To Guard or Not To Guard

[AgnesNitt]

I will now tell you the ultimate cheap parent skating story.
There was a teen at my old rink who's parents did buy her skates. But they wouldn't let her use skate guards EXCEPT IN THE BAG, because they were afraid she would wear them out.

Yes that's the guards, not the soakers.

On the other hand, they did buy her skates and would come and watch her, so they weren't awful


Mod Note: Split from the "LTS and Owning Skates" topic.

[jumpingbeansmom]

I will now tell you the ultimate cheap parent skating story.
There was a teen at my old rink who's parents did buy her skates. But they wouldn't let her use skate guards EXCEPT IN THE BAG, because they were afraid she would wear them out.

Yes that's the guards, not the soakers.

On the other hand, they did buy her skates and would come and watch her, so they weren't awful

So they were rusting the blades in the bag and ruining the blades while she walked around to protect the $12 plastic guards??   

[Skate@Delaware]

So they were rusting the blades in the bag and ruining the blades while she walked around to protect the $12 plastic guards??   

the kicker is, sometimes you can get them cheaper during pro-shop sales or as a gift! Or free like at my rink, when they shut down at the end of the season-they toss out the stuff in the lost-n-found so they put all the stuff on the counter and it's up for the taking.

[Skittl1321]

Plus, people leave them out for the taking almost every session!

Oh what? Those aren't actually free guards?  Could someone please tell that to whomever keeps stealing mine???  They have my name on them for goodness sakes!  (But it's not like it's hard to remove sharpie...just get some nail polish remover)

[jumpingbeansmom]

Plus, people leave them out for the taking almost every session!

Oh what? Those aren't actually free guards?  Could someone please tell that to whomever keeps stealing mine???  They have my name on them for goodness sakes!  (But it's not like it's hard to remove sharpie...just get some nail polish remover)

I know!! My daughter has lost several pairs like that and she has an unusual first name too... I mean are they that expensive an item worth trying to get a name off for??   

[fsk8r]

I know!! My daughter has lost several pairs like that and she has an unusual first name too... I mean are they that expensive an item worth trying to get a name off for??   

Even worse is the thief who only steals one. How many one legged skaters are there?

[isakswings]

I will now tell you the ultimate cheap parent skating story.
There was a teen at my old rink who's parents did buy her skates. But they wouldn't let her use skate guards EXCEPT IN THE BAG, because they were afraid she would wear them out.

Yes that's the guards, not the soakers.

On the other hand, they did buy her skates and would come and watch her, so they weren't awful

They obviously did not get why a skater needs hard guards to begin with... they protect the blades! They were likely spending more on sharpening their daughter's skates because she wasn't allowed to wear her guards. I don't get the logic in that. At our rink, a sharpening costs 7.00. That is the same price as a new pair of guards at our rink. Interesting!

[Kim to the Max]

They obviously did not get why a skater needs hard guards to begin with... they protect the blades! They were likely spending more on sharpening their daughter's skates because she wasn't allowed to wear her guards. I don't get the logic in that. At our rink, a sharpening costs 7.00. That is the same price as a new pair of guards at our rink. Interesting!

We have a ton of LTS kids who have soakers and use them...put their hard guards on to put their skates on and then before they go to the ice, take the guards off and put them in their bag before they get on the ice....'doh!

[Skittl1321]

We have a ton of LTS kids who have soakers and use them...put their hard guards on to put their skates on and then before they go to the ice, take the guards off and put them in their bag before they get on the ice....'doh!

The majority of people at our rink (me too!) only wear guards when walking up to the food court (in a mall, so not padded)- they run around on the black mats without guards.  The only time I can think of people wearing guards is high level skaters before competition.  Out of competition season, even they don't wear them much.

One boy doesn't have guards and walks on his toe picks everywhere he goes on the mats.  That must be a pain!

[isakswings]

We have a ton of LTS kids who have soakers and use them...put their hard guards on to put their skates on and then before they go to the ice, take the guards off and put them in their bag before they get on the ice....'doh!

LOL! We probably did that until we figured out that we could leave the guard on the side boards by the door. Dd isn't religious about wearing her guards, but has gotten much better about it lately. Mostly because her coach as well as other skaters and our sharpener has said how much it helps to wear them. Her sharpening certainly lasts longer when she wears her guards.

[isakswings]

The majority of people at our rink (me too!) only wear guards when walking up to the food court (in a mall, so not padded)- they run around on the black mats without guards.  The only time I can think of people wearing guards is high level skaters before competition.  Out of competition season, even they don't wear them much.

One boy doesn't have guards and walks on his toe picks everywhere he goes on the mats.  That must be a pain!

Really?? Around here, most everyone wears guards. At competition, it isn't unusual to see skaters of all levels wearing guards and walking around with their skates on. At both rinks dd skates at, there is rubber on the floor and some skaters do not always wear guards, but most do. My daughter has gotten much better at remembering to wear her guards and I have noticed she is not needing her blades sharpened as often. Saves me money not only on the cost of sharpenings but I am hoping her blades will work for her next boots too!

[Sk8tmum]

Once you make them pay for replacement guards and for sharpenings out of their own cash (which is earned by themselves) - you lose less guards and you find them used more 

Biggest thing we have to remember, now that they last longer than the one month we used to have before we had them lost, is to clean them out to avoid having nasty bits of grit grinding on the blades.

[Isk8NYC]

Do your equipment maintenance on the 8th of the month!  (It's on the forum calendar, in fact!)

[Skate@Delaware]

Once you make them pay for replacement guards and for sharpenings out of their own cash (which is earned by themselves) - you lose less guards and you find them used more 

Biggest thing we have to remember, now that they last longer than the one month we used to have before we had them lost, is to clean them out to avoid having nasty bits of grit grinding on the blades.

I heard (read somewhere?) you can put them in the dishwasher? I just whack them on the floor before I put them on.....to knock the water out.  Guards & soakers make really great birthday gifts, along with towels to wipe off the blades.

[jjane45]

I get enough life out of each sharpening that it does not matter as much. Too many horror stories of people stepping on the ice with the hard guards and breaking various body parts

[Sk8tmum]

I heard (read somewhere?) you can put them in the dishwasher? I just whack them on the floor before I put them on.....to knock the water out.  

Yeah, that would be me ... I've posted it elsewhere in the forums ... I just have to be careful with my tiniest flashing guards with the batteries, and the springs can get rusty.  Another mom uses a scrubbrush and basic cleaner, and it works well.

[sarahspins]

I get enough life out of each sharpening that it does not matter as much. Too many horror stories of people stepping on the ice with the hard guards and breaking various body parts

Same here... at one of the rinks I skate at, it's literally 5 feet to the rink door from where I sit to put my skates on, so putting guards on seems excessive.   At this rink almost no one wears guards unless they leave the rink enclosure and have to walk on the tiled corridor.   The other rink.. a majority of us do the "toe-pick walk" from the sitting area into where the ice surface is.

[Sierra]

Once you make them pay for replacement guards and for sharpenings out of their own cash (which is earned by themselves) - you lose less guards and you find them used more 

Once they have to pay for the blades themselves- all $200++... the blades and guards are viciously protected. :angel