Boot recommendations for ice dancer

[BearOnBlades]

Hello! I am looking for recommendations on boots that I should consider for my next pair of skates? I am an ice dancer and have been wearing dance boots for the last 3 years. I have been wearing Jackson Debut Low Cuts and have almost gone through two pairs at this point in time. I wear a 7W have a wide toe box, a slightly narrow heel, and have flat feet. My feet are somewhat egyptian but my first two toes are the same length. I have been professionally fitted before when I received my first pair of Jackson Debuts (the freestyle version) about 3 years ago. I have loved my Jacksons but I have had tongue slippage issues (I have changed my laces) on both of my last two pairs. I was wondering if there are any other brands that I should consider when I go to try on skates with my fitter next? I am also looking to upgrade to a stiffer boot because I am around 5 foot 2' and weigh around 135 lbs (mostly muscle). I am also on my pre-gold pattern dances and have competed both partnered and solo in ice dance for the last 5 years. Thanks everyone for any ideas on what boots I should be considering!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hello! I am looking for recommendations on boots that I should consider for my next pair of skates? I am an ice dancer and have been wearing dance boots for the last 3 years. I have been wearing Jackson Debut Low Cuts and have almost gone through two pairs at this point in time. I wear a 7W have a wide toe box, a slightly narrow heel, and have flat feet. My feet are somewhat egyptian but my first two toes are the same length. I have been professionally fitted before when I received my first pair of Jackson Debuts (the freestyle version) about 3 years ago. I have loved my Jacksons but I have had tongue slippage issues (I have changed my laces) on both of my last two pairs. I was wondering if there are any other brands that I should consider when I go to try on skates with my fitter next? I am also looking to upgrade to a stiffer boot because I am around 5 foot 2' and weigh around 135 lbs (mostly muscle). I am also on my pre-gold pattern dances and have competed both partnered and solo in ice dance for the last 5 years. Thanks everyone for any ideas on what boots I should be considering!

I want you to know I have seen your post and will reply in full a bit later when I have more time.

 

[Query]

I don't know whether this will help, but some people cut a slit in the tongue so it can't slip, more or less like Mark Ludwig does in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-a4URWFYZE

The one in that video was cut near the bottom of the tongue, perhaps to prevent the tongue from impinging on the toes. Mine was cut closer to the top, more so it wouldn't slide side to side. The slit is typically positioned so that each half of the lace passes through it, and is sized so that locks its position into place, with the tongue at the desired position.

Note that his first boot already had a loop sewn into the top that could be used that way.

Maybe some boots can be ordered with a precut or pre-sewn loop like that.

If possible and you aren't good at crafts, you might want a good experienced skate tech to do it, so you don't accidentally mis-position it.

Mine was done a little bit differently. The tech just cut a slit through the top layer of leather in the boot, a bit like the second one Mark shows, but there was no extra layer of leather material on top, and it is thinner, and it is close enough to the top that it is around the lace hooks. Perhaps he just slipped a moderately long thin knife horizontally down through the top layer of leather, pushed it under the intended slit area, and pushed the knife back up through the top layer?

I suppose just using a single thin layer of leather like that is less sturdy but it hasn't been a problem - for me. And I assume the boot tongue is topped with good quality leather - I don't know if it would work well in a tongue made from other materials.

An obvious advantage of this method is that there is no section of the lace underneath the lace. I doubt the lace done Mark's original way would dig much into foot, but I haven't tried his way.

I don't know how hard it would be to sew in your own fabric loop on top. Maybe you could do it with a sturdy sewing awl designed to sew leather? I've never tried something like that.

Some people have instead mounted extra lace hooks on the tongue, but I think that is more complicated, and I'm not exactly sure how it is done. I don't know what the tradeoffs are. Note that one of Jackson's custom tongues (5000) at

Custom

Jackson Ultima Skates

jacksonultima.com

comes that way. And the other Jackson custom tongue (6000) appears to have extra pieces of horizontal material on top that you could use to create horizontal slits to lock a lace in place, somewhat like Ludwig's second way, or the way mine was done. But a lot of people have cut slits without ordering custom tongues. Perhaps it could be done on your current boots? If you trust your skate tech, you could ask.

I sometimes forget to thread the laces through the slit, in which case it slips to the side. That's a problem for me, because my tongues are just barely wide enough - maybe my feet have a bit more volume on top than the boot maker designed the boot for.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hello! I am looking for recommendations on boots that I should consider for my next pair of skates? I am an ice dancer and have been wearing dance boots for the last 3 years. I have been wearing Jackson Debut Low Cuts and have almost gone through two pairs at this point in time. I wear a 7W have a wide toe box, a slightly narrow heel, and have flat feet. My feet are somewhat egyptian but my first two toes are the same length. I have been professionally fitted before when I received my first pair of Jackson Debuts (the freestyle version) about 3 years ago. I have loved my Jacksons but I have had tongue slippage issues (I have changed my laces) on both of my last two pairs. I was wondering if there are any other brands that I should consider when I go to try on skates with my fitter next? I am also looking to upgrade to a stiffer boot because I am around 5 foot 2' and weigh around 135 lbs (mostly muscle). I am also on my pre-gold pattern dances and have competed both partnered and solo in ice dance for the last 5 years. Thanks everyone for any ideas on what boots I should be considering!

Hi. Okay, your foot shape is a little difficult to suggest for, but the first dance boots you should be looking at would be Graf Dance. You could try Riedell Dance but I'm not sure with your toebox if it will work or not. Otherwise, look into Risport Dance Prime.

You will need a dance blade. JW Coronation Dance or MK Dance.

No need to play skate tech on your old boots either BTW, leave that to the pros if needed. IMHO you are beyond needing better dedicated dance boots and blades.

Good luck.

 

[tstop4me]

I have been professionally fitted before when I received my first pair of Jackson Debuts (the freestyle version) about 3 years ago. I have loved my Jacksons but I have had tongue slippage issues (I have changed my laces) on both of my last two pairs. I was wondering if there are any other brands that I should consider when I go to try on skates with my fitter next? I am also looking to upgrade to a stiffer boot because I am around 5 foot 2' and weigh around 135 lbs (mostly muscle).

<<Emphasis added.>> If you've been happy with the fit of the Jackson Debut Low Cut except for issues with tongue slippage, and if you are looking for a stiffer boot, then look at the Jackson Supreme Low Cut. It's built on the same last as the Debut, so fit and sizing options will be about the same (allowing for the various tweaks that Jackson always makes). It's stiffer than the Debut, which is what you want [Caveat: Maybe too stiff?]. And it comes with the 6K tongue (standard on Supreme) and wide cuff, which greatly reduces tongue slippage (no modifications to the tongue needed). There are horizontal ridges fabricated along the length of the tongue; these ridges reduce slippage of laces. And the wide cuff design results in ~1 inch overlap between the throat of the uppers and the side of the tongue (on both sides of the tongue); in addition, the throat of the uppers have a slight recessed channel for the side of the tongue to seat into (on both sides of the tongue). I have the Jackson Supreme 5362 (regular freestyle, not low cut), purchased end of 2022. Very little tongue slippage.

A couple of months ago, I saw the latest version of Supremes at a shop. The outsole is no longer made of LCF (Leather Carbon Fiber), and the 6K tongue has been slightly redesigned (not quite as thick as it used to be, and the edges are now feathered). So I'm not sure how the tongue slippage of the redesigned 6K tongue compares with that of the original. Ask your tech about that specifically.

ETA: The original 6K tongue was thick and stiff. Many skaters (including me) had problems breaking it in. I have a previous post discussing how to deal with this tongue (extended break-in, different laces, different lacing pattern), should you consider the Supreme Low Cut. Once the teething problems were taken care of, I really came to like this tongue. I'm not sure whether the recently redesigned tongue still has these teething problems. Also, teething problems should not be as severe for the low cut vs the freestyle, since the tongue is shorter.