I think you can find a decent pair of used boots with blades with that 150$. You're going to have to do your research, and it's going to require some effort to find a good deal, but it's possible. It's definitely better than continuing on rentals. You want to try to find the higher end boots that people sell, because they will still have some life left in them, and will be still supportive enough for you. I think you can fit Jackson/Risport/Graf just fine. Sometimes we have to make best of what we have. If you find something interesting, or just have some questions, ask away, I'll be happy to help.
Should I get the Jackson 452s?
- Thread starter robrdum
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
Depends on who does the refurbishing. At one time, there was a shop near me (long since closed) that did a good job; they would take some used boots as trade-ins when you purchased new ones from them and refurbish them. But not men's boots; too limited a market. Also, that was in the days when most boots were leather. Not sure whether many synthetics can be refurbished.
But once again, the level of boots that you need for a male with your size feet will be hard to find. If you were a 14 yr old or younger girl, that would be a different story. If @Ic3Rabbit thinks you can get by with the Jackson Freestyle kit, then go with that. As I mentioned earlier, that's the lowest Jackson kit you should consider.
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Of course, if you don't have wide toes or forefoot, Jackson boots are likely to be problematical. You could be sliding around in those boots, which could lead to serious injury.
I remember reading a report done by the U.S. Army (for soldiers, not ice skaters) that said people with different arch heights tend to get different types of injury. I assume that applies to skaters too.
To me, a moderately snug fit essentially all over is overwhelmingly the most important thing to preventing injury and avoiding pain. There are medical sources, including podiatrists who write articles specific to ice skaters, who say getting shoes or boots that match your "arch length", something most fitters don't measure, is the single most important injury prevention factor in the fit of any footwear. And they also talk a lot about injuries from boots that squeeze your toes together too much. (I think my osteo-arthritus, including bone spurs, may have been caused by that. You can also get bunions and other problems that way.) Much more important than the relative lengths of your toes - e.g. Egyptian, Roman, etc. (Though some common injuries like Hammer Toes can occur if the front of your toes gets much pressure from in front, causing them to bend.) But perhaps to a person with arches of a type or height that needs extra support, relative toe length matters a lot too - maybe even more important than arch length and snugness to such people. And so on.
My conclusion: Find a really good skate tech to use as your boot fitter. It is worth it. I know I'm repeating myself there. But if you don't know what to look for, you need someone who does. Unfortunately, that's hard. Plus, most shops only offer a very limited number of boot types, maybe 1 or 2 brands, and try to put you in what they deal with.
It depends what you mean by "refurbished". If you mean they punch (stretch) the boots out where there are creases, that probably doesn't cost much, if the damage isn't too great. Likewise for replacing a hook or adding a grommet to a torn lace hole, and maybe replacing or reinforcing a tongue. Or filling stripped screw holes used to mount blades. Laces are very cheap to replace. If you mean they remove the stitching, and replace the inner stiffening materials in the entire upper part of the boot (often called "rebuilding" the boots), that might well cost more than a new boot like the Jackson Freestyle, or equivalent. Likewise, lining the insides with a lot of extra leather, carefully feathered to avoid bumps, to make them fit you, could be expensive because it requires leathercraft expertise. And there are many things in between. I.E., you can't give a generic answer to whether refurbished boots would be a good idea. If you are talking a specific pair of boots, if it were possible to bring them to a good skate tech, BEFORE PURCHASE, they could help you decide. But fixing boots is a bit of a specialty too - some skate techs are good fitters, but are not good at that.
Be aware that there are other things in skating that cost money. Especially if you need private lessons, which you mostly do if you are going to get very good, or even if you want to join a Synchro or Production team. But even if you don't have such dreams, you need practice time at the rink, where even public sessions costs some money, and group lessons cost something too. It's not like walking to a free local basketball court, joining a group of kids who play volleyball, or going on hiking trails, or maybe playing soccer with a bunch of non-competitive kids in a local field that doesn't charge you anything to go. Low level skateboarding. Or whatever the popular sports with other kids are now. Those can often be cheaper. I'm not sure about going dancing with other kids - some clubs charge a lot for entry, and the ones that serve alcohol may not let a 15 year old in. But non-competitive street dance might be cheap, if you don't need a costume. I honestly don't know if there is still much of a social dance scene anymore.
BTW figure skating is an inefficient way for boys to meet girls. That's usually not what girls go to skating rinks to do. Though sometimes a girl who can skate drags a boyfriend who has never skated along, mostly so they can tease them.
Such girls tend to be deliberately unhelpful.
I remember reading a report done by the U.S. Army (for soldiers, not ice skaters) that said people with different arch heights tend to get different types of injury. I assume that applies to skaters too.
To me, a moderately snug fit essentially all over is overwhelmingly the most important thing to preventing injury and avoiding pain. There are medical sources, including podiatrists who write articles specific to ice skaters, who say getting shoes or boots that match your "arch length", something most fitters don't measure, is the single most important injury prevention factor in the fit of any footwear. And they also talk a lot about injuries from boots that squeeze your toes together too much. (I think my osteo-arthritus, including bone spurs, may have been caused by that. You can also get bunions and other problems that way.) Much more important than the relative lengths of your toes - e.g. Egyptian, Roman, etc. (Though some common injuries like Hammer Toes can occur if the front of your toes gets much pressure from in front, causing them to bend.) But perhaps to a person with arches of a type or height that needs extra support, relative toe length matters a lot too - maybe even more important than arch length and snugness to such people. And so on.
My conclusion: Find a really good skate tech to use as your boot fitter. It is worth it. I know I'm repeating myself there. But if you don't know what to look for, you need someone who does. Unfortunately, that's hard. Plus, most shops only offer a very limited number of boot types, maybe 1 or 2 brands, and try to put you in what they deal with.
It depends what you mean by "refurbished". If you mean they punch (stretch) the boots out where there are creases, that probably doesn't cost much, if the damage isn't too great. Likewise for replacing a hook or adding a grommet to a torn lace hole, and maybe replacing or reinforcing a tongue. Or filling stripped screw holes used to mount blades. Laces are very cheap to replace. If you mean they remove the stitching, and replace the inner stiffening materials in the entire upper part of the boot (often called "rebuilding" the boots), that might well cost more than a new boot like the Jackson Freestyle, or equivalent. Likewise, lining the insides with a lot of extra leather, carefully feathered to avoid bumps, to make them fit you, could be expensive because it requires leathercraft expertise. And there are many things in between. I.E., you can't give a generic answer to whether refurbished boots would be a good idea. If you are talking a specific pair of boots, if it were possible to bring them to a good skate tech, BEFORE PURCHASE, they could help you decide. But fixing boots is a bit of a specialty too - some skate techs are good fitters, but are not good at that.
Be aware that there are other things in skating that cost money. Especially if you need private lessons, which you mostly do if you are going to get very good, or even if you want to join a Synchro or Production team. But even if you don't have such dreams, you need practice time at the rink, where even public sessions costs some money, and group lessons cost something too. It's not like walking to a free local basketball court, joining a group of kids who play volleyball, or going on hiking trails, or maybe playing soccer with a bunch of non-competitive kids in a local field that doesn't charge you anything to go. Low level skateboarding. Or whatever the popular sports with other kids are now. Those can often be cheaper. I'm not sure about going dancing with other kids - some clubs charge a lot for entry, and the ones that serve alcohol may not let a 15 year old in. But non-competitive street dance might be cheap, if you don't need a costume. I honestly don't know if there is still much of a social dance scene anymore.
BTW figure skating is an inefficient way for boys to meet girls. That's usually not what girls go to skating rinks to do. Though sometimes a girl who can skate drags a boyfriend who has never skated along, mostly so they can tease them.
Such girls tend to be deliberately unhelpful.Yes - but that was without taking into account the width of the feet, at various points - one of the most important fit parameters. That's one of the biggest reasons for skate manufacturers to want foot tracings.
Pictures that identify "foot type" like
https://www.another site.com/r/coolguides/comments/hkqn4v/toe_genetics/?rdt=58594
appear largely concerned with the relative length of the toes. E.g., for people with relatively wide toes, or midfoot, or heels, that is often secondary to making sure the feet fit in the boots without damaging or causing pain to the feet. And for people with relatively narrow feet, especially at toes or heels, movement inside the boot is one of the most common sources of injury. The o.p. has indicated "thicker" heels. If that means wide heels, they might not fit in Jacksons, which have narrow heels, depending on just how wide they are. (Heat molding helps, but does not extend down to the bottom.) I'm not sure about Risports. And he hasn't specified toe or midfoot width. Not enough data to make a good guess. When I worked a rental counter, I found that after length, and the tendency of novices not to tie their laces tight enough, relative width was the most common factor affecting problems skaters had with their skates - though unfortunately, we only had 3 types of figure skates, and each type in only one width - not enough to make everyone happy. (Plus, we didn't have time or materials to make them custom insoles, or anything on that order. That could have helped many of the people whose feet were too narrow somewhere, or whose arch shapes didn't match the footbed shapes so badly they were in pain or had no way to control the boot orientation on one side because the foot bottom on that side wasn't in contact.)
Likewise, insufficient ankle support caused by poor ankle fit can easily cause ankle sprains, strains or fractures - some of the most common forms of skating injury - unless you have very well developed muscles affecting that area.
I.E., for many of us, relative toe length is overwhelmingly less important than other shape parameters. So identifying "foot type" based on that isn't enough. Especially since he indicated normal arches.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to attach pictures of one's feet and feet tracings in this board. Without that, it's very difficult to properly assess fit. And quite probably we would all be guessing anyway, because we aren't trained sports podiatrists or orthotists. (Even they guess some, and some of their patients come back when things don't work.)
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
They actually did describe the width of their feet to me and everything was fine.
Oh!
From the OP's posts, it's apparent that he was not previously aware that figure skating is such an expensive sport; he found out as a result of the responses here. To be fair, many beginner skaters, including adult ones, don't realize how expensive it is (as I mentioned above, particularly post-COVID recovery).
