Length of life of boots...

[isakswings]

I was talking to another mom about boots, since her daughter is also getting new boots and blades. I mentioned that I hoped we would get 18 mos out of dd's boots and she said that her daughter's jump coach said once skaters start doing consistent double jumps, they break down their boots faster. He said they might last 9-12 mos? My daughter is 110 pounds and not a high jumper(yet). My daughter's last boots(freestyles) lasted her about 16 mos before they were breaking down. She is in Premiere boots now. I am wondering if I should start sticking money aside in case they break down in less then a year. Any thoughts on this? I have always thought it was pretty individual and varies from skater to skater.

[fsk8r]

I think it depends on the skater. I know one skater who gets new boots after about a year, and then her boots get sold on to someone else. Generally the ones buying them still manage to get another couple of years or more use out of her "broken down" boots before they either grow out of them or decide they're really died. And the first skater is doing doubles and the ones buying them also are doing doubles. 

[hopskipjump]

At the 9 month mark dd's boots were starting to break down.  They just were getting soft.  We stretched it to a year.  How long has your daughter been the same foot size?  How old is she?  That is all part of the equation.

We are on the annual boot plan since she was 5.  Five years later she still grows 2 sizes a year.  They can't really stretch them beyond a size.

[Sk8tmum]

Depends entirely on the skater. Some boots last a long time because the skater is overbooted, which isn't a good thing. Other skaters are "hard on their boots" i.e. they put a lot of stress on their skates which causes them to break down faster. Or the boot is mis-fitted - too wide will break down faster.

We will get about 18 months out of an underbooted Harlick, skater 165 lbs, doing double A and triples and skating roughly 20-25 hours weekly about 48 weeks of the year - because this skater is not hard on boots due to the landing technique, and because, frankly, they're custom so they put extra strength where the "wear" was on the previous boots. No growth issues at this point, which is great.

[isakswings]

At the 9 month mark dd's boots were starting to break down.  They just were getting soft.  We stretched it to a year.  How long has your daughter been the same foot size?  How old is she?  That is all part of the equation.

We are on the annual boot plan since she was 5.  Five years later she still grows 2 sizes a year.  They can't really stretch them beyond a size.

We were buying skates once a yr until her feet stopped growing. Her feet haven't grown in 2 yrs. she is 14.

[hopskipjump]

That is good news!  There is an end in sight!

[RosiePosie.iskates]

I 'm around 86 pounds, (tiny for a freshman, I know) and I have to replace boots around every 10-12 months. It's not that I outgrow them, I've been wearing the same boot size for 2 years! It's just that I usually break them down too, too fast. I tend to be really hard on boots, mostly because I tend to outlevel them too quickly. I was learning doubles in a PVC soled boot. Big mistake, by the time I got my new boots, my old ones were so loose it felt like I was wearing a slipper sock. I'm very happy with my stiffer boots now.