Brown JB-2100KN Knee Pads

[Law Goalie 147]

Browns Hockey - Goalie Knee Pads - Product Page

SUBJECTIVE HOLISTIC REPRESENTATIVE NUMERICAL ARBITRARY GRADING:

Protection: 9.5/10

Durability: 9.75/10

Mobility:10/10

Integration with other equipment: 10/10 (pants, pads)

OVERALL: 9.8/10

John Brown is a legend in the goalie industry for his core protection (C/As, pants, jocks, and knee-pads), which are still in use in the NHL despite the fact that Brown's only 'equipment rep' is John's reputation, and still prized among amateur goalies despite a much-reduced retail presence. (The easiest way to buy now is direct from John.) I've been using these for about six years now, and they are, quite simply, the gold standard of knee and thigh protection.

I've been turning MSH goalies (and everyone else) onto these for a while now, so I'm hoping a few of them will add their thoughts as well.

There are three models, which have had various model numbers over the years. The basic 2100 is pictured above; the 2000 model (which I've almost never seen) offers a relatively pointless and bulky 'cheater bar' along the inside of the leg; the 822, which adds a synthetic leather tab to the top of the 2100 design to facilitate lacing the knee-pads into corresponding tabs at the bottom of pant legs (eg. Vaughn's); and a variety of scaled-down, equally protective versions of the 2100 for smaller and younger goalies: 2150, 1550, and 1250.

The 2100 model is simplicity itself: a unique one-piece moulded plastic shield, wrapping above and below and bridging across the knee-cap, covered with Brown's secret impact-absorbing weapon (felt!) and backed with LD45 and some soft Volara foam for comfort, all wrapped in high-quality 600D nylon, with only two straps, above and below the knee. This bridging across the knee is a key feature.

When people first get their Brown knee-pads, the first thing they notice is usually that the Velcro elastic straps above and below the knee are much less stretchy than most: even less than most knee-lock straps. This is because Brown's design relies on the creation of a firm bridge from one to the other, which solves the eternal problem of knee-pads that slide down when the leg straightens: these are the only knee-pads which, provided the straps aren't too long (a problem easily solved when ordering direct from John by sending him your measurements), will never slip. The one-piece plastic shield of the Browns is pre-curved to more or less the angle of the knee in a goalie's basic stance. As the knee bends further, the flex-point built into the plastic shield across the patella bends with it; this is why the relatively strong straps are needed. However, as the leg straightens, the Brown one-piece design stops straightening past the angle of the basic stance, creating a rigid bridge over the knee that can only slide down the most twig-like of legs, and only then if the straps are too long.

The anterior (frontal) protection is the Brown knee-pads is absolutely world-class: they are the gold standard. There are no gaps in coverage, and nothing under 80mph will create more than a thud. In six years, I've only been hurt one notable straight-on impact, and that was just a dull ache that went away by the next face-off, with no lingering effects. Naturally, this frontal protection only comes into play in the butterfly and other save-movements in which the pads are rotated (or, more properly, when the legs are rotated behind the pads). The only way to improve the anterior coverage of the Brown design would be to add a large floating shield that would sit flush with the knee-block in the butterfly, as Passau has done in its new knee-pad design, but this adds significant bulk and build complexity.

