Birthday Gadgets!

I turned 26 on May 2oth. So now that I'm older than a quarter century, I think that I can officially talk about how old I am. I have been caught saying things like "I'm almost 30 years old!" at least 5 or 6 times. And it seems that now that I am so old, I'm acting it. I'm not really interested in drinking, partying, or being awake past midnight.

Yes, yes, I know I'm a "baby" blah blah.

One awesome thing about getting old is that I appreciate the cool stuff even more. For my birthday, I few really rockin gadgets from my two favorite ladies, my Mom and April.

I'll start with April's gift. Well, it really wasn't her idea. My old roommate upgraded her camera and go a new Canon 50D, leaving her poor Canon 20D cold, alone and neglected. So, she very nicely sold it to April for a really really really nice price.

I am now the proud owner of this awesome and very sexy girl. She's considered an upper level amateur camera and many pros use this beauty as a back up. You can look up the specs but it's 8.2 megapixels and shoots in RAW and JPG format. She also threw in a nice zoom lens that is lovely.

To accessorize, I bought a camera strap from Phatstraps.com . My first custom made one was going to be awesome. It had black skulls on it and blank minky lining. But USPS got it lost and don't get me into their crappy tracking system for standard deliveies. PhatStraps didn't have to, but because they are awesome, refunded me the price of the strap. So I went with an already made 40" strap that they had that looks like this, except with lavender Miky instead of Pink. I LOVE it!

I left my baby in St. Louis during my trip so I wouldn't have to check luggage on the way back. I wish I would have brought her though so I can stop to take some pictures on our drive up to St. Louis. I may have my dad ship her instead. We'll see.

Next, Id like you all to meet.... drum roll please... MOLLY!!!

She's an Acer One- also known as a netbook. It's 10 inches and it's adorable. It's not made to store much, having ony 1 GB, but I'm going to get a big Memory card or flash drive for it and transfer files to my external harddrive when things are getting full. Also we still have our two regular notebooks, although they are currently virus infected and I've only gotten one back to a some what usable state (unfortuantely, it's NOT the one with my new full Adobe suite, so I've been without all my yummy programs for a few weeks now).

I love her. My mom got one for herself and my grandma. My mom named her Malikai and grandma named her Mable? Oh I forgot what my grandma named hers. My mom named mine Molly. But for some reason there was a netbook naming emergency one day, per my Mom. And they all HAD to have "M" names. People wonder why I am like I am?

Domme's Complete Derby Gear Profile

I am a gear nerd. It's true. And I have very strong brand loyalty because I buy stuff I've done alot of research on and they are products I rest my most vulnerable body parts on. I don't take that lightly. So I've decided to review the stuff I wear, for your reading pleasure! I've also converted April to wearing most of this same stuff, so she can back me up that this is good quality stuff right here :)

Skates- Reidell 265 Wickeds- We should start with the most important part of skating- the actual skates. When I first started skating, I bought some old RS1000s off of ebay. They did the trick for that time but then I realized they needed alot of work to keep up with the skating progress I was making. So I took my butt down to Fritz's Skate Shop in South Beach got my Wickeds! These skates have the old retro style double stripes, which I love. They come stock with PowerDyne DynaPro Aluminum plates, which do the job, especially as a bigger girl (I skated on them at 350 lbs with no issue). At Fritz's, they're geared towards outdoor skating, so they came with some Radar Pures (I'll go into these later) but usually they come with Radar Tuners (which in my opinion, are shit, but to each her own).

I had practically no break in-period, which was WONDERFUL, as I've seen sooo many girls act like they had torture devices strapped to them when they first got their skates. The toe stops never budge, they are easy to adjust, they do what I tell them to, and I like that they're a little heavier than something with a nylon plate...I feel more grounded that way.

Problems that I've had- The counter on this skate goes over the foot, which caused me alot of pain for while and I know has given other skaters problems. Losening my laces and cutting out the elastic tongue holder thing seemed to help as well. If a skater has this problem, Reidell will fix it for free. Just email them and they'll get your skate back to you in a week. Luckily the pain finally went away as the counter softened a bit over time.

This is a leather good, which I try not to buy in my daily life. Reidell has now come out with a 265 Divine, which is supposed to be 100% vegan. I don't know anyone who's skated on these, as they're pretty new and rather high priced for a non-leather good, in my opinion.

