As the season will be over and I'll be taking time off from competition to work on new elements and pass those @#$% Bronze tests, I see myself in the market for crash pads.
I have the old compression padded compression shorts that are okay, but can be too heavy and cumbersome at times, Anyone got anything good out there for crash pads?

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Oh, this one's an easy answer for me... try the UltraCrash pad from this website: http://www.skatingsafe.com. Those old compression pants with the foam pads don't work!!! I had a nasty fall on my knees (click of death from forward crossovers) despite the fact I had the knee pads because the knee pad got PUSHED during the fall, so I ended up with a VERY nasty bruise anyway. (This also took me out of skating for about 3 weeks as well too...)

I've also had falls on the UltraPads as well. You put them against your skins under a couple of pairs of tights (or in my case, a pair of tights and my jazzpants.) They're thinner gel pads, but works much better than the foam stuff!!! I took a few knee fall on the UltraCrash knee pads. With my worse knee fall to date, it initally hurt, but the bruise was significantly smaller and I took no time off the ice. The gel absorbed most of the impact!!!

Nope! I don't work for them! Just a very happy customer! Of course, now I am not allowed to wear ANY protection for my practice. It's my coach's thing about learning to not fear falling on the ice.

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I have the older version of the Skatingsafe pads--the kind that are not gel filled. I'm another happy customer--I bought one spine protector and cut it into 3 pieces to get 2 knee-sized pieces (and one leftover) and bought another and cut it into two longer pieces to protect my hipbones. (These latter ones I rarely use.) So far, I've fallen on my knees on them a number of times--including a bizarre fall where I went onto both knees and slid 15 feet on the ice. No bruises or soreness.

The only time I haven't worn them was for my latest test.

Now if only they had crash pads for the ego... such as after a "click of death"

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Some folk recommend cutting a cheap mouse pad to fit....

My coach says he stopped wearing pads when he discovered that you only ever fall on the bit you *haven't* padded.... and some of his skaters have stopped now, too. Others still do wear "axel knickers", as he calls them....

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Here's another vote for the skatingsafe kneepads. And no, I don't work for them either! I have fallen on my knees wearing them and felt nothing and had no bruise. I love them! I also have the hip and spine pads, but I don't usually wear them any more.

I know people have had good experiences with things like cut up mouse pads, but that material is not designed to have particularly good impact resistance (although who knows what with the various computer problems people can have that might lead them to bang their head on their desk! ).

Pat

Another vote for skatingsafe knee pads here. They are expensive but absolutely worth it. When I first put them under my tights and walk they feel like they are going to slip. But the minute I start skating, I forget about them and they stay put. Love 'em.

Hi,
The best I've found are the garden kneeling pads, cut to fit. I've heard great things about the safe skating pads, but I broke one! The garden pads are cheap and easily replaced.

Wow, Flo, that must have been some fall you had to break one of the skating safe kneepads! Or just the right combination of circumstances! Did you complain to the manufacturer? I wonder if they'd give you a discount on a new one if you decided you were interested.

Pat

Hi,
It was actually one of the hip pads. I was practicing doubles -lots of crashes. I would have brought it back, but I lost the other piece. It's probably somewhere in the depths of my skate bag!