knee pads

[Vohx the Fox]

do you wear you knee pads under your garb, or over?
what hazards does it apply to your garb? rips, tears, etc
what hazards does it apply to looking the part? not period, etc

discuss, im interested in hearing what people have to say and what they do.

me personally, i was using cheap volley ball knee pads. was working great, until the wet seasons. the foam padding and all that broke and wore down. now ive got some skateboard knee pads. big and bulky, and a hard sheet of plastic on the outside. but, i put them under my more hakima like wrapish kind of pants, and went to take a knee, and ended up putting a hole in the pant leg. didnt want to take away from my mobility.

another person in my realm, he has some leather armor for his thigh that has a knee covering hinged onto it. he puts his knee pads under the knee hinge, making them work with his garb.

so, discuss and such as how you make knee pads work for your garb and all that.

[Fangesta]

I am doctor ordered to wear knee-pads...have had a knee replaced already.

First I was told to use contractor's knee pads..they are huge!! Problem was is that they always slipped down...I wore them over my garb because it was uncomfortable under the garb. Things like that are allowed, but encouraged to be covered with a period material to remove the "dork" look...and it turns em into armor.

I now have military knee pads..they are small, but man are they AWESOME!!!!! I love em!

[Æthelric]

If the knee pad is small enough profile, you can wear them under most garb.

Good quality small profile knee pads are probably more expensive, but I'd say they're worth it.

[Phrix]

I use volley ball knee pads from wal-mart under my pants havent had an issue with em yet

I have actually gotten home after practice and totally forgot that I was wearing them but I bought the nice ones not the cheap flat POS ones.

[Vohx the Fox]

ya, i had the like, cheapest ones you could get. a friend gave them to me, used them for over a year. with the mud, wet grass, and washing them, the foam padding was pretty much gone.

the pants i have on in my avatar pic is the ones i mentioned before. they are extremely poofey pants, i mean, these make MC Hammers pants look like skinny jeans. i was thinking of taking some thick cloth and reinforcing the inside of the pants so that i can wear them under. because putting them over those pants removes pretty much all movement i have in them. i have some red garb pants that are similar as well, they are just longer, so i can get more fabric slack to wear them over the pants and still move. the thing with the black ones tho is they cinch at the ankle, so i cant pull them up at all cuz ive got a track runner and soccer players leg muscles.

[Caleidah]

I wear a pair of cheapies for knee pads that I got from WalMart. The work just fine under my garb. The things that chew up my pants a little are my knee braces. They're a heavy pair by McDavid, but I only wear them when it's really muddy or when I'm fighting on a gym floor.

[Ilariia Bulochnika]

I use plastic copped hockey knees & shins under my pants. They provide great extra cushion, protect my shins (not in an armor capacity, I'm just old), and can double as SCA knees.

[Galya]

I've been wearing the same pair of Wal-Mart volleyball kneepads for close to 4 years now. They still work just fine. And I've never once had a problem with them ripping my garb (although I wear a skirt so that might make a difference). It probably just depends on the level of abuse you give them and the conditions you fight in (like mud vs. dry for instance).

[Tiberius Claudius]

I concur with under-the-garb pads because you can wear whatever the hell you want without anyone noticing.

When I did Roman re-enactment before Bel, if i was wearing braccae (shorter-legged pants), I wasn't allowed to wear pads because they would be seen. So, what my group did was sew padding into the knees.

You take your basic pants and double-/triple-stitch an additional rectangle over the knee. Before you close it up, you fill it with foam or thick cotton batting/quilted material (foam is much better!). Once you've closed it up then you have built-in knee pads. When you need to replace the padding or the outer layer of cloth, just pop the stitches and re-do it.

With the physical nature of Bel, you'll get significantly less life out of them than we did, but you can use a really tough and resistant material that's the same color as what you're working with and that will help. You can even go with dissimilar colors to make it look like you used whatever was handy to make patches.

G/L

[Arrakis]

I wear UnderArmor volleyball kneepads and have just replaced the pair I'd been wearing since Equinox '07. The ensolite padding inside had worn out and the fabric had become... fragrant, despite regular washings. When the padding in this pair wears out, I'm planning on replacig the padding with yoga mat and stitchin' 'em back up.

I've never ripped the knees out of a pair of fighting pants, but I cut mine a little to a lot loose and use heavy cotton canvas, heavy linen canvas, and worsted wools for my pants.

[The Great Gigsby]

Vohx, I've had similar problems with volleyball kneepads. I'm a serious runner and for being a skinny dude, I've got huge thigh and calf muscles that tend to push and twist volleyball pads all around, requiring me to adjust them every five minutes. Not cool.

In my case skateboard pads tend to work pretty well. I also like to wear multiple thick layers to save my knees when getting hit.

[Vohx the Fox]

i was actually thinking about reinforcing the inside of my garb pants to where my knee bends at. that way i dont have to worry about my garb pants being caught on the plastic of the skateboard pads.
the only problem i have with wearing them under my garb is they arent just some velcro straps that go around your knee, you also have to slip you leg into them as well, similar to the way of the volleyball pads, and then strap them as well with the velcro. si its a bit tough after your taking a break to just slide them down to your ankles to let your knees breath and such. that and the velco digs into my leg. i dont mean the strap, i mean the hard plasticy part of the velco that has all the little hooks on it. thinking about wrapping my legs in an ace as to avoid that.

[Derian]

Get some wrestling gel kneepads. They're pricy (~$35), but worth every **** penny. I used skateboarding kneepads when I first started fighting and had the same problem tearing my garb up.

I switched to the Franklin volleyball kneepads from Wal Mart, but those things are pieces of ****. They required constant adjustment. A couple years ago I switched to Asics gel kneepads and it's one of the best purchases I've made for fighting. They don't come off, they're very low profile (i.e. they look like a knee brace) and protect on hard surfaces as well or better than any other kneepad I've ever used.

Also, protip to get the stink out of kneepads if washing doesn't cut it: make a mixture of plain white vinegar and water in about a 1:5 or 1:4 ratio. Soak your kneepads (or gloves!) in it overnight, remove & rinse. Throw 'em in the washing machine again if the vinegar smell doesn't go away. The acidity will kill off all of the bacteria that cause the stink.

[Arrakis]

Gracias, Der.

Also, these are what I use: http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/s ... t=kneepads

[Freki]

\

I now have military knee pads..they are small, but man are they AWESOME!!!!! I love em!

I use the ones we were issued to test out here in Afghan, thos are wicked thin, but they are teh win. you want a pair?

I know blackawk makes some tin neopren knee pads, kinda pricy, but well worth the money for them

[Shepherd]

I also use the Neoprene wrestling Asics pads I had leftover from refereeing. They are almost un-noticable under garb. As a very big guy, my knees are at alot of risk and these protect extremely well.

BTW, thanks for the cleaning tip, Derian. It's hard to sneak up on someone when they can smell your kneepads from 20 feet away.

[Jevins]

I got some good, gel-based, knee pads from an athletics store, and I wear them under my garb with no problems...

[Froste]

I picked up some kneepads at Chaos. No worries about hurting my garb since I fight in a kilt.

[Calarn the Black]

I got wrestling pads on sale 2 years ago to replace the wal-mart ones I had...haven't regretted it.

[Forkbeard]

First of all, everyone should always wear knee pads. I wear long, softball slide pads. They are thin, but longer than regular kneepads. They are sold indiviualy.
I wear them with a kilt and could give a **** if people can see them. **** their medi eval experience. I'm trying not to get hurt, here. If me knees are bugging anyone, they can quit **** looking at me. There are WAY bigger concerns in the period looks department than kneepads.
As for the stink. Wash them in the DISHWASHER. It gets hot enough to kill bacteria, which are what makes them stink. I do this about once a month. Killing the bacteria will make both the material and the foam parts last longer in addition to keeping your knees from smelling like dead *.
Oh, and wear elbow pads, too. And gloves.
FB

[Squirrel Feathers]

I'll throw my 2 cents in. I haven't used them in Bel because I've never really fought and now that I'm getting into it I'm only arching because of some injuries which prohibit me getting intensely physical. BUT...I have used them extensively in combat and have gone through a lot of different pairs to find one both comfortable (relatively speaking of course) and effective. Now, I don't know if you experience the same extremes to your knees in Bel as you would in combat but the ones I gave Fangy are the same ones we've been using in EOD for the past two years and they WORK!! I just sold a pair to Crynolyn (extra set I had that was still new) so if you want another person's opinion give her a shout.

Anyway, they're Hatch XTAK knee pads. I don't know what the best price is but I got them here...
http://www.recon-tactical.com/product_i ... ts_id=1573

And wow!! I haven't looked at the price of these in a while...it's gone down a lot!!

[Cyric]

I use the gel wrestling knee pads that Derian cited, plus greaves. The knee pads aren't bulky, and give a lot of cushion. the greaves protect your knees from pointy bits on the ground. it's totally the way to go.

[Tiercel]

Noob alert.

I've... never even considered wearing knee pads at Bel, honestly. I've seen fighters with them but considered that they're coping with a past injury or some such thing.

What should a young fighter be considering when thinking about knee pads? Are you wearing them for protection against impacts, or to avoid twisting, or what? The last time I wore knee pads regularly, I was a little kid getting used to riding a skateboard.

[No'Vak]

Your knees will thank you after a couple years.

What is it, every year of fighting is like 3 years of aging?

[Arrakis]

Unless you never move around while legged and take to your knees very gently, you pretty much need kneepads if you intend to fight for more than a year or so.

[Froste]

Unless you never move around while legged and take to your knees very gently, you pretty much need kneepads if you intend to fight for more than a year or so.

That's why I wear em. My brain muscle started getting curious as to why I always had chewed up knees after practice. I mean I didn't slam my knee down every time I got legged, so why the redness, irritation, and blood every week? and then I noticed Valas had some kneepads on and it clicked.

* a few weeks ago we did a mounted battle. I was the armored horse and a little guy was on my back. Those kneepads gave us mobility (and I was no passive steed, either) "whinny *!"

[calebmonkey]

I've just started wearing knee-pads a few years ago and it makes all the difference.
i prefer the Nike volleyball ones i picked up last year so far
the contractor ones are great once you've taken the knee because you have the hard plastic shell to protect it.The down side is they tend to slip around during fighting because most have elastic and velcro straps which sucks unless you have huge legs.My brother Mefit has swat kneepads he swears by but they were like $60 so I'll stick with my $30 Nike's untill i can find theese wrestling ones you folks are talkin about,always good to have qualitly safety equipment

[Tiercel]

Unless you never move around while legged and take to your knees very gently, you pretty much need kneepads if you intend to fight for more than a year or so.

Ah, thanks. I get it. I was trying to discern whether shattered kneecaps from foam weapons was a serious consideration. When I started fighting, I had a problem with shuffling long distances on my knees, but I find it helps now, if I have to travel very far at all, to keep the dead leg planted while I just push with the good foot, planting the foot on the turf and shoving myself along that way. When even this technique starts to give me problems, I'll wear the kneepads.

[Kyrian]

From what I've seen in my 20 years of fighting (and this is purely anecdotal), more and more fighters start exhibiting symptoms of bad knees the longer they fight. Think about all of the movement and dropping on your knees you do over the course of one practice. Now extend that over several hundred practices. I've seen 25-year-olds who walk around like people twice their age because of how much punishment their knees have received in the 5-10 years they've fought without kneepads. It may only seem like a bit of pain and some abrasions right now but each practice like that slowly but surely adds up to more and more damage. Also, your body is not going to necessarily heal as quickly as it did when you're younger.

One more thing I've picked up along the way: if you're in pain (and I don't mean the sore muscle aching kind of pain), that's your body telling you that something is wrong. LISTEN to it. STOP and figure out why you're body's hurting. I know fighting is fun especially when there are so many people on the field but it's not worth permanent injury.

[No'Vak]

I know fighting is fun especially when there are so many people on the field but it's not worth permanent injury.

QFT QFT QFT QFT QFT

This is so very important. I, like an idiot, fought with what I thought was a sprained thumb.

Hurt it last October.

Just stopped hurting like a month ago and it still hurts every once in a while.