Indoor Wheels- Blue Cannibals, Black Mojos- I train during the week on Black Mojos, which are a Hybrid Indoor/Outdoor wheel. It's really hard to get any momentum on our grippy floor so I'm using them as resistance training. Then a few days before a bout, I'll br throwing on my Blue Cannibals. Blue Cannibals are WONDERFUL. They're grippy but not too grippy. I've skating on them on outdoor painted concrete, on slick and grippy wood, and on convention center polished concrete and they've been awesome on all of thos. They also have an aluminmum hub which ensures a purer roll. They're worth the high price tag. They make a cheaper, non aluminum hub, Witch Doctors if you're budget concious. I've also used the yellow cannibals and they are great jammer wheels or great for bigger girls (I wore them when I was heavier) who worry about grippy wheels slowing them down too much.

Insoles- Superfeet (Green)- I am always shocked when I hear how many derby girls are skating 6-10 hours a week with the insoles that came with their skates. Ladies- these are just filler insoles. You NEED to buy a good quality pair of insoles. Don't abuse your feet more than you have to.

I believe in firm support, not the jelly kind that you buy at your local Walgreens. Superfeet are pretty decent over the counter orthotics around 40-50 bucks. They have different colors to accomodate different types of pronation.

Stores that carry Superfeet have sample so bring your skates with you and try the samples on skates, especially doing left turns. I recommend green but some people like gray.

Socks- Skater Socks - Socks can make all the difference in your foot comfort level and in whether or not your get blisters. Some people say that thin socks are better. Some say that thick socks are. I find that Skater Socks are the best socks for me to skate with. They are thick and they don't allow my foot to move as much within the skate, causing me less blisters.

Knee Pads- 187's- *DON'T F AROUND WITH YOUR KNEES!* Again, I'm amazed when I see the crap ass knee pads people play with. This is a very tough contact sport where you purposely and accidentally fall on your knees over and over and over again. These are the only knee pads I recommend, although I hear Fatboys are good too. These suckers have very thick memory foam, they stay in place, and when you fall, it's like falling on clouds. Seriously. Everyone who I've convinced to transition from crap knee pads to 187s will be a bran whore for life. If you want a little extra support, throw some Gladiator Knee Gaskets under them. Same thing if your knee pads slip due to excessive sweat. Even if you're Fresh Meat and aren't sure if you'll stick with the sport, spring for the good knee pads. DON'T F AROUND!

Wristguards- Triple 8 Hired Hands - I believe in having the most protection possible. When I wear any other wrist guards, I am super scared to fall. The minute I put my Hired Hands on, I have no fear. The break in period was a little annoying because they're stiff but after a few practices, they're nicely broken in. I also had to cut the fingers down a little bit because they were too long. But that was no big deal and I haven't had any fraying or anything from the cutting. Wristguards are a tricky thing. They say that the purpose of them is not to prevent breakage but to prevent breakage in the actual wrist... it is supposed to transfer the trauma up to your arm, which is much easier to heal than in your wrist, where there are a ton of tiny and hard to heal bones. April wears these and they recently protected her from a bad wrist break... I wouldn't wear anything else.

Helmet- TSG Superlight- This is the lightest helmet on the market. I love it. It's like you don't even know it's on. It only comes in Matte Black I believe, no glossy or colors if you're into that. My only complaint is that I swear it makes me look like an egg head. See, I'm an egg head -------->

Mouthguard- Gladiator Custom Mouthgaurd- Ok, so I get made fun of alot because I'm always talking about my wonderful mouthguard. Until you've worn a custom mouthguard, you can't possibly know how wonderful it is. With gladiator, they send you a mold kit... you take an impression of your teeth (it's pretty easy), you send it in. They make a concrete mold, they make your mouthguard, and they send both back to you. Then, if you ever need a replacement, you send in your concrete mold for a half priced replacement. They have a variety of colors and color combos. Mine is clear. You can also get your name, team logo, team colors, whatever. This is the cheapest custom mouthguard that I could find. The beauty of these babies is that you can actually breathe properly, talk, and you can even drink with them in. Try that with your boil-in! Also, they don't seem to melt like the boil ins so when you leave it in your skate bag in your car, it stays in perfect shape! They range about 50 bucks for your first one... 25 each there after. If you want to go crazy (and spend crazy money), you can get awesomely unique mouthguard from guardyagrill.com

Elbow Pads- Boneless- Honestly, I'm not too picky about my elbow pads. As long as you buy a mid range elbow pad with THICK memory foam and good grippiness on your elbows, they should be fine. However, those cheap ass rollerblade pads all you girls are getting from Sports Authority are NOT appropriate once you start contact. Upgrade!

What gear do you wear and love?