Protective gear
If you want to skate, you need protective gear. Falls happen often on roller skates, and because your feet are strapped to wheels, they are rarely the controlled kind. Pads do not make you look like a beginner - they are what lets you train again the next day.
To protect yourself properly, get all four items below. They are listed in the order that matters.
Helmet
A good helmet is the single most important piece. It should sit tightly on your head and fasten with a strap you can adjust. The front edge belongs directly above your eyebrows, and the back has to cover the base of your skull.
Cycling helmets often fail that test, because they leave the back of the head exposed - and on skates that is exactly the part at risk, since a backward fall is the one you cannot see coming. Look for a skate helmet, ideally one certified for skating as well as cycling.
Fit it before every session: two fingers of space above the eyebrows, the side straps forming a V under your ears, and no more than two fingers between the buckle and your chin. A helmet that took a real impact is finished - the foam crushes once - so replace it even if it looks fine.
Wrist guards
Wrist guards, or gloves with a built-in splint, are the piece skaters skip and regret. Almost everyone puts their hands out when they fall. The splint spreads the impact and slides along the ground instead of catching, which is what saves your wrists from a sprain or a break and your palms from the road.
Buy them in your size and fasten both straps. A guard that turns on your hand is doing nothing.
Knee pads
Knee pads need the right size and a firm fit. Strapped tightly, they take the sting out of a fall and prevent the scrapes, bruises and more serious injuries that come from landing on a knee. They are also the pad you land on deliberately when you learn to fall forward.
You can wear them over your clothes or under them. Over the top saves your trousers from being shredded; underneath looks tidier once you are steady on skates.
Elbow pads
Elbow pads matter least of the four, but they are still worth having. They soften the impact and help absorb a fall onto your side, which is the fall you get when you lose an edge in a turn.
Buying a set
Protective gear is sold in ready-made sets of wrist, knee and elbow pads, and a set is usually cheaper than three separate pieces. Buy the helmet on its own - fit matters far too much to take whatever comes in the box.
Remember
- Roller skating is a reasonably safe sport as long as you use proper protective gear and learn the basics of steering and stopping.
- Check every strap before you set off. You do not want a helmet coming off your head in the fall it was bought for.
- Replace anything that is cracked, crushed or frayed. Protective gear works once.