earplug danger or speakerphone annoyance?

[lutefisk]

My ice dance coach has a little Mifa F20 bluetooth speaker which she places on one of my arms and pairs to the music on her smart phone.  The volume is set such that we can clearly hear the  music, when skating partnered, and not be unaware of our surroundings.  Works well even when we're separated (when I'm demonstrating something solo for her so she can see my legs, etc.).  Check it out:  http://www.mifa.net/en/product-id-48.html

[Isk8NYC]

I have a Bluetooth cube speaker that I use at the rink.  This is a good suggestion, thanks.

[Doubletoe]

I think it's acceptable to have an earphone in ONE ear so that you can still hear what's going on around you.  Having said that, it's not always the lack of hearing that's the problem.  Often, the skater's determination to skate to his/her music results in less willingness to yield to other skaters and this creates a dangerous environment.  When the skater's program music is playing on the rink speakers, everyone is expected to yield to the skater, but that's not the case when the skater is the only one hearing his/her music. 

[Christy]

Headphones, ear buds, etc. aren't allowed at our rink but every so often you get a newbie who wears them despite the fact that the rules of the session clearly state they aren't allowed.

[dlbritton]

My rink has signs stating use of cell phones and iPods on the ice is not permitted but I see several teen/adult skaters with 2 ear buds in obviously skating to their program music.

[Christy]

At ours one lady was trying to hide them as much as possible, then claimed she didn't know the rules. Might have believed her if they had been more obvious...... 

[Query]

At ours one lady was trying to hide them as much as possible, then claimed she didn't know the rules. Might have believed her if they had been more obvious...... 

I used to skate at one rink where normal very light earphones, of the type that were common with MP3 players (this was some time ago) were allowed, but a rink guard  complained when I wore full size "studio-type" headphones, that covered the ears, to a public session. Perhaps because full size headphones would block out more of the sound? And perhaps it was the rink guard's own rule.

At most of the rinks where I currently skate, people wear small headphones, including ear plug phones, pretty often, during public sessions. But some area rinks, like Capital Clubhouse, do have rules. I don't skate freestyle and dance sessions any more, but I think that is true those places there too.

In the U.S., in general, rinks can make their own rules, and many rinks allow the rink guards some leeway to make rules for safety. AFAIK, there are no insurance, on earphones and headphones from USFSA or ISI, and even if there were, many rinks use other insurance. And AFAIK, there are no federal or state laws. So it should be expected to vary vary rink-to-rink.

But it is hard for me to imagine serious skaters at freestyle and dance sessions desiring a rule that didn't let them hear their own music, so I am guessing that in areas with many skating rinks for skaters to choose from, most rinks will allow them. However, "program dance" sessions, where pattern dance music is played, and where people skating that dance have right of way, and are sometimes not expected to look out for skaters dancing other patterns, might well be different.

At most rinks I have skated at, it is much more likely that someone would complain if you played something with a speaker, like a boom box, so that other people could easily hear what you were playing!

[Query]

BTW, as a rink guard, I can be quite concerned when someone skates while talking or texting on a phone, or taking pictures. It is usually the beginners, who are having staying upright, who are most likely to do it.  I feel that to be a major safety issue, very much akin to texting while driving. When it is obvious they aren't paying attention where they are going, I sometimes say something.

Even a lot of the beginning level parents, on the verge of falling down, take pictures of their kids while the parents are still skating, apparently oblivious to the danger, and to the behavior model they are setting for their kids..

[AgnesNitt]

Even a lot of the beginning level parents, on the verge of falling down, take pictures of their kids while the parents are still skating, apparently oblivious to the danger, and to the behavior model they are setting for their kids..

I volunteer to take pictures for them with their own phone. Usually I couch it as "would you like me to take a picture of the two of you together for you?"

Anyway, most people are delighted,  and that's the end of that, the kid gets to go back to skating and the parent puts the phone away.

I also do this for parents blocking the gate.

[Nate]

I wear my earphones all the time. I even do my jumps with them, when I'm not annoyed by the pull when rotating. Single and doubles. Spins too.

It's The only time I can run a program without feeling like a magnet. Otherwise it's like everyone has something to do when your music starts.

And I like working on choreography. I can do it for 90 minutes with my iPod or iPhone. That's not possible otherwise (you know how volatile our mental playback speeds can be).

[sk8lady]

Several of us at my rink use earbuds virtually any time we use music. When working on a program, I often work the same section repeatedly to match it to the music. No one wants to hear that, and I'm cautious about watching for others and keeping the sound low enough to be able to hear others approaching. All the close calls I've had have been when I was NOT using earbuds!

For ice dance, I also have a Korg in-ear metronome. It's tiny and I can hear it even if it's at an extremely low volume.

[Ristique]

I used to wear Bragi wireless earphones but they're noise-cancelling and wearing only one side became annoying after awhile so I switched to normal Bose earphones. I usually wear both sides and have the volume up quite high but I've never had a problem. When I'm at a busy public skate though I will usually wear only 1 side. Sometimes I wear aftershokz bone conduction headphones.

I have seen all kinds at my rink, and most skaters wear earphones that I can see.
- hockey skaters usually wear headphones / both sides of earphones. I assume they worry less about people bumping into them because of how fast they usually go?
- 1 hockey skate girl almost always wears wireless headphones and does single jumps (I have no idea how they don't fly off her head)
- freestyle skaters also wear earphones/headphones but if you can see if they're working on something new then they usually only wear 1 side
- high level figure skaters usually wear normal wired earphones (both sides). There's a guy who does double jumps with them in but usually he gets annoyed by the wires after awhile and takes them out until he's done with jumps

I don't usually see any random public skaters wearing any but there are plenty that have their phones out taking videos/pictures and surprisingly facetiming (i've actually seen quite a few do this). Usually these are people who are holding onto the boards so the rink guards don't seem to bother with them so much.

All in all I haven't seen anyone been told off for this but then again I do know that the rink guards usually keep an eye on skaters who wear them (if they don't know them already) to see if they know what they're doing or not. I assume if it was a beginner wearing earphones they might tell them not to.

[FigureSpins]

I recently acquired a bluetooth speaker from iSound called the "Popdrop."  It was $15 at Home Depot and has a wrist strap so you can hold it.  It's perfect for mapping out programs with a skater.  When I skate for myself, I always wear headphones but often without plugging them into anything - the public session music is pretty loud, so I use them as earplugs to dampen the volume.

[lutefisk]

For ice dance, I also have a Korg in-ear metronome. It's tiny and I can hear it even if it's at an extremely low volume.

How do you like the Korg?  I went to their website and it looks like a useful gizmo for practicing pattern dances to the correct number of BPM.  I saw a photo on the website with the Korg clip to the front of what appeared to be a polo shirt.  Is it loud enough to hear the beats when not clipped to the ear?