RBK 8k Leg Pad Out of the Box review

[srv2miker 0]

Okay, just q quick OOB review, haven't used these on ice or anything - once I do I'll be sure to do a more in-depth review.

So far I've just worn them around the house, doing carpet-flys. To be 100% honest, I was really concerned Thursday night that I might have to return them, because they didn't seem to fit right. Every 3-4 times during a bfly my knees would miss the landing gear, specifically landing short (right between the bottom of the flap and the calf wedge). This despite the pads sitting perfectly when standing or sitting.

I tried different strap tightnesses, different toe-lace-knot lengths etc., but could not remedy the problem. I was literally at my computer looking at the Goalie Crease's return policy, when I had an epiphany and went back downstairs to try one more thing. Instead of running the bootstrap through the heel of my skate, I ran it under the arch, and cranked it a little tighter than usual. Sure enough, it worked like a charm, and I was landing dead center of the landing gear everytime - disaster averted! I actually like the feel of the pad much better this way, as it feels less floppy.

I am having a slight problem with the rotation that I can't seem to solve, no matter how I tweak it. You'll see in the image below that in my bfly there is a slight gap at the top of the pads (==v==) that I can't get rid of. Any advice you have would be helpful, althought I've tried everything and can't remedy it. I am strapping them a little tighter than I think most people do (by maybe one hole), but even when I had the knee straps at their loosest the gap still appeared. ?

Here's few random thoughts I had trying out the pads:

- My 8ks came with thighboards, despite being NHL Legal. I'm assuming they're just old stock, as I believe more recent 8ks come without them. Yay for me I guess.

- Many reviews on GSBB said the straps and buckles were really cheap, but to be quite honest they didn't seem terrible, definately on par for Sr. level gear.

- Lots of strapping options which I like, and I've already tried a few different combinations just doing carpet-flys.

- For what it's worth, the 37" pad is 1-2" taller than my (well-loved) Beasts,

- Reviewers on GSBB noted the knee blocks are very stiff, and therefore hard on bare knees. This is true, but the stiffness does have the beneft of making the five hole closure between the knees very very tight. On my Beasts the knee blocks were so pillowy that they'd curve around my knees a little, opening a channel the puck could squirt through. There will be none of that with these pads.

- Didn't seen anything on the pad that made me think "yeah that's falling off after two minutes" - initial quality looks good.

All in all pretty happy with the pads, can't wait to try them on the ice.