked about and scratch each other up while I'm rolling the suitcase. I'm trying to make a transition to a wheeled case from my casual skate bag because of shoulder pains, and want to save some money and just use my old carry on suitcase, and found that a lot of people seem to do it. But I can't figure out how to do it safely for the skates. Stuff it with a bunch of fabric? Place them facing up, down, sideways, facing toward or away from each other, cross crossed, or something else? Help.

[AgnesNitt]

You should have soakers on the skates, or if you're worried, put blade guards on.
Then, never clean out your skate bag. Leave it filled with the detritus of failed attempts to get your boots to fit (various cut up insoles), extra gloves, a pair of scissors, kneepads,foam , pieces of leather, callus doughnuts, lambs wool,  toothbrush and toothpaste for dance lessons, extra stockings, gel ankle tubes, a pair of laces, 4 blade rags with holes in them, one blade guard that doesn't match the other two, pain pills loose in the bottom of the suitcase,  a screwdriver to tighten your blade screws, and  a watch that the battery's died in and an ankle wrap, plus a t-shirt with blood on it from when you jabbed a toepick into the back of you calf when you fell on a Jenkins spiral, and an extra pair of panties that you have no idea how they got in there.

At that point, trust me, those skates ain't going anywhere.

[MCsAngel2]

You should have soakers on the skates, or if you're worried, put blade guards on.
Then, never clean out your skate bag. Leave it filled with the detritus of failed attempts to get your boots to fit (various cut up insoles), extra gloves, a pair of scissors, kneepads,foam , pieces of leather, callus doughnuts, lambs wool,  toothbrush and toothpaste for dance lessons, extra stockings, gel ankle tubes, a pair of laces, 4 blade rags with holes in them, one blade guard that doesn't match the other two, pain pills loose in the bottom of the suitcase,  a screwdriver to tighten your blade screws, and  a watch that the battery's died in and an ankle wrap, plus a t-shirt with blood on it from when you jabbed a toepick into the back of you calf when you fell on a Jenkins spiral, and an extra pair of panties that you have no idea how they got in there.

At that point, trust me, those skates ain't going anywhere.

::suspicious:: sounds awfully similar to my bag....

[bayroan]

Oh my. Hahahaha thank you!

[tstop4me]

You should have soakers on the skates, or if you're worried, put blade guards on.

If you have plain carbon steel blades, I'd say storing with blade guards on instead of soakers on is a net negative.  The blade guards will provide more mechanical protection under extreme conditions, but they are more likely to cause rust on the edges should you inadvertently leave the skates in the suitcase for an extended period.  Soakers will typically provide enough mechanical protection as long as they are in good condition; i.e., fit snugly and are not worn out (no significant tears or holes or threadbare sections).  Perhaps they might not be sufficient if you were to inadvertently store the skates with (covered) blade edge against (covered) blade edge and subject them to a really hard jolt.  But I think forgetting to take the skates out of the suitcase promptly is the more likely scenario.

[Query]

I'm so sorry about your shoulder!

I think putting skates inside any suitcase would be bad because of rust - unless you can find one that has really good ventilation.

If you are extremely careful about drying off your blades, and you oil or grease the blades before putting them in the suitcase, that doesn't apply. But that takes time.

Perhaps a DIY'er could suggest a way to create a rolling suitcase with great ventilation? (Use firearms??)

Or you could find a way to hang your existing skate bag from a luggage cart or hand-truck...

Here is someone who figured out a way to add wheels to a duffel bag...

And Someone else added casters to a backpack

Could you do the same for a skate bag? (You might want to add a long enough strap so you don't have to bend over...)

If you have enough money, there are "mesh roller bags" that you can buy. Somewhat popular for watersports. Make sure "mesh" means they can breath, rather than a mesh re-enforced cloth, and that they actually have wheels, rather than just being able to carry rolled up things!

I don't carry my skates in a bag. I carry them in my hand upside down, by the blades.  Even if your shoulder isn't very strong, maybe you can carry just  the skates?

[bayroan]

Thank you!! That's good to know about the ventilation issue. I might consider a rolling backpack sort of option perhaps, for better ventilation. water sports option is a great idea.

[FigureSpins]

You should put soakers on your blades after you dry them off - that alone will prevent any scratches.  If you really want to use the suitcase, repurpose some old hand towels. For each one: fold in half to form a pouch and see if your skate can fit inside.  If it can, stitch or pin the sides to form a pouch.  Put each skates inside a pouch then put them in the bag and they won't touch each other.  If you have leftover fabric in your craft supplies, you can use skate measurements to make the pouches, adding a few inches around to account for the skate width and the blade. 

I have used a rolling backpack for my skates for many years.  I've tried a suitcase and didn't like laying it down in the dirty floor to get at the skates.  The rolling backpacks stand up by themselves, so you can get at everything.  As you pointed out, everything shifts south when you stand it up so I was always digging for my things.  When I used a suitcase, I attached a mesh pencil case to the carry strap to hold my skate rag so it could dry.  I also left the zipper undone at the top, to let air circulate.  I put the skates in with the toes in opposite directions and the laces facing/touching.  Then, I piled my notebooks and papers on top to hold them in place since the straps were useless.  You *could* add some mesh fabric to hold the skates, if you have any.

Tried a regular backpack but we don't have lockers, so I have tons of crap in my skate bag and it's too heavy as a regular backpack.  In a pinch, I can use the straps to carry the rolling rig over areas where you can't roll easily.  (Mud, cobblestones, unpaved areas, deep snow.)

There's a season for rolling backpacks that starts around this time and ends around October.  Apparently, it's considered a "back to school/off to college" item for brick-and-mortar retail.  You can buy them online but the prices are higher during the "off-season."  The best one I ever had was from BJs ($30?) and it was perfect but wore out after 5-6 years.

I put some crap on the bottom - as Agnes says, leftover insoles, rolls o' tape, old soakers to be given away, etc.  I put the skates in first on the backstraps, then put my skate rag and screwdriver in one outside pocket, my socks in the other and my spinner/guards in the strap pocket on the backside.  There's usually a front pouch where I keep my skate repair kit (screws, toothpicks, small awl, extra laces) and other crap (bandaids, business card wallet, notebook, pen/pencil, markers.)  My skate hook is on a lanyard, so I loop it around the top carrying handle and tuck the hook/strap inside the bag so it's easy to find.

That "best ever" backpack also had a top compartment for a CD player (long time ago) with a port to push a headphone through.  I used that compartment for all the little things that get lost and some spare change for lockers.  Really handy, but not mandatory.

I NEVER close my bag or any of the pockets all the way, so ventilation isn't an issue. 

[bayroan]

Awesome details! Thank you! I had no idea that one needs so many things, or that you could even do self repairs on skates. All I have is the standard thin pair of soakers that came with the skates, the skates, a rag, and skate guards haha. I should probably carry more stuff... I'll go look into backpacks, thank you again!

[Query]

I'll bite: What are the toothpicks for?

I hadn't thought about leaving the top of a pack unzipped - a great solution! You can close it up if it rains; not possible with my mesh bag.

Some people carry a lot of stuff into the rink. But to protect your shoulder, don't put too much heavy stuff inside, for stairs or carrying it into your car. Also, avoid steal-able stuff, label it distinctively, so no one thinks it's theirs.

Why didn't they have rolling back packs when I was in school? But make sure you can roll the one you pick comfortably - if you have to bend over or twist to roll it, it could be tough on your back.

[bayroan]

Yeah carrying any kind of weight is an issue for me, I have a lot of lower back pain issues on top of my shoulder issues, so I want to keep it super light. Which is what my dilemma is with the skates moving around -- I don't want to carry too much to keep it in place, but am afraid that if I carry very little, the skates will have room to move around. Maybe I'll just have to find a smaller bag, haha.

[tstop4me]

Which is what my dilemma is with the skates moving around -- I don't want to carry too much to keep it in place, but am afraid that if I carry very little, the skates will have room to move around.

I don't understand your concern about the skates moving around in the bag.  If you put soakers on (which you should), the soakers will protect the edges and picks of the blades from coming into contact with each other and with other objects:  this both protects the blades from damage by other objects and protects other objects from damage by the blades (e.g., you don't want the blades to cut up a fabric bag).  I mean you're simply rolling and carrying the bag around ... it's not like you're violently throwing the bag about, the way some airport baggage handler or delivery guy would.  If you're hyper about scuffs on the uppers, put each skate in a separate mesh bag as well [you want good ventilation].  But you're more likely to pickup scuffs from actual skating.

[AgnesNitt]

Yeah carrying any kind of weight is an issue for me, I have a lot of lower back pain issues on top of my shoulder issues, so I want to keep it super light. Which is what my dilemma is with the skates moving around -- I don't want to carry too much to keep it in place, but am afraid that if I carry very little, the skates will have room to move around. Maybe I'll just have to find a smaller bag, haha.

This is just where you'll need to experiment. But soakers are fine as tstopme mentioned. If you're concerned with something knocking your blades out of alignment, I've never had that problem (and I fly with skates occasionally) nor have I heard anyone mention it.
If you do fly with skates, I reccommend putting your guards on the blades for the trip then tie them on with cable ties. TSA will search your luggage occasionally and you don't want to injure someone, or give anyone an excuse to confiscate your skates 'because dangerous'. Ok, haven't heard of this particular incident, but other things have been confiscated.