So your skates fit your feet just fine, but your heels or your ankles slip, and you're tired of feeling like you're slopping around in your boots?



Here's a wildly ingenious and wonderfully cheap solution from Dr. Hell, of Canberra Roller Derby League, using beer koozies. Seriously.



Dr. Hell says "Aside from the fact that it is far superior in tastiness and flavour than wine, if it weren't for beer and my large collection of stubbie holders, I would still have slippy ankles in my 125s. I'd tried extra thick socks, heel cups, ankle braces, I'd sewn a pair of neoprene booties but to no avail. I was seriously considering a pair of Bonts for the mouldable-ness, but found a $4 solution.



I got two 4mm neoprene bottle holders at the bargain store, cut along the side seam, and then undid the seam around half of the bottom so I had a base circle of neoprene, with two flaps of neoprene coming off it. A perfect heel cup and protection from diggy counters and sharp boot edges."



I know what you're thinking. How can I too, harness the goodness of my favorite beverage to make my skates fit better?



Enter Hot Lips Cruelihan, of Sydney Roller Derby League, with an awesome pictorial tutorial of Dr. Hell's beer koozie method. So easy even a ref could do it. Peep the deets.



Ingredients: Humorous beer koozies (assorted); scissors.



Step 1: Cut down side seam (or for bottle holders, along each side of the zipper).



Step 2: Unpick or cut around base of stubby holder. Mine were glued under the stitching, so I wound up just cutting them.



Step 3: Voila - one heel cup. The vertical neoprene is attached around half the circumference of the base. The flaps just fly free.



Step 4: Insert into back of skate. I've put this one in inside out, cos the colour makes it easier to see, but it makes a little lump at the base of the heel. This may or may not matter to you - I'm putting an insole over the top which covers that edge.



Action shot!



Not pictured: Step 5: Trim to not look stupid.



There you have it. Custom made heel cups on the cheap. The bad news is that they might inspire a hankerin' for a cold one every time you put your skates on, but the good news is that they don't break WFTDA rule 9.4.2.



Could it be the beer that's making these Aussies so smart? Maybe I should start drinking Foster's...



via Skatelog Forum