Kit Check
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24 June 2011
When starting roller derby my aim was to get the best gear I could as cheaply as I could, in case it turned out I didn’t actually like it after all. What? It could happen. (Um, could it? Has it? Do people give it a go and never come back again? I can’t imagine…)
A few weeks in, and realising I was hooked, it was tempting to go out and blow all my money on amazing gear I didn’t need, especially after reading the LRG forum and all the advice there. I may have spent more time than necessary agonising over wheels. Since then I have adapted my gear a little, but not gone crazy, and here’s what I have now. (Note: I am sure there are way more fabulous options out there, but these are what work for me right now.)
Basics:
Skates: Anarchy Havocs. I do love them, though I admit to having problems with regards to fit and I may need to decide whether or not to go with a bigger size. I am a one-leg-shorter-than-the-other, knock-kneed freak with overpronation issues and tight calves and big toes with no range of movement, so it’s really my issues rather than the skates that are causing problems. There’s a solution somewhere, I just have to find it. OK, side rant over…oh yeah, my skates: I know nothing really about skates other than I like these and am quite attached to them, feet issues aside. I should probably talk about plates and er…other bits of the skate, but you may be able to see through my pathetic attempts at pretending I know what I’m talking about.
Wheels: The Havocs come with Brawlers, 62 mm x 43 mm, 94a. They were perfectly fine on the concrete at Earl’s Court, where I had my first introduction to roller derby, but once we moved to a slippy sports hall floor they were pretty useless.
Protection: I went the Anarchy route for knee pads and elbow pads, though if I were to buy them again I’d get the elbows in small rather than medium, as they have stretched out and now kinda look like I’m wearing swimming armbands. I have SFR wrist guards and a Triple 8 Brainsaver helmet.
Additions:
Skates: I’ve added toe protectors to my skates as they do get pretty beaten up with all the falls. I also got some Gumball toe stops. I was very happy with the ones that came with my skates. They were pretty big, and round and did the job, until the rubber snapped off the end of one of them in an apparent fault with the skate, and it was quicker to get Gumballs delivered than wait for my replacement. I’m keeping the others as spares though. I also got some new bearings, Bones Reds, mostly so I didn’t have to keep switching them over whenever I changed my wheels. Anything for an easy life.
Wheels: Initially I got some Radar Zens which are a fairly cheap hybrid, 85a, but skinny at 32mm. I really liked them on our slippy practice floor until I tried Poisons (which everyone had been raving about but for some unknown reason I had been unsure of), fell in love with them and realised I could have grip without being sluggish. Luckily it was my birthday around the time I realised this, and I now have some lovely Poison Alloy Slims 38 mm, 84a.
Protection: I got some gaskets to go under my knee pads for some extra padding, and I think they’re definitely worth it if you’re not going to get some heavier duty knee pads straight off. At some point I may look into others but for right now this combo suits me fine. And after trying a couple of cheap mouthguards from sports shops that didn’t fit and made me gag, I got a Pro-Tech one and have been much better off. I’m still not a great fan of them, but I can at least kinda make myself understood when I speak now. Oh, and a skate tool. Everyone needs a skate tool. I learned this the hard way when it took me three hours, my entire toolbox and an immense amount of swearing to change my wheels the first time. It’s ok, you can laugh.
