Skate Edge Care

[isk8byu 4]

I was going to originally call title this, "Figure skaters are smarter than hockey players", but didn't want to get kicked off the website.

My question is how much of blade/runner damage is caused just walking around off the ice vs actually skating on the ice. If you see figure skaters (at least where I am from), they all wear skate guards up until they get on the ice (noticed the same thing in the Olympic skaters). Makes excellent sense to me, as you can almost feel the grit around our rinks through your winter boots its so bad.

So my question is if anyone has seen/heard the percent of edge damage that occurs on vs off the ice? (forgetting about the obvious goal post ding, but rather just overall dulling of the edges)

[Gummer12 134]

It all depends on how clean your rink staff keeps the flooring throughout the facility.

[hunterphfr 12]

Wear from grit isn't that big an issue for me. I usually sharpen my skates due to dings and burrs on the edges. Damage that results from metal on metal. Contact inside the bag, metal supports underneath the bench, posts, screws holding down rubber mats(shitty ass rink repairs), other players skates etc.

[isk8byu 4]

The rink I was in today, you could honestly feel the grit crunching while walking around. Very dirty this time of year, but the walkway from the lockers is also shared by all the parents going to the bleachers. That is what prompted the topic. (even brushed some sand off the top of my helmet while coaching, since I had set in down in the locker room before heading out on the ice)

[jimmy 194]

Hard to give percentage because it depends on how clean your rink keeps the locker rooms and walkways, but i will say it's at least 50% if the rubber is dirty and even more if you live in a cold climate where pedestrians (including you) bring in sand, dirt and pebbles in on your shoes. I use to play at a rink where i had to walk over 250 ft to get from locker room to the back rink. I could hear the crunching all the way during winter and could tell immediately when I hit the ice that it did serious dulling to my skates that I had just sharpened myself less than 1 hr before I got there. Figure skaters ARE smarter, plus they don't care about looking cool walking out without skate guards.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Get Tuff Terries and walk to the bench. Problem solved!

[leonzhu 7]

Just don't forget to take them off before warmup. I've gone through that humiliation far too many times.