Figure skating

[line]

I really want to start figure skating again, after a 12 year brake, but I haven't been able to find good vegan skates. The pure synthetic ones I've found so far are just crap. Advanced boots all seem to be made from leather.
I've e-mailed a few companies, asking for custom made, synthetic boots, but none of them have replied.
Can anyone help me?

[Fruitbat]

i cant but will be interested to hear of any feedback you get...

[line]

None of the companies I e-mailed have replied.
Synthetic softskates (found plenty of them) are not supportive enough for jumping but are good enough for unexperienced "recreational" skaters, who might find stiff skates difficult to move around in.

I believe I've got some good news though!
SP Teri's dance models seem to be made of pure synthetic materials from the information text, but I have not got this confirmed yet.
Dance boots are cut lower, especially in the back. This is good for tip toe running and step sequenses, but I believe it will make high toe jumps difficult, as they are not really made for traditional jumping at all.

This company is US based and they don't ship. There is supposed to be one dealer in Denmark that I have not found because the internet adress was invalid (www.skating.dk). There is also one in Germany and one in Italy, but I do not read theese languages.
There is one dealer in Sweden and one in the UK, but eighter of them were online.

Can anybody help me with this?

[Dave Noisy]

I can only help by encouraging you! =)

[line]

Damit, I was wrong. www.usaskates.com had this to say about the boots I thought I was finally going to be able to skate in.

Full grain cowhide elk tanned upper leather

Now I really feel like

Is cowhide elk tanned made from elk or cow or both?

[fredrikw]

Is cowhide elk tanned made from elk or cow or both?

does it matter?

[line]

Yes. I want to skate again and elk skin is better than farmed cow or pig. If I have to buy leather skates because there are no good enough synthetic models, then elk or horseskin would actually be preferable.
Sorry for not being a totally fanatic vegan. I do find animal industry very cruel, and certainly don't support it. I do work hard to promote veganism.
Among the more than 90% of the population in Norway that are regular meat eaters and dairy drinkers, I think you should apreciate having me around, even if I can eat 1/4 of an elk a year and concider buying leather skates for my own pleasure, ..because there are no other ***** skating options!! ARGH!
..search for your self. If you find a pair of synthetic boots that are suitable for jumping doubles, I will reward you.

I buy pure vegan shampoo, toothpaste, bodylotions, washing powder, foods, dietary supplements, candy and so on for three times the price of what the "normal" products cost, just because I do not support the animal indusrties cruelty, and I don't feel like being pecked on or yelled at just because I'm only 95%vegan and honest about it.

[fredrikw]

so you expect people on a vegan board to just accept that you argue why it's ok to use leather skates and eat elk? sorry but that's just not going to happen. I can understand that in some cases it's impossible to avoid animal products, but going from that to making quite weird excuses why it's ok to kill animals is a completely different thing.

[JP]

1/4 elk per year means you eat meat most of the year right? 1/4 of an elk is a massive amount of meat.

Is this because you were tripping on some mushrooms and saw that elk talking to you asking you to eat elks?

Well, good that you didn't see a vision of a child, otherwise you would be in serious trouble!

[line]

And it's a good thing that some of us have a less fanatic and hysteric relationship to people killling and consuming animals. Most people do not mind keeping cows and pigs in captivity, because they do not care about wether the animals suffer or not. I've had lots of people making fun of me being a vegan in a most offensive way. Eating elk is a way for me to meet people half way. Elks are not imprisoned and used like cows and chickens are, and people who actually do have a thirst for meat can relate more to me when I say I sometimes eat elk, than if I say: "I'm a pure vegan"
It may be very hard to get a person to go from wearing leather and eating meat to straight vegan over night. Many meat eaters shy away from vegans instead of joining veganism because of extreeme vegans that judge normal people like criminals for doing perfectly normal things, like drinking milk or eating eggs I've had people getting really angry at me for telling them about dairyindustry when they were enjoying their cheesey lunch, even though I was careful about the tone I was talking in and the words I used, to make it clear that it was not completely their personal fault that this was going on. They still dislike me today, more than a year after. They had nothing against me before I started talking about their food though.
Isolating from the rest of the world and living in denial is not going to turn anybody else into vegans. Sporting is probably not eigther. How many meat eaters are stronger than you, JP? How many cyclists come ahead of you over the finish line, Fredric?
Fanatism and looking down at people, judging them and being rude to them is not going to work, it will rather have the oposite effect.

Now I'm going to buy a pair of leather figure skating boots because there are none available in synthetic materials. ..not even custom made!
I will keep on asking the boot companies for advanced synthetic boots, but my nagging alone will not help much.
If you want the figure skating world to change, you need to help with this.

Theese are some companies that produce boots:
Riedell
Risport
Wifa
Edea
Harlick
SP Teri
Jackson
Graf
Belati

Just google them to find both the companies homepages and other online stores who manufacture the boots and e-mail them about professional level synthetic dance boots and synthetic freestyle boots for doubles and triples.

It may work. ..and if it works, my next pair of skating boots will be synthetic. I might even convince some of the "kids" in the skating club to go synthetic. (dispite the fact that I smoke, I am actually a good "aerodancer", and I'm not in a bad shape at all when compared to the people I work out with. I usually have more energy, higher jumps and more "it" than the majority of the group there, probably due to my exellent vegan diet and vegan "I need to be better than them" spirit. We dance in front of a huge mirror where this is no problem to see. I should therefore not have any problems when starting figure skating again eighter) ..and perhaps some of the kids I then convince to go synthetic will get very good and make everyone want to go synthetic, so please e-mail the above listed companies and pray for synthetic figure skating boots. ..and post the mail and a list of whom you've mailed here. Thank you very much for your help!

[xJimx]

Take it easy, if anyone's getting hysterical here it's you i'm afraid. I can appreciate your point of view, but you really can't honestly expect people on a vegan forum to agree with it.

I had a similar problem when I used to play hockey. I was a goalie so some of the equipment I was using contained leather - I think it's possible now to get 100% synthetic equipment now but it wasn't back then. I justified wearing the equipment for a while by saying to myself that I had purchased it before I went vegetarian, but over time I started to appreciate more that each piece of equipment containing leather meant that an animal had died to produce it. Eventually I got to the point where I couldn't justify this to myself anymore.

Couldn't you just buy second-hand skates? This would be a lot better than buying new leather.

[line]

Second hand skates are usually sold for a reason, like they have cracks in the ankle and are not supportive enough anymore.
Used skates have also formed after the foot of those who have been wearing them, so you need to have identical feet to the previous owner in order to make them fit you comfortably.
I've never seen a pair of second hand boots that have not got cracked ankles, and would prefer new stiff boots with moldable padding to fit my own feet.

[Rochellita]

Listen Line, I think everyone has been pretty tolerant of your elk eating escapades considering that this is a vegan board and none of us appear to eat or talk to elk nearly as much as you do. So calm down please.

[littlegirlbunny]

And it's a good thing that some of us have a less fanatic and hysteric relationship to people killling and consuming animals.

I would say this verges on promoting the use of animal products.

See this section of forum rules:

1. Racist, sexist, homophobic and other discriminatory messages will be edited by moderators and the poster may be banned. This also includes anti-vegan posts and posts promoting animal products. The internet is full of forums where such opinions can be aired and it is only fair that veganfitness.net remain a safe haven for active vegan people.

IMO (and yes, i know its likely to just be mine, but im going to say it anyway) I would like this member banned.

[line]

Ok, I am calming down now, even though there are very few reasons that make rational behavior easy in this world

Will (preferably all of) you please help convincing figure skating boot producers that vegan boots will be a massive economic hit for them?

Figure skating is a wonderful feeling when you've got the hang of it, and I miss it to the point were I get depressed because wood floor dancing is not at all the same. ..the ice cold wind to your face when speed is up, a successfull high speed step sequence to music of choice, the feeling of flying through the air when jumping and landing the jump correctly, the continous speedy movement after landing, the feeling of managing a piruet with >20 quick rotations in several positions, the sound of raizor sharpe blades against the ice..


VEGAN FIGURE SKATES NOW!!!! (so much for calming down sorry about shouting, but I'm desperate. Please help.)