Reasonable Knee Pads

[badger_14 601]

Having risen, vaccinated, from the benthic depths of the pandemic, I've realized it's time for new knee pads.  I thought about it last time I played (March 2020, after finally being cleared after my back surgery), but then the pandemic happened and it just wasn't a priority and I hadn't played again til this past Saturday.  I definitely need (kneed?) new (knew?) knee pads/guards.  Right now I am using Bauer Supreme knee guards, which I quite like - they fit well, help up reasonably, stayed up without wrapping them in a kilometer of tape or wearing socks over them, were protective to as far as my average level of play.  But the seams are splitting and the padding is getting battered, so it's time.  I'm down for just buying another pair of the Bauers, but I'm open to suggestions.  My leg pads (Warrior) did come with knee pads, but they were intermediates and just didn't fit my senior-sized leg.  A pal wears the Warrior ones, but she also wears socks over them, and I get so damned hot wearing socks. 

I have: a thick thigh and a short leg.  I play at about a C level: a mix of good, sensible people and people who take clappers from the hash marks.  Sometimes when I feel like a butt-kicking, I play for a higher-level group. 

Thoughts?  Just stick with the Bauers?  Expand my horizons somewhere?  What are your fave knee guards and why?

[psulion22 402]

I've used almost all of them and IMO, the Bauer Vapor 1X is the best knee pad on the market (thanks to @Hills for the recommendation).  Passau stays up the best, is the most stable, and is pretty protective, but they're huge and heavy and have very little padding in the landing area.  With the Maltese insert to fix that they are even heavier and bulkier.  Warriors have the most padding in the landing area and are pretty light.  But all that padding is soft and leads to instability in the butterfly and the protection isn't great, especially in the "SR" version that comes with the pads.  Plus, I found them impossible to keep from sliding down without both taping and wearing socks over.  Maltese KTPs were pretty much terrible in every way, except possibly the comfort in landing.  I'm not a fan of the design of Brian's knees (which are similar to the Supremes).  They're too rigid and enclosed around the knee.  The 1X's are the lightest (thanks to the Aerolite foam and Curv knee plate) and probably the second most protective behind the Passau (again thanks Curv).  They stay up on their own pretty well but come with a garter that really holds them up without noticing it.  They're pretty cushioned and comfortable while also being stable in the butterfly (inbewteen the Passau and Warrios on both those spectrums).  And they aren't bulky or restrictive feeling at all.

[badger_14 601]

An excellent rundown.  Thanks for the info.  I'll give the Bauers a look.

[Hills 712]

Can you wait a few months? Bauer is launch 2 new pairs of knee pads this year and both look to be evolutions of the current Supreme and 1X. If you can wait I would, since I am going to make a bold assumption that Bauer will only improve those (but they have gone the wrong way before...).

[Giltis 116]

I've not used too many different knee pads so take this recommendation with a grain of salt, but I got lucky and I was able to get my hands on a set of PAWs used. 

They are extremely comfy and protective.

[Hills 712]

PAWs and the old Maltese are comfortable but don't have a cap or plate over the knee. If you want actual protection you need a secondary and floating piece over the knee or a hard plastic top layer in the pads.

[psulion22 402]

5 hours ago, Hills said:

Can you wait a few months? Bauer is launch 2 new pairs of knee pads this year and both look to be evolutions of the current Supreme and 1X. If you can wait I would, since I am going to make a bold assumption that Bauer will only improve those (but they have gone the wrong way before...).

Sorry to take a tangent, but do you know if Bauer is releasing a new line of goalie cups also?  I was just about to pull the trigger on a Supreme to replace my many years old "Pro", but if they're going to bring redesigned models (maybe with Curv in them?), I can definitely wait.

[Hills 712]

14 minutes ago, psulion22 said:

Sorry to take a tangent, but do you know if Bauer is releasing a new line of goalie cups also?  I was just about to pull the trigger on a Supreme to replace my many years old "Pro", but if they're going to bring redesigned models (maybe with Curv in them?), I can definitely wait.

All of their accessories and stuff will be revamped. I didn't notice Curv or anything in the cup from what I saw, but I didn't really take a hard look at it either sorry.

[psulion22 402]

9 hours ago, Hills said:

All of their accessories and stuff will be revamped. I didn't notice Curv or anything in the cup from what I saw, but I didn't really take a hard look at it either sorry.

No worries. That’s good enough to make me wait to see what comes out. Thanks

[badger_14 601]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:03 AM, Hills said:

Can you wait a few months? Bauer is launch 2 new pairs of knee pads this year and both look to be evolutions of the current Supreme and 1X. If you can wait I would, since I am going to make a bold assumption that Bauer will only improve those (but they have gone the wrong way before...).

I mean, my gear is not actively on fire, and my usual pack of hoodlums pick up group isn't likely to have regular ice time til the end of April, so yes.  I may go and try on the current mess of options anyway - if it turns out the new iterations aren't as good, I'd still like to know that the old ones are feasible.

[badger_14 601]

Update: I went with the 1x, and they are indeed very comfortable.  However, they do slide down without attachments, at least when wearing relatively smooth undergarments.  So I'll have to try the garter belt (or there may be some sort of attachment loop in my pants?  I hadn't checked, to be honest.)  The thigh end is pretty rigid, and I have some fierce bruises from where it slid down, but once they're seated right and stay up it should be fine.  Also, my knees don't feel nearly as terrible, so I'll count that a win. 

[Hills 712]

17 hours ago, badger_14 said:

Update: I went with the 1x, and they are indeed very comfortable.  However, they do slide down without attachments, at least when wearing relatively smooth undergarments.  So I'll have to try the garter belt (or there may be some sort of attachment loop in my pants?  I hadn't checked, to be honest.)  The thigh end is pretty rigid, and I have some fierce bruises from where it slid down, but once they're seated right and stay up it should be fine.  Also, my knees don't feel nearly as terrible, so I'll count that a win. 

They should come with a velcro piece that attaches to pants in the same spot where the garter attaches. You could sew in a loop into the pants there to make it work that way.

[badger_14 601]

They did - both velcro pieces and the garter belt itself.  (Which led to an interesting conversation with the salesclerk about what it was and why it went with the knee pads.)  It should be a simple enough solution.

[caveman27 208]

On 4/25/2021 at 3:44 PM, badger_14 said:

Update: I went with the 1x, and they are indeed very comfortable.  However, they do slide down without attachments, at least when wearing relatively smooth undergarments.  So I'll have to try the garter belt (or there may be some sort of attachment loop in my pants?  I hadn't checked, to be honest.)  The thigh end is pretty rigid, and I have some fierce bruises from where it slid down, but once they're seated right and stay up it should be fine.  Also, my knees don't feel nearly as terrible, so I'll count that a win. 

This a picture of the inside of a leg of Bauer goalie pants with the knee guard velcro attachment strip.

 

 

That or you can attach it to the garter belt strap like this.

[Hills 712]

3 hours ago, caveman27 said:

This a picture of the inside of a leg of Bauer goalie pants with the knee guard velcro attachment strip.

 

 

That or you can attach it to the garter belt strap like this.

So... that isn't actually how those knee pads connect to the garter or the pant.

The pant picture you showed is the removeable padding that opens up the leg more. 

The grey nylon loop is actually where the knee pad would attach to. When you wear the garter you don't use the piece that says "Vapor" on the knee pad picture. That is the strap that will go into the loop in the pants.