A matter of thrift

For those who don't know, roller derby is an expensive sport. There's all the required equipment which ranges from cheap to insanely expensive and it all eventually needs to be replaced as skating takes it's wear on it. On top of this are all the little things that you don't think of. In the past year, I've been through about 3 or 4 pairs of laces and I wasn't even skating full time. Tights get chewed up by the Velcro on your pads. Then there's the gas money to get to practice. Parking once you get there. If you happen to live in a cold place that insists on winter for longer than it should (such as here in Minnesota), then you find yourself paying money to go to a roller rink to still be skating. Nine dollars doesn't seem like a lot until you start adding them all up.

Some women insist on having everything new. If they aren't prepared for how much gear costs, even the average stuff isn't cheap, it can be sticker shock, especially if you buy it all at once. A lot of places online even have fresh meat packages to help lessen the blow to the wallet. Some things you shouldn't get used or at least not use for very long if they're used. Helmets and pads do eventually wear down and no longer protect. It's good for someone who isn't sure if they really want to do derby yet but want to try it out to see if they enjoy it. It's a huge invest just to find out that who don't have the drive to keep going at it.

I'm very lucky in this regard. I first heard about derby through friends of mine. I knew them through the local Renaissance festival and got to know them better by working at the festival for them. During the off-season, I helped making product and getting ready for other festivals. A lot of the talk centered around derby this and pivot that. This was a completely new language being spoken and I couldn't follow it for the life of me. After working 3 seasons at fest, Betty gave me tickets to come see a bout so I would understand. All of the women had been given tickets to give to someone who had never been to derby. I went, eventually, and I loved it. While having dinner sometime shortly after that, I mentioned that I might want to do derby. Before you could say "go to the box", I was being handed a pair of skates and a bunch of old pads.

I wouldn't get around to using any of it for about 9 months as I was too afraid to go by myself and busy schedules kept Betty and I from meeting up. But I had gear for free. When I did finally start skating, I did have to use rental skates as the skates I'd been given were too good (and they had really really crappy bearings in the wheels) though I did eventually get to those skates. I slowly bought new things as I needed them. First bearings (I was given a set of nicer wheels) and then better pads. Eventually another pair of wheels and my own helmet.

I would eventually learn that the skates were actually too big though I didn't know that. They fit in the same way my tennis shoes fit but it turns out that you want skates to be tight like a glove. Luckily for me, another woman who was trying out with me happened to have an extra pair of skates which she wanted to sell. We met up and they fit like a glove. For the bargain price of $40, I had a "new" pair of skates.

That was last June. I've since gotten a new set of plates for free for those skates. They were a step up but still holding me back. I was going to invest some money and get a step up in plates. Still not the best plates but better than what I had. When I went into the local shop I prefer (there's nothing wrong with the other one but it's connected to a tattoo parlor and the muted sounds of the needles cause me to go light headed), I was told that I was getting even better plates for less. The woman who had sold me the skates was getting new plates onto her current skates and was going to sell the old plates. So now I'm getting a huge step up for, yet again, $40.

As I chatted with the guy who works there (another good friend who has done some work on my skates for free or for hugs) commented that it's crazy where you can find "old" skating stuff and that this woman spent a lot of time on ebay. I don't have the patience or attention span for ebay but I did wonder about craigslist. I found a couple of listings, including skates that someone had bought last year, tried out in and didn't make it and never had the time over the last year to get better. So they were selling them for $90, a pair of skates that normally runs about $145.

I've been lucky to know people who have heaped help onto me without having to do much research. I do know that it is possible, with a little bit of effort, to find great deals. There are various other derby sites and blogs that offer links to second hand derby sites and groups. I'm currently too lazy to go look them up but it's awesome to know that the community understands the price of gear and is willing to help people out so they don't have to dump a ton of money into something that they don't end up loving. If they do end up loving it, then they start to buy new and better equipment, keeping that old stuff around for the next generation of skaters. I'm sure my current stuff will eventually become loaner gear to someone else. That first pair of good wheels I got have been loaned out in fact. This not only saves another woman from forking out money for (in this case wheels) gear that she might not end up liking, but it helps foster a sense of community.

Who knew that bargain hunting could lead to a great sense of community?