PRO'S CORNER: INDOOR VS. OUTDOOR
As temps get colder in many parts, more people will take their game outdoors to lakes, ponds, or community outdoor rinks. There’s not a whole lot better than the cold air ripping across your face as you skate the down the ice, except that ice could be taking a toll on your equipment!
SKATES
The name of the game with indoor ice is consistency. With a fairly consistent temperature from rink to rink, you get a smooth surface to skate on with uniform wear on your equipment through normal play. Typically, indoor ice will allow a skater to get 4-6 hours (or more) on their edges before needing sharpening.
Outdoor ice, on the other hand, is usually harder and can pose hazards like dirt & debris, cracks, chipping unexpectedly, or even pesky air pockets from the ice freezing too quickly. Not only can these be dangerous, but they are harder on your edges. Harder ice will always wear down your edges faster and now add in extra elements and you’re asking to have your skates sharpened sooner, sometimes after every skate!
Don’t fear skating on outdoor ice, though. At Binnie’s, we suggest having on hand a few extra pairs of steel to swap out – and outdoor set and an indoor set – as well as picking up a skate sharpening card can make skating outdoors easier.
TAPE & WAX
Even though indoor ice generally has a higher friction coefficient, the consistency in the surface and “softer” feel of the ice can reduce the impact on wearable surfaces like tape and wax. The consistently warmer temps of an indoor rink will also help to keep your wax pliable longer. Outdoors, the above-mentioned ice surface conditions can cause your tape to tear, peel, or wear unevenly. Wax in cold temps is also tricky. There are softer waxes on the market – similar to what cold water surfers use on their boards – that can help you retain some grip during the cold, but softer waxes can often result in more snow build-up. If you use too hard of a wax it could freeze resulting in reduced grip from normal instead of increased grip.
To help, pick up some softer stick wax, and have and extra roll of tape on-hand in case you need to replace your tape after a quick game of shinny.
STICKS
The impact of outdoor ice doesn’t stop at your tape and wax! Hockey sticks are designed for the consistent, moderate temps of an indoor rink. The composite sticks that everyone uses now are designed to flex in certain ways for optimal performance. Once the temperature begins to drop, it will affect what is called ductile strength. This is where the molecules no longer shift, bend, or twist around each other as easily, causing things to become more brittle. The type of stick you use can affect how it handles this change in temp. Typically an older composite stick that has a foam core will do better than a more modern composite, and a wood stick will do better than all of them because of how the fibers are aligned and how it retains or disperses the change in temperatures. At Binnie’s we’d suggest you use an older or cheaper stick outdoors in case you’re a victim of Mr. Freeze. Or stop buy your local big-box store and pick up a cheapy wood stick like they used to use in the old days.
Want more info on how ice temps affect skating? Check out our Pro’s Corner on ice temps here: https://www.binnieshockey.com/pros-corner/2020/7/14/pros-corner-how-does-ice-temp-affect-skating.
For more information on Pond Hockey Season, revisit our Pro’s Corner from last January here: https://www.binnieshockey.com/pros-corner/2021/1/5/pros-corner-pond-hockey-season.