Bruised my ribs!... I need a better chest protector

[My Other Car Is A DeLorean 0]

I took a bad cross check to my ribs a few weeks ago during ice and now I'm in need of help finding good chest pads that offer rib protection. Any suggestions?

I dont know if any of you have had bruised/fractured ribs before, but it suuuuuucks! I've never had to use this much ice packs ever.

[Chadd 916]

What were you using when you were cross checked and where on your ribs (side, front, high, low, etc...) was the impact?

[My Other Car Is A DeLorean 0]

What were you using when you were cross checked and where on your ribs (side, front, high, low, etc...) was the impact?

I was wearing low end Hespeler pads. I knew they were a bad idea, but they are very light weight. I would say its the rib just below my nipple and the pain spread into my back, chest and shoulder. I got x-rays taken and nothing fractured or broken, just soft tissue bruised but I have been in pain ever since. It surprising me that no manufactures are focusing on rib protection with their chest pads.

So far I like the CCM crazy lite chest pads, but still see no rib protection on those as well.

[Chadd 916]

Thanks, I just wanted to make sure we weren't going to suggest the same or lower level of pads. Short of something with solid plastic covering your entire upper body, the CCM CL or CS pads should be as protective as anything else. There are a couple topics with people talking about using them. From what I recall, the comments were mostly positive. Any top end pad is going to offer excellent protection, try on a bunch and see what feels best to you.

[bg9 12]

I have CCM U+ 12's, which are fairly high-end pads and I dislocated a rib a few weeks ago on a butt-end from another player. The point is, I think, like how no helmet is "concussion proof", no shoulder pad is 100% "rib injury proof". We all know where the gaps in the protection are, and so do other players. It seems like pucks often know how to find those spots, too.

If you are coming back from a rib injury and you are still pretty tender, you could look into a padded shirt, similar to this: http://www.unequal.com/product/Vapor

Looks like it only adds padding to the ribs, so it might not be too bulky.

[lohnman 0]

I bought my son a shirt from http://www.unequal.com/men?shirts. He likes it says its very comfortable. He is 6' but still pretty thin he wears a med shoulder. There is a large unprotected area in between the bottom of his shoulder pads and the top of his pants. This shirt fills that void nicely.

[Chadd 916]

WSI also makes a couple padded shirts. Here is one of them.

http://wsisports.com/inc/sdetail/204/272

[lohnman 0]

There are tons of padded shirts out there, I've looked at most of them. The unequal products are more expensive than most, but they appear to have better technology built into them. My son has already taken a shot from the point to the ribs in front of the net and had no issues. The padding is very thin compared to the others as well, he is kind of finicky, but had no problem with this shirt. Its a little heavier than than most if comparing static weight but he said he didn't notice the weight once it was on. Its also less bulky.

[Thinkingjack 51]

i'm using the Graf GS iX shoulder pads, those are amazing, probably some of the best protection i've ever had. They're ridiculously light too and super cheap as they're on sale on total hockey right now too

[flyers10 57]

What about getting some lacrosse rib pads to wear with your current shoulders?

[Chadd 916]

What about getting some lacrosse rib pads to wear with your current shoulders?

They wouldn't have helped the OP. The impact was in the chest.

[cwc2134 1]

Hey I just read your topic and I wanted to let you know about EvoShield. I know my profile says I work for them but I don't anymore but i still think they make a great product. If you want more information I still have friends who work there and they can answer any questions you have.

Go to http://www.evoshield...hirt-p/a100.htm and check it out. Its cool stuff and like I said I don't work for them anymore so this is just a recommendation.

[jmiami 4]

I bought my son a shirt from http://www.unequal.com/men?shirts. He likes it says its very comfortable. He is 6' but still pretty thin he wears a med shoulder. There is a large unprotected area in between the bottom of his shoulder pads and the top of his pants. This shirt fills that void nicely.

What protection level did you buy? I see on the website that they offer five different levels. I think for hockey maybe the level 4 one that they call Deadstop that is supposed to be for full-contact sports?

[lohnman 0]

We have both level 3 and level 4 pads for the shirt. They sent him level three by mistake so they let us keep that set and they sent a set of level 4 pads. He was wearing the level 3 for fall hockey, which was U16. Once high school started he switch over to the level 4 pads. He sets up shop in front of the net, the shots are coming faster at this level. He did take a puck in his rib area with the level 3 pads and they worked great.

[jmiami 4]

I am in the market for a rib shirt after suffering a fractured rib due to a cross-check. I was looking at the Evoshield brand, and tried to order from them, but they are inexplicably out of my size (M), until late August. Further research led me to the Unequal Invincible rib shirt, which seems somewhat comparable. Has anyone here played with the Unequal? It seems to be designed for football which makes me wonder how it performs within hockey parameters, which are somewhat different. Any thoughts?

[Ps12 11]

I am in the market for a rib shirt after suffering a fractured rib due to a cross-check. I was looking at the Evoshield brand, and tried to order from them, but they are inexplicably out of my size (M), until late August. Further research led me to the Unequal Invincible rib shirt, which seems somewhat comparable. Has anyone here played with the Unequal? It seems to be designed for football which makes me wonder how it performs within hockey parameters, which are somewhat different. Any thoughts?

I have the unequal invincible and it does a great job protecting my ribs. I also use eq50 shoulderpads that have a rib wrap. I believe eqpro and eq pro10 also have the rib wrap.

The rib part sometimes catches on my pants when the shirt rides up. I plan on adding velcro to help keep the invincible in place. The shoulder padding on the invincible made my hsx shoulder pads sit up higher but it works pretty well with the eq50. Im still debating on removing the shoulder padding

Protection wise they are fantastic. Ive gone into the boards at medium speed and my ribs felt fine. Ive been tripped into the goalpost with my ribs and didnt really feel it. That may have been a combination of the eq50 rib wrap and invincible.

Ive seen players break ribs hitting the goalpost the way i hit it.

Ive landed on my back and chest and the invincible helps soften the blow.

Stitching wise i had some threads come out after a couple of washings. This is the hem part where it came out. The fabric covering the pads seems to wear out as it rubs against the pads but it just looks worn and its still holding up.

Only drawback is now that its summer i dont wear it as much because it gets really warm with that and the shoulder pads. It doesnt breath under the pads so they just keep the heat in.

Still im very happy with them and despite the summer i will be using them in one league where it can get very chippy.

[jmiami 4]

That's some great info re the Unequal, Ps12. Much appreciated.

[rawkstar 45]

I was getting slashed and hooked a lot in roller so i got a bunch of cuts and bruises on my back and sides. Full shoulderpads were just too bulky and there's not quite as much contact to warrant them so I took an old pair of shoulderpads and just cut off the shoulders, you get all the protection without the bulk. Just quickly browsing HM it looks like the pads I had were similar to bauer nexus 4000 which are $39 and looks like they wrap around pretty decent.