protective gear

[froggy]

the bad news is I've been falling a lot lately, the good news is..I translate that as that I am challenging myself now! What protective wear do you wear? I've been pushing off getting pads, but I'm at the point where the bruises just are so painful it's hard to sit! Specifically I feel I need padding where I fall most often on my knees and sit bone aka tail bone aka (my ischial tuberosities-which are the anatomically correct term). I have the rainbow catalog but I notice there are a couple of types..waxel pads..krash pads. Anyone have any recommendations??

thank you and happy skating!

[montanarose]

I swear by my Skating Safe knee and hip pads (www.skatingsafe.com). Very expensive 8O but they last forever, are very thin yet highly impact-resistant. You can wear them between two pair of tights -- my preference -- or against bare skin under a single pair of tights.

Ellen

[jazzpants]

I wish I was wearing mine today (well at least the knee pads anyway.) I took a bad collision with a little kid this afternoon and my knee is badly bruised. But *sigh* my coaches insists I wear no knee pads b/c 1) it interferes with my ability to bend my knee (which if I don't I end up needing the knee pads in the first place!!!) and 2) I need to start learning to not rely on knee pads and to learn to not be afraid to fall on the ice. GRRRRR!!!

[Mrs Redboots]

I, too, am a proud member of the "bruised knees" club, as I caught my toe last night when dancing and went splat. Luckily I didn't pull my partner down with me, and was able to get up, apologise profusely, and finish the dance! But oh, my knee is sore.... it really is only a bruise, there's no damage, but they can hurt quite enough, thank you!

[dbny]

If you're not going to wear them all the time, there's no need to spend big $$$ on the SkatingSafe knee pads, as you can buy perfectly good ones (but bulkier) at any sporting goods store. I wear ones made by Wilson for volleyball, and they aren't too noticeable under my black pants. For hips and tail bone, you will have to go to pads made by skaters. My daughter wore crash pads for a while, and they protect both the hips and tail bone.

[jazzpants]

I swear by my Skating Safe knee and hip pads (www.skatingsafe.com) (http://www.skatingsafe.com)/). Very expensive 8O but they last forever, are very thin yet highly impact-resistant. You can wear them between two pair of tights -- my preference -- or against bare skin under a single pair of tights.

EllenI second the recommendation. When I was wearing those, they were great. Of course, I get hassled from my coaches about wearing them but... :roll: I wear them against bare skin under two pairs of tights. And sometimes if I sweat a lot, they will slip. They have thin sleeves for the pads too but I know those are the ones that WILL restrict movement.

I took a couple of nasty spills when I first started wearing those! THANK GOODNESS I was wearing those then. (I'm royally P***ed right now at those punks that took my ol skate bag last year. I have to go and buy new pads again.)

Annabel: Welcome to the "Bruised Knee" Club. We have a mantra for this new club.... "WHY ME!?!?!?! WHY ME!?!?!?!" (ala Nancy Kerrigan...) :P

[dbny]

I swear by my Skating Safe knee and hip pads (www.skatingsafe.com). Very expensive 8O but they last forever, are very thin yet highly impact-resistant. You can wear them between two pair of tights -- my preference -- or against bare skin under a single pair of tights.

Ellen

There's a typo in the link for Skating Safe (http://www.skatingsafe.com), that I've fixed.

[froggy]

Thank you for all the advice. I checked on the website and I see they have knee, hip and spine pads. I don't see any for the tailbone. Do you not use one for there, or do you use something else for the tailbone?? I don't tend to fall on hip so there's no reason I believe on getting one for that.

thanks so much and happy skating ...actually.. happy skating tomorrow at least where I live there's no session today (memorial day) :cry:

[jazzpants]

Thank you for all the advice. I checked on the website and I see they have knee, hip and spine pads. I don't see any for the tailbone. Do you not use one for there, or do you use something else for the tailbone?? I don't tend to fall on hip so there's no reason I believe on getting one for that.

thanks so much and happy skating ...actually.. happy skating tomorrow at least where I live there's no session today (memorial day) :cry:It's called the spine protection pad. You can see a pic of it here (http://www.skatingsafe.com/fallprotection.htm)! (Second picture from the left.)

I swear by those too! I fell right on my tailbone about 5 minutes after starting to use it. The tailbone stung for about 5 minutes right after the impact, but I was back skating again 5 minutes later with no pain!!! :P

[renatele]

But *sigh* my coaches insists I wear no knee pads b/c

(snipped)

2) I need to start learning to not rely on knee pads and to learn to not be afraid to fall on the ice. GRRRRR!!!

Ahem, as a proud owner of a damaged nerve in the knee, I'd tell the coaches that whether I'm afraid of falling on the ice or not, it doesn't change the fact that I can't risk another injury to my knees that are already twice my biological age (as I've been told by my PT).

Seriously though, kneepads are something I totally REFUSE to skate without after damaging the nerve 1.5 years ago. All that time (and a cortisone shot) later I still can't kneel without padding. For about half a year I'd almost scream if something even gently touched my knee. No fun, let me tell you.

[froggy]

It's called the spine protection pad. You can see a pic of it here (http://www.skatingsafe.com/fallprotection.htm)! (Second picture from the left.)

I swear by those too! I fell right on my tailbone about 5 minutes after starting to use it. The tailbone stung for about 5 minutes right after the impact, but I was back skating again 5 minutes later with no pain!!! :P

Do you have the crashpad or the impact absorber type??
thanks!

[Skate@Delaware]

I used to wear a "crash pad" type of pant-more like a girdle with pads that fit into pockets. After a while, I ended up not wearing them for lessons, and would only wear them when I was purposely working on jumps. So, I wasn't dependent on them-they got me away from the wall. But I will be getting a pad for my tailbone and left hip....always seem to fall on that left hip...even when I fall out of spins.... ;) But I know I don't need them to jump (or spin).

[jazzpants]

Do you have the crashpad or the impact absorber type??
thanks!Crash Pad type. I got this yellow gel thing and it works really well... I'm contemplating getting those again in light of my current injuries. :(

[Blosmbubbs]

There is a pad out there for the tailbone, they are called Waxel pads, and they are black and made of very thick spongy material. :)

[Mrs Redboots]

Great name for them!

My coach says he stopped padding when he realised that whichever bit he padded, he invariably fell somewhere else..... some of his skaters have realised this now, and have stopped padding, although others still do wear their "axel knickers".

My big fear is that I'd end up feeling like I couldn't skate without them. It was hard enough getting used to skating without gloves.....

[sk8pics]

I always wear my skatingsafe kneepads for practice. I can't risk breaking a kneecap! And it helps me feel safer learning new things or skating on really crappy ice (which I do all too often) where there's a greater risk of catching a toepick IMO.

I never wear them for competitions or tests and usually a day or so beforehand, I'll skate without them just to get used to the idea. I have never had any issue skating without them. I guess because by that point I feel very secure in my program (or test elements) and so it doesn't bother me to be without my kneepads. None of my coaches have ever suggested that I go without them on a routine basis.

Pat

[armadillo]

I read these entires with interest because Skeu Skaterwear's mastermind and I are trying to produce a pant with pads that is both fashionable and functional. We are using a padding technology that moves and flexes unlike most other pads. If you are not familiar with Seku Skatewear have a look at her designs at http://www.sekuskatewear.com. Many adults (and kids) are very reluctant to wear any of the current pads. The skaesafe pads are probably the most comfortable but yres, expensive and really heavy if you have to wear a few, not to mention hot. We want you to look hot not feel sweaty!! J

[Casey]

I have a waxel pad that I sniped from the lost and found (after it sat in there unretrieved for many weeks on end, mind). I've never really used it except one time after a nasty hip fall, I couldn't bear the thought of landing on it again, so I stuck the waxel pad on over it. And sure enough, I proceeded to fall on it. I thought surely as I was going down that it was really going to hurt, even with the pad, since I was already quite sore there. But to my surprise, when I landed it felt like jumping onto a super-cushy bed. I was really impressed by that.

But I skate hard, and the pad gets waaaay too sweaty if I wear it, plus it looks weird, so yeah, I never wear padding at all. The new rink I'm skating at now is a few degrees warmer than I'm used to, which is rather nice because there's never a wind chill if you do too much fast skating, but my do I get hot and sweaty if I put on my headphones and skate hard to a fast-paced japanese pop song... ;) :D :P Almost makes me wish I could get away with wearing a skirt...but not quite... ;)