Derby Shopping...

So Roller Derby is actually an expensive sport.  But are any sports ever cheap?  Originally when Bad Ass said in her email about the fresh meat class that it was just monthly dues to sign up and annual insurance fee I was like, Score! This is cheaper than when I took yoga.  But her email also said that we needed a helmet, kneepads, elbow pads, wrist pads, and a mouth guard. (Oh and of course roller skates!)  We could borrow the equipment to start but my overactive imagination imagined the sweat of other past derby skaters that used that equipment and I chose to buy.   So one uneventful Saturday afternoon my neighbor and I, along with my 3 year old daughter drove the hour to the Bruised Boutique in Nashua, NH.  Of course we checked out the website but both thought it was best to actually try this stuff on since we had 0 experience with any of this gear.


I had done my homework ahead of time, checking out gear guides and recommendations online and knew where I wanted to spend my bucks.  I wanted better than good knee pads as I knew I would spend a lot of time falling on them.  And I also wanted a skate with a leather boot and a purple helmet.  Did I mention that I research things to death before I buy?  In the store we tried on helmets first.  And of course I have a giant melon and could only get an extra large helmet which meant – noooo purple! Boo!  It was white or black for me so armed with my new white helmet we tried on skates.  We tried on the base package skate first but my wide feet objected to my squished toes.  So I went with the next Rebel skate up which by no coincidence came in PURPLE!! At that moment, I decided Roller derby was definitely fate. 

My Purple Skates!!!

After that it was on to the pads where I settled on the basic Triple 8 elbow and wrist pads.  But for the knee pads I upgraded to the Scabs.  I embraced my inner derby and passed up the basic black for the Psycho pattern.  Then I picked up my least favorite accessory, the cumbersome but very necessary, mouth guard.  Tip on the mouth guard for other newbies- Buy a couple!!!  Heck by 3 or 4 once you find one you like.  This mouth guard and the one after would fall to tragedy quickly. After all the equipment was settled on, my daughter helped me pick out my first knee socks.  I am not yet ready to brave the tiny shorts and derby miniskirts just yet.  Knee socks, tights & equipment in hand, I slap down my visa debit– committing myself further to pursuing roller derby.   




From a Freshmeat Perspective - Nelly