DIY Derby: Wrist Guard Covers

The other day I was going through my sewing box and I found a precious piece of Auntie Social History. I thought I had lost them but no, I would never allow that to happen. I just stowed them away in a hidden compartment so that they’d be safe, and boy was I delighted when I found them.

They can be seen here ^

^ Here...

...^ Here...

If you haven’t read my DIY Derby Blog on Uniforms, I personally like the themes and outfits as opposed to the sweat resistant jerseys that WFTDA leagues are evolving towards. It’s more spectator friendly and it’s a characteristic that differentiates roller derby from other sports. We LIKE that it’s different from other sports. And fun themes are just well, fun.

...And also here^

So my first team, (well- besides the NCRG Allstar Travel team: ‘The Hustlers”) my first official team was the VooDoo Dolls, (captained by Survivor’s Flicka Flame). [Random tangent: since we were VooDoo Doll themed I wanted my derby name to be ‘Bitch Doctor’-you know-like witch doctor? But they wouldn’t allow me to have a name with ‘bitch’ in it, despite the fact that they had a ‘bee-yotch’. Needless to say, I’m glad I ended up with Auntie Social].

So our colors were green and purple. And I found these bad ass spiky rubber gloves at a sciencey kids store. As soon as I saw them I knew how awesome they were and that I could most likely stretch them over my wrist guards, and they’d be the most unique, scary addition to my uniform EVER. They were sold separately, (ridiculous) but I knew they were worth it.

Okay, they got a little crushed.

And they were. Players and refs repeatedly took double takes and often brushed their hands over the top of the spikes without asking, just to confirm for themselves that they were really harmless.

For awhile I went on a quest to find them and since I didn’t locate them with all my past derby uniforms I assumed I had lost them in a move. The store I bought them at was one of a kind and I was sad at the thought of never being able to find them again. 

Imagine my joy when I found them hiding in the bottom of my sewing box, like a real life diamond in the rough, just waiting to be re-discovered and re-appreciated once more.

5 on 5 Ad

Anyhow. Those were my wrist guard covers. If you read 5 on 5 magazine, you will notice that every so often there is an ad in there for a product called Sleex by a company called Wondermehr. They make wrist guard covers. I gotta tell ya, my first reaction when I see a product like that is it is a bullshit marketing scheme designed by people who just want to piggy back on the sport’s success and make a little dough, (and second, if derby girl’s really wanted something like that, why not be clever/unique enough to design and make your own? You know? D.I..Y.?! I digress…)

But more importantly, why not invest your time and efforts in actually re-designing a new and improved wrist guard to further pad technology and skating safety? Oh that’s right because you don’t give a damn about individuality or skater safety, you care about making a buck.

My advice to you: If you want cool accessories or additions to your skating ensemble, think outside the box and come up with it yourself. Don’t support bullshit hangers on who are just trying to get a piece of the pie. Keep derby DIY or go pro, and wear a sweat resistant jersey. No in between.

(On another note, lately I’ve been really enamored with skate covers, but that’s a whole different blog.)

P.S. I also made the fur leg warmers. I'll save that for another blog too.