A friend of mine got Gold Seal K-Picks and has found she cannot get her blade guards over the toe picks. Any ideas?

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I never thought about that with the K-Picks! That is a pickle.

How about this: take a utility knife and slice away the inside of the toe part of the guard to widen the track there?

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You might have to do some careful whittling. Or perhaps heat up the whole skate guard using very hot water, but not boiling water, to soften up the guard. And then try to put it on the blade and around the big rake. When the guard cools down again, then hopefully the plastic or rubber guard conforms to the new shape. Just can't tell how to solve it unless there's a picture to see what's going on.

Even a guardog universal guard won't fit on it?

If all else fails, you can always get a pair of the soft terrycloth blade guards with the strip of nylon on the bottom.

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I've had K-picks (phantoms) since the first year they were available to the pubilc. I find that the universal spring guards work the best. You just need to put the guard on the lean onto your toe. It won't feel like it will fit; but the plastic will stretch and eventually your guards will just go on without a problem. Not to worry, this doesn't hurt your blades either.

Great idea.

Sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.

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I mean put the universal guard on as far as it will go then stand up on it, basically force it over the toe. I don't really like the word "force" for this...but it's all I could think of at the moment. Does this make more sense?

I've had k-picks for years I just use a universal guard and put them on backward. Of course I usually don't use guards as I hate them.

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Don't your blades hate you when you don't use them? I'm not as scrupulous as some about wearing them, but I do wear them for more than just a couple of steps off the ice. And always in Dunkerque because you get sand in there blown in from the beach.... not nice.

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I don't have k-picks but My blades must hate me then!

The only time I've ever worn blade guards was the few days right before my test- and then at the test session. Because my edges were "perfect" and I would have been miserable if I got any sort of nick on them, and there wasn't time to resharpen them, because then I would be a week or two away from "perfect" for the test.

Other than that though- I never wear guards, and just watch my step to make sure I don't walk on skittles or pennies. It seems that none of the LTS coaches wear guards at all- and thats the main time I'm walking around. They all have nicer blades than I do, so it seems like it would be silly for me to wear them. I only sharpen every 3 months, so it must not be ruining them too badly.

As for little pieces of dirt and such- so many people walk on the ice too, that it is often as bad as off ice.

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I usually don't wear guards, but I'm starting to for trips across the lobby of the new rink I skate on. The lobby's really big, crowded, and cramped. The bathroom's shared with the barefoot pool swimmers, so there are a lot of TOES to avoid on the way to the loo.

I just dropped my skates off for sharpening (crosses fingers), so I'll probably start wearing guards regularly for a few weeks.

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I always used to wear guards. My idea was that if I always wore them, without exception, then I would never forget to take them off before stepping onto the ice. A few months ago, however, I started having a problem in my L hip that made it painful to take the L guard off, so I stopped wearing them. We also have a large lobby, food court, etc, so last week I decided to wear them again (hip was better too), and wouldn't you know it, I left them and they were stolen! Now my hip pain is back. I really wish I could wear guards easily again, because yesterday when I got on the ice my L foot slipped, then slipped again. I took a look and found a long gob of wide, clear tape stuck to the bottom of my L blade . I was lucky I didn't have a bad fall.

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Maybe the floor at your rink is reasonably clean. But often, grit and things like that on rubber floors and carpet can dull your blade. The guards will protect the blades from that kind of thing besides allowing skaters to walk around on hard surfaces. Although of course.....blades guards are optional. Just as long as folks are aware of the benefits of blade guards, then that's ok.

If I remember correctly, you use the two-piece guards, right? I've tried the two-piece guards but went back to the one-piece version with the spring.

To put them on, I just put the blade heel in the track and catch the front of the guard with the bottom blade pick. Then, I put my foot down to slip the toerake into the guard. All I hold is the front of the blade guard.

Taking them off is easier - you just pull all the way past the toe and slip the spring off the heel while holding the front of the guard at all times. It's easier than trying to get the heel catch off with the two-piece.

Does your pro shop stock guards yet? See if you can find a pair of one-piece guards, at least until your hip feels better.


Did your friend resolve her K-Pick and Guards problem yet?

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It's holding my L leg in the necessary position that hurts, and I do have some one piece guards and have tried, but no dice.

Just to answer your question, yes, the pro shop has guards now.

No resolution for her yet, but I passed along the suggestions.

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For short distances you can always walk on your toe picks too I often do this as guards left on the side often go walkies themselves, so I leave them in my bag as close to side as possible, and then toe pick to the ice. It's fine until you trip and look like a prat!

I've lost one pair of guards entirely and the elastic bit off a second pair so I've given up entirely and just walk around on toepicks. I balance just fine like that, seems more natural to me somehow.

Jinx Thread: I just realized this morning that I've lost my one-piece guards.
Sour Grapes: I didn't like the sparkly pink color anyway and the heels were worn down.
Silver Lining: Found an OUTSTANDING Figure Skating store not too far away that just opened last week.
Bought new guards; had to settle for two-piece. Oh well.

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Sorry if this is a bit OT, but I also lost my blade guards somewhere, so I bought some new 2 piece ones, but what do you use to cut them? It comes with this template based on what size you're using, but I have no clue what to use to cut the pieces.

I usually make the skate shop cut them - they have a tool that works like a guillotine. You can use a sturdy utility knife - just be careful.

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yep.......if you can only do it at home, then use a sharp knife....such as a utility knife/stanley knife etc. But be real careful so that the knife doesn't slip and cut your finger or anything. Do it with strict caution.

Otherwise, a fine tooth hacksaw should do the trick too I'd say. Except, at the end, you can use some fine sand paper etc to sand away any burrs or rough bits after you finished cutting. Again, be safety conscious when doing this.

Not sure how much I trust myself to cut these things, I don't know why I didn't think of them to cut it at hte pro shop, but I don't want to go back there just to get them cut. I don't think my old ones needed to be cut, so I assumed these were the same. Maybe I'll wait until my grandfather gets back from LA, he's an industrial sewing machine mechanic and has all these big fancy machines that can do just about anything, so he probably would have something that can snip through the plastic.

As long as you don't cut them 'too short' then that's ok. So you could just try cutting a smaller portion to begin with....then test the spring strength. If you need shorter, then can always cut more later. The problem is cutting too much of it off. Conservative is better.