Average Shelf Life

[chiefeagle02]

I have a question.

What's the average shelf life of a DDR pad? I'm talking about those pads that come bundled with the software. I've had mine for a year and a half and it's slowly starting to flake out.

Thanks.

[xstatic]

It depends on how often you use them. I personally went through a soft mat about once every 3 months.

[abrannan]

Yeah, there's really too may factors to give a good number. The songs you play, the surface you've got under your mat, how you dance, etc. can really vary the time.

[SSC]

I think weight can have a large contributing factor as well.

I went through a good number of pads when I was a lot heavier, but now I seem to squeeze out a lot more life out of them.

[bingoman303]

MY old TX-2000 pad still works although the arrows are starting to come off and the bar is broken. My cobalt flux pad has lasted 2.5 years and it's still as good as it was on the first day. I just clean it every few months and it's good as new.

[winter]

i really want a flux pad but they dont make if for the 360

[mukiex]

If you're under 200 pounds, 6-9 level songs will last you a while, a lot of 10-footers will kill your pad in 3 months, especially if you play daily. Over 250, especially over 300, and 6-9 will kill your pads in 1-3 months.

If you're using soft pads with raised buttons (commonly known as the "Ignition" style), get a hold of a pad or two with hard foam. Basically, get a game store pad or a pad that has the same foam durability on eBay. Watch out, a lot of vendors will lie, a pair of hard-foam pads are usually around $60-90. If anyone has more recent info (I haven't bought in a while) or a reputable dealer link, please plug it in.

Once you have the hard foam inserts, if your pad dies, buy the cheapest pair of Ignition-style pads you can find. Most of them are identical, with the foam being the only thing most retailers skimp out on. If you get a pair for cheap (say, $40-50 for both including shipping) and there's hard foam, you're in luck, store the ones you have. If they come with crappy foam, toss them out (along with your old busted zip-up pads) and put the old, nicer foam in the new pads. If you can't store your pads horizontally, and you have to put them away for more than a couple of weeks, take the foam apart and store the individual pieces stacked.

* Edit note: Apparently Red Octane has better options than the last time I checked (which was a long time ago, I'll admit). They sell full Ignition pads for $60 (no ship cost, PS2/USB in one pad) and foam inserts for $20 ($6 ship for 1, $8 for 2) apiece. Not bad et al. Makes the buy-'n-foam-swap method a ton easier

[Grant.]

My pads actually usually last me a couple of years. I just have always used the crummy $20 soft pads that you can get either standalone or with DDR. I went through one rather quickly when I was first learning how to play, but now that I actually pick up my feet I seem to be doing all right. They actually are quite worth the money I paid for them.