Too many options! Best protective padding??

What I need:
1. Need good knee bend. (aka not too tight or inflexible.)
2. Need to be able to do tight backspin positions for axel and double jumps. (aka not too bulky.)
3. Need the pad to not shift on me and remain in its proper position. (aka not too loose.)
4. Would prefer the pad to be fairly discreet. So I'm not advertising to the world that I'm a big chicken. My current waxel pads are great. You have to really be paying attention to notice they're under my skating pants. I have zero butt or hips, so having the waxel pads on just makes me look like a normal woman for once lol.


I've been reading a ton of old forum posts to try and figure out what the best options are: gel pads, foam pads, volleyball pads, wrestling pads were all mentioned in various places.

I'm currently looking at this stuff:
https://www.shop.kinziescloset.com/Bunga-Bamboo-Gel-Knee-Pads-Bunga-AKPB.htm
https://www.shop.kinziescloset.com/Padded-Skate-Shorts-Silver-Lining-SilverLiningShorts.htm
https://www.shop.kinziescloset.com/Padded-Skate-Capri-Pants-Silver-Lining-SilverLiningCapris.htm
I'm trying to decide if I should get the padded capris OR a seperate kneepad & padded-shorts combo. Thoughts?
The waxel pads work great, but I've found I'm also great at hitting the area BETWEEN the hip and butