New kneepads

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New kneepads

Postby chh » May 8, 2013 5:49 pm

So mine finally went the way of the dodo. I need some new pads. Does anyone have preferances between GGG's and Dirty Daves? I like "smaller" kneepads, i.e. I don't really like when they cover my shin as well. My old pair was from Howie and I really liked them. The GGG pads are slightly cheaper, but look like there is more material in them. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. GGG has some plastic involved whereas Dave's seem to be just loops for the closure. Also, it looks like you may have to slide the GGG pads on. I'm not sure I like that. Also, I'd like some input on sizing.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Lava » May 8, 2013 6:17 pm

I've used both. While I love a lot of what GGG makes, their kneepads suck. The clasps are fiddly and they don't stay on your knee straight. They are also hard to adjust. Dirty Dave's are better by a long shot (but they aren't perfect either).
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Anonymous_Coward » May 8, 2013 6:23 pm

If you liked Howie's Howitzers, why not get those again? OnRope1 sells them now. Still only $25 and still way less ridiculous than those other pads you mention.

http://onrope1.com/store/index.php?p=catalog&parent=111&pg=1
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Re: New kneepads

Postby chh » May 8, 2013 10:10 pm

Anonymous_Coward wrote:If you liked Howie's Howitzers, why not get those again? OnRope1 sells them now. Still only $25 and still way less ridiculous than those other pads you mention.

http://onrope1.com/store/index.php?p=catalog&parent=111&pg=1


Cool. I didn't realize that. Thanks Andy!
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Smells_Familiar » May 9, 2013 12:55 am

Caleb, how did your Howitzer's wear out?

I've worn a few different kinds of pads and I'm wearing Howitzer's now and I really like them. I find the padding is great, they're light, they stay in place for me, and the front fabric is very tough. The price is right too. I've found their main weak point to be the backing material which seems to deteriorate as much from being washed in the washing machine as it does from caving. The backing on mine is very comfortable but it only consists of a very thin layer of open cell foam with a thin layer of wicking material over it. It's got some holes in it that are rapidly getting larger. I'll eventually sew some replacement backing on. The only other issues I have is the non-elastic webbing strap is difficult to adjust when muddy (but that's to be expected so no biggie) and it's pretty badly abraded where it snakes through the buckle. Easy to sew another strap on though. Or just buy another pair of pads. Overall, I have to say that these have been my favorite pair of pads I've owned for caving.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby trogman » May 9, 2013 6:12 am

I don't see any sizes listed, so I assume these are one size fits all? (or most)
Also it is not clear to me how they adjust- do the straps connect by velcro or by other means?

Thanks for the recommendations. I've been having issues with kneepads, and would love to get a reasonably-priced pair that I am actually happy with.

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Re: New kneepads

Postby LukeM » May 9, 2013 9:22 am

Smells_Familiar wrote:Caleb, how did your Howitzer's wear out?


I've gone through 3 pair of Howitzers, and while I usually get some pretty bad wear on backing material, the life-ending failure is the main seams along the edges coming apart near the top. Once the material starts coming apart it quickly loses its integrity making it hard to sew back together. That, or a strap fails at the adjustment point, but like you said that can be repaired. They're definitely not the most long lasting, but when taking into account the price and how well they work I've decided to stick with them.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby UnderGroundEarth » May 9, 2013 10:25 am

You can extend the life of any pair of knees pads by putting a few coats of Tool Dip on them - http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip.

This has greatly extended the life of my Dirty Daves... You can pick up a can of tool dip at hardware stores.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Lava » May 9, 2013 11:30 am

LukeM wrote:I've gone through 3 pair of Howitzers, and while I usually get some pretty bad wear on backing material, the life-ending failure is the main seams along the edges coming apart near the top. Once the material starts coming apart it quickly loses its integrity making it hard to sew back together. That, or a strap fails at the adjustment point, but like you said that can be repaired. They're definitely not the most long lasting, but when taking into account the price and how well they work I've decided to stick with them.


I like the Howitzers too, but sometimes it only takes one hard trip to wear them out. I wish they'd start making them out of better materials.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Anonymous_Coward » May 9, 2013 2:45 pm

Yeah, you've got to coat the Howitzers with Seam Grip, especially on the seams. Otherwise, you're kind of just fooling yourself.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby NZcaver » May 9, 2013 4:32 pm

+1 vote for the Howitzers. I won my pair (thanks Howie!) as an NSS salon perk. Great pads, really stay in place well. I AquaSealed the seams as soon as I got them. Before that I used to have GGG pads, which suffered from a lot of loosening up and moving around.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby chh » May 9, 2013 6:11 pm

Mine failed at the front seams. I stitched them a few times until the material was just too frail to sew. Then I just wrapped them in duct tape until that got annoying.
I actually expected the plastic attachments to break, but they didn't. My metal tabs also got really rusty. I'd figure they'd fail as well, but it was the material that went first.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Anonymous_Coward » May 9, 2013 6:48 pm

I have never seen the plastic attachments fail, but I have seen a rusty post break off.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby Stan Allison » May 12, 2013 9:24 am

I like Howitzer kneepads for caves where I'm not doing a lot of intensive crawling. I like Dirty Dave's short kneepads for caves where I do a lot of crawling because the pads are much thicker and cushier. Both kneepads work well for me and I find that both wear out on the nylon on the front of the pad with intensive use. I've never had problems with posts rusting on my Howitzers, but I've always been pretty fastidious about cleaning my gear after trips even before the WNS apocalypse. I cave quite a bit and typically go through at least one pair of Howitzers and Dirty Dave's every year so perhaps this might have also helped avoid the rusty post issue since the kneepads are typically retired before they are one year old.
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Re: New kneepads

Postby trogman » May 27, 2013 9:50 am

Based on recommendations from my fellow CaveChatters, I bought some Howitzers and used them for the first time in Steward Springs Cave on Saturday. Those of you that have been there know that SS is a great proving ground for knee pads, as there is a LOT of crawling. I wore them over my wet suit, and under my outer pants. They worked very well, and I hardly had to adjust them at all during an 8 hour trip to the waterfall and back. So, thanks for the suggestions and recommendation, everyone. Hopefully they will hold up well and continue to perform as well as they did on Saturday.

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