How tight should skate guards be?

Question

Hi! I'm new to figure skating. I just bought new skates and rubber guards, and apparently, you have to cut the guards to make the fit your blades. How snug should the guards be on your blades? I'm afraid that I made them too snug that they would somehow "bend" the steel too much...

Answer 1

Which kind of guards do you have?  There are guards that come in 2 pieces or the ones that are one piece with a spring on the back that goes over the back of the blade.  If you have the two piece kind, they should be loose enough that you can easily get them on and off, but not so loose that they fall off when you walk.  Blades are pretty tough....I don't think guards can really damage them other than when you wear guards a lot they rub on the sides of your blades and leave a line, but that takes a loooong time.  The one piece guards you can cut off at the end to fit your blade.  The spring loop is easily adjustable and should also be easy to take off and put on.  For the two piece guards, I usually don't have to cut any off to get them to fit my guards.

Answer 2

they wont bend the steel.

make them tite enough so that they dont slip off.

cut off little bits at a time, but u dont want them to wiggle.

they should be really tite fitting.

Answer 3

Oh, they shouldn't be too friendly... they have to keep their minds on their jobs and keep guarding those skates.

Answer 4

You want them to fit snug, but not too tight. Usually there are measurements on the bottom which will be a guide to how large you should cut them, this number should correspond with the length on your blade. Trust me if you were to cut them too small you usually can't even get them on to have to worry about them possibly bending the steel. You should also have soakers to prevent your blades from rusting. http://www.guardog.ca/instructions.html that link should help you cut them to the proper size. Good luck!