The one area in which the Browns *might* be said to be lacking is in lateral/medial protection: that is, on either side of the knee joint. When the knee is bent to around 90 degrees (eg. in the butterfly, or a deep crouch like the upright leg of the VH/split-knee/post-leg up position), the upper and lower halves of the one-piece plastic shield come together, giving very good coverage on both sides; of course, only medial (inside) coverage is really important in the butterfly (the lateral [outside] aspect is against the back of the pad), and only the lateral aspect is open to impact in the stance or VH, since the medial side is covered by the knee-block and knee-wing. When the leg is relatively straight, as in a relaxed,upright stance, and the knee-pad is in an unflexed state, bridging across the knee, there is a small gap on the outside of the knee. Since the lateral aspect of the knee is only really exposed when the goalie stays square up-ice and leaves his flank to the shooter, when the puck is at very low angles (under the circle to behind the goal-line), it's extremely unusual to get a really hard shot in this position. That said, if the shot hits you in just the right spot, or if (as often happens at low angles) it gets deflect or isn't shot cleanly and hits you edge-on rather than flush, you can get a real stinger here. As you might imagine, this scenario is not only extremely rare (it's happened to me once in six years, and only because I cheated off the post away from a low-angle shooter with two options in the slot and cross-crease - bad technique and a weak decision) but not actually hazardous. The Brown design keeps the knee-cap protected, so a major injury is a non-issue; you will, however, be hobbling and cursing on the one-in-ten-thousand chance you get hit in this spot in this way. It is also theoretically possible for you to get caught in this gap by a tipped shot, or if you're butterfly sliding across behind the play with poor knee discipline, and the shot comes back across the goal; again, largely your fault, and it's never happened to me. (Not that I'm a clinical technician - in fact, there's still an eyebrow raising amount of standup in my game - but that it's extremely uncommon.)

Yet the only way to improve on the protection offered by Browns' knee pads is to take away their supreme advantage: mobility. In order to cover the medial and lateral aspects of the knee, you'd need a large floating shield, as on the Itech/Bauer/Reebok 'Pro' design with the ball-socket knee-cap, or a set of separate pads around the joint, as on the Passau knee-pads, and rather like the JDP elbows on Reebok C/As. Both of these solutions inevitably reduce mobility in skating, and can cause huge problems in the rotation of the leg behind the pad by jamming against the knee-block or the back of the pad. The Browns are by a wide margin the most streamlined, low-profile knee-pads I've ever seen, and by far the easiest to integrate with any and all goalie pants and pads. They work with relatively tapered thighs like Tacklas and the legendary CCM 620; they work with thigh-cradles like that on the Vaughn Velocity; the only pants they have any issues with are pants with extremely short thigh-pads, like some of Bauer's designs; this is easily solved by sewing or lacing (remember that tab on the 822 model?) the knee-pads into the pants, keeping them in place relative to the thigh. The best part is that even if you have twig-legs and decide to wear super-tapered player-pants in goal (for whatever reason), you can warm up the plastic of the Browns with a hair drier or a VERY gentle heat-gun and re-curve the thigh-guard to fit closer to your leg. (I don't advise this, since it can weaken the plastic, but as long as you only heat up the upper thigh, you should be fine.)

The very low profile also makes the Browns the ideal knee-pads to wear under athletic pants while coaching. As a player coach, they'll save you front a nasty injury if you get tripped up, and they're protective enough that a goalie coach can demonstrate textbook butterfly knee-drive, slamming knees to ice without so much as a hint of pain, and subjecting them to far more direct forces than they'd ever see behind modern pads.

All in all, these are the best knee-pads money can buy: they will give you world-class protection with no loss of mobility and minimal hassle. Rip your thigh-boards and thigh-wraps off the back of your pads, toss your old knee-pads into the gear bin at your local minor hockey association, and give John a call today. While you're at it, you might also want to check out the most protective, durable, and comfortable C/A's, pants, and jocks ever made.

(To reiterate...) OVERALL: 9.8/10

For reference, I'd rate the Bauer KPX knee-pads around a 5, the Cooper/Bauer/Itech basic design at 6, the Bauer/Itech/Reebok 'Pro' designs either a 2 or a 7, depending on whether or not you can wear them at all without beating your knees into a bloody mess, the Smith 6000-model at a 7, RBK Premier 2 at 7.5, the Revoke Pro at a different 7.5, the Heaton/Luongo/PAW at another different 7.5, the Vaughn Velocity/Simmons design at an 8; only the new Passau knee-pads, which I haven't tried yet, *might* have a shot to break 9 overall.