Hockey kneepads for caving?

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Hockey kneepads for caving?

Postby lenslover2003 » Jul 13, 2007 11:26 am

I just finished a fairly grueling trip,in which I tore my GGG kneepads,and spent most of the trip adjusting them. I have tried many different pads,including the Bombers,Tactical styles,and plain volleyball designs. I have shredded them all. I have had it. I need something that can take REAL abuse,for a lot of crawly caving. The only thing I have not tried are Hockey pads. Has anyone tried them? They look good,but don't seem to have an above- the- knee strap. I was wondering about just duct taping them to my leg! Yeah, I am that desperate.....Do we have any hockey players out there,who can enlighten me? I don't care about weight,just protection......
Blessed are the cracked......for they shall let in the light.......
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Postby Komebeaux » Jul 13, 2007 1:38 pm

I have a pair similar to these that are made for miners.

Image


They are a little bulky, but if it's a rocky floor with lots of crawling, I make sure I have them. Otherwise, I just use some foam and canvas ones. I also wear hard plastic soccer shin guards. They work perfectly because my rubber boots fit right over them.
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Postby Scott McCrea » Jul 13, 2007 2:08 pm

I saw someone using catchers (baseball) pads once. He liked them.
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Postby Squirrel Girl » Jul 13, 2007 2:11 pm

I went to Roppel a couple weeks ago and one of the guys recommended and lent me his Home Depot Knee Pads. But he recommended the Lowe's straps as better.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... =100297187

They sure worked better than my Bomber pads in that the Bomber velcro mudded up so badly that the pads were falling off.

Says something about Roppel--now doesn't it?
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Postby Keith K » Jul 14, 2007 12:27 am

Squirrel Girl, you hit the nail on the head. My bombers are about to give out and this is the style I was going to try next. I have at least one more trip through Groaning on the bombers though.
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Postby NZcaver » Jul 14, 2007 10:39 am

Yeah, I ripped up my long Bomber Gear pads pretty bad last year - lava tube caving. Since they no longer make those, I patiently repaired them by attaching layers of 2 inch webbing over the front with Shoe Goo and a sewing awl.

The best tough kneepads I've found so far (at least for sharp lava tubing) are hard cap skateboard ones like this. The only real annoyance is that they have to go on like a sock, and then the extra straps just help to hold them in place. I briefly tried the ones Squirrel Girl linked to, and found they suck because they're too flexible and flop around a bit much. But your experience may vary, and they might be OK in muddy caves.
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Postby brrrdog » Jul 16, 2007 2:21 pm

I'm not sure I'd recommend hockey pads (not like the ones I have anyway) since the knee cup is pretty round and I could see you rolling out of them a lot.

My favorite ones so far are some that I bought from home depot a few years ago. They are very wide and flat so it's like a boot sole for your knee. They also have a nice wide velcro strap below the knee and another smaller clasp strap above so I never have a problem with it "biting" the back of my knee all day.
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