knee pad opinion

[Dangerjudy]

I like to wear elbow pads caving. On my elbows, not my knees. I felt it was related enough to post in this thread. But anyway, the 661 2x4's have held up admirably - dare I say miraculously- well to the caving environment. I never expected them to survive caving. But they sure do. I bought them for creek kayaking and have yet to wear them boating. AND they're on sale at pricepoint for $12.98.
http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/12187- ... Guards.htm

[wendy]

i have the bomber gear knee pads, the only problem is when my pants are too loose and the material bunches up back there and then i get material burns on the back of my knees when it rubs around back there, i should have taken a pic of the back of knees from the other week, but its not the fault of the knee pads, i just need better caving britches.

as far as elbow pads go, i cut up an old wetsuit and made some great elbow pads!

[mgmills]

i have the bomber gear knee pads, the only problem is when my pants are too loose and the material bunches up back there and then i get material burns on the back of my knees when it rubs around back there, i should have taken a pic of the back of knees from the other week, but its not the fault of the knee pads, i just need better caving britches.

as far as elbow pads go, i cut up an old wetsuit and made some great elbow pads!

I wear my knee pads directly over "polypro" tights. I always wear "polypro" tights. Sometimes I wear long pants over the tights . . . sometimes I wear shorts over the tights. It prevents the "bunching up" problem Wendy experienced.

Regarding elbow pads. I buy little kids soccer shin guards and cut the foot strap off. They stay in place on my elbows and last well (at least for me). I may check out Judy's pads though . . . the price is about the same.

[barcelonacvr]

I like to wear elbow pads caving. On my elbows, not my knees. I felt it was related enough to post in this thread. But anyway, the 661 2x4's have held up admirably

So I am no that odd after all :) everyone always looks at my kneepads funny..maybe it isn't my kneepads afterall LOL

[randojl]

...They are very comfortable,I barely notice them.

They look so good and your endorsement is so compelling, that I just purchased a pair from green_fish_sports on eBay (pricepoint didn't show this model). Thanks for the suggestion. I'll probably use them on 1/7/06 and will provide a review.

[Dangerjudy]

Regarding elbow pads. I buy little kids soccer shin guards and cut the foot strap off. They stay in place on my elbows and last well (at least for me). I may check out Judy's pads though . . . the price is about the same.

Hmmmm the only size they have on sale is Small. (I was going to buy another pair to keep in the kayaking gear bag, leaving the pair I have just for caving.)

The pair I have are Adult Medium. So I recommend Adult Medium size for the average caver woman's arm. ;-)

If I spot 'em on sale somewhere else I'll post here.

[Dangerjudy]

Bike Nashbar has the SixSixOne 2x4 pads on sale for $19.99
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?cate ... &pagename=

And the SixSixOne Knee Pads for $29.99

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?cate ... &pagename=

[ScottM]

I have used 2 or 3 types of knee pads during my caving adventures, but I always use duct tape to keep them in place. Does anyone else make use of duct tape on their caving trips?

[pacaver]

A friend of mine had his sole separating from the rest of the boot while caving in WV. They wrapped duct tape around it and he made it out of the cave without trouble. Good stuff to have around!

[Robert Sewell]

I wear them over my Lost creek and I have 20 " calves.I have worn them with a wetsuit and nylon suit as well.They are very comfortable,I barely notice them.I need shin guards as my shin bone sticks out a lot.

What size 4x4 are those? XL? It looks like they come down to your ankles, which might make it difficult to wear with shin-high boots or Wellies. Are you wearing ankle-high boots in that picture?

I'm sold, but I might have to buy new boots, since I currently use Wellies in-cave.

[coferj]

I've had a little experience with the GGG pads. I chose the extra-long version to help them stay in place, reasoning that the extra surface area and extra strap would keep them anchored. Alas, it hasn't worked that well so far: they seem to stay put while I'm walking and then slide to my ankle when I'm crawling, even with the straps very tight. I guess this could be my fault if I've misunderstood the designer's intent (no instructions) but I surely don't see how.

The common wisdom is to use external pads and save your pants with pad pockets from abrasion, but an integral pad is probably my next approach.

I have to second this. Very durable...VERY comfortable...when they stay where they are supposed to. Lots of knee bending and climbing tends to work them down to the ankle....have to stop, resituate, continue...the only good thing about them is the buckle system...only because they are fast to fix...but aside from that, the buckles are worthless. But, best thing I have used so far, so until I find something better....

[mgmills]

I've had a little experience with the GGG pads. I chose the extra-long version to help them stay in place, reasoning that the extra surface area and extra strap would keep them anchored. Alas, it hasn't worked that well so far: they seem to stay put while I'm walking and then slide to my ankle when I'm crawling, even with the straps very tight. I guess this could be my fault if I've misunderstood the designer's intent (no instructions) but I surely don't see how.

The common wisdom is to use external pads and save your pants with pad pockets from abrasion, but an integral pad is probably my next approach.

My knee pads are the long style (ankle to top of knee) but are an "off brand" (Caverwear) that I haven't heard of lately (sad to say because they are wearing out).

I wear them over polypros but under my caving pants (when I'm wearing long pants) for a couple of reasons.
1) they stay put better for me . . . wearing them over pants the pants tend to bunch up and move around causing everything to get "out of whack"
2) when I've paid $50 for knee pads I want to protect them from wear and tear, not my outer pants. . . besides I can patch the knees of my pants a lot easier than I can patch my knee pads.

An alternative that I used prior to buying the long pads is wear an athletic style knee pad on the knees and another (smaller sized) pad over the calf and shin. It helps keep the shin protected and helps hold the knee pad in place.

[barcelonacvr]

I wear them over my Lost creek and I have 20 " calves.I have worn them with a wetsuit and nylon suit as well.They are very comfortable,I barely notice them.I need shin guards as my shin bone sticks out a lot.

What size 4x4 are those? XL? It looks like they come down to your ankles, which might make it difficult to wear with shin-high boots or Wellies. Are you wearing ankle-high boots in that picture?

I'm sold, but I might have to buy new boots, since I currently use Wellies in-cave.

Yes they are XL as my calves are of the popeye variety.The boots I wear with them are ankle boots,I wish I could wear wellies but they never fit my calves.I have split them to accomodate this but they continue to split at the cut.Unfortunately my feet are too wide for the Escher boots as well so ankle boots or nothing.

[Nico]

I just bought the 4x4 for 45 bucks!! my mind was clouded at the time cause I was thinking about my next trip scheduled for tomorrow, otherwise I wouldnt have paid that much.

I've been walking around with them on and they feel kinda hot, I might just return'em next time I go to the states.

[NZcaver]

I use the long Bomber Gear kneepads/shinpads, over the top of my suit.

For as long as I've used kneepads, I've always found them more comfortable when worn on top. I'd much rather damage, patch, and eventually discard the pads than ruin a $120 caving suit quicker than absolutely necessary.

I got these pads new on eBay for about $30 a year ago. They replaced my old short-version Bomber kneepads, which were almost worn out. Those ones tended to move off the knees a bit when crawling in the mud, but the longer ones stay in place much better (especially after I shortened the elastic straps a bit). I also found the side edges on the old ones deteriorated quicker than the front of the pad. I sewed some webbing over the frayed seams to keep them together, and it helped. I still keep them to use as loaners.

It might be overkill, but I also put foam inserts inside my Meander suit knee pockets - for that little extra protection. And on the rare occasions I need to use elbow pads, I have the basic stretch-on foam ones with "Bike" emblazoned on them. They seem to work OK.

Aquaseal is pretty good for repairing/reinforcing damaged kneepads, as well as the butt of my caving suit. This might be relevant to other Bomber kneepad users, because of the rumor that Bomber Gear is no longer in business. The website is still active http://www.bombergear.com but I just tried to phone them and got a "wireless customer is unavailable" message.


Regarding the GGG kneepads - they do seem well-made, but I know at least one other caver who had problems with the straps - they would loosen on him quite frequently. I'm not sure, but GGG may now have rectified this issue by using different webbing for the straps.


Oh, P.S. - I used to wear really old worn-thin polyprop long johns under my suit, and then wonder why the back of my knees were getting rubbed raw by my kneepad straps! New long johns fixed the problem...