Buy the Right Skate Blades For Your Ice Skates
On the ice sliding from one end to the other, Ice skating is sometimes viewed as an art and those that participate in ice skating are greatly admired. The actual activity of ice skating has a long history and has been around for a number of centuries; possibly even before the discovery of metal blades, it is believed that animal bones and wood were used.
Today ice skates are boots made and attached to metal blades and are sometimes seen an a mastered art that looks easy to learn but can prove otherwise difficult. Because skate blades are used in various ice sports and activities, it is essential to understand the different types, their uses and designs. There are two main ways or styles of ice skating today, they are figure skating and hockey skating. Figure skating is used for ice skating activities such dance, freestyle skating aerobics and as the name suggests, figure skating. Where a skater creates figures when moving across the ice, a good example of this would be creating a plain 0 in ice. Hockey skating is part of the sport of hockey, there is no art to this, only balance and control of one’s body and being able to move quickly on the ice field of play. Each one of the two types of ice skating uses a different kind of skating blade that is designed specifically for that type of skating.
- The figure skates – blades are longer styled in the shape of a “rocker” and give life to the name the blade carries that of a rocker. The blades are designed for a slow halt and have a small tail at the back which is used to enable a skater to come to a halt. The rocker design is effective for a skater on the ice as it gives them more control over their movements as they slice their way across the ice.
Give proper care to a pair of ice skates and if they aren’t outgrown they should last a good while. Let your maintenance program slip and your expensive ice skates could be ruined within weeks or months.
When off the ice but still wearing skates, always and without fail wear plastic or rubber skate guards over ice skate blades. Skate guards protect the blades from hard surfaces and grit that can very quickly ruin a well-sharpened blade. Keep skate guards at the edge of the ice and place them on your skate blades even if you only plan to be off the ice for a few steps.
However, if you are not wearing your skates, do not leave skate guards on the blades. Guards are meant only for walking and should actually be on your skates only for short periods of time. They will trap unwelcome moisture against the skate blades even when you are nowhere near the ice.
It is supposed that taking care for ice skates is not important at all. However, one must give proper care to a pair of skates for them to last long. It is possible that your skates get cleaned out within months or weeks if they are not taken proper care of.
When you are off the ice and still wearing skates, ensure that you wear rubber or plastic skate guards over skate blades without fail. Skate guards help to protect the blades from grit and hard surfaces that quickly ruin a well-sharpened blade. Also, it keeps the skate guards at the border of the ice and places them on your skate blades even if you are off the ice for a while. A very important point to remember is that when you are not using skates; do not leave skate guards on the blades as they may catch moisture even when you are not near the ice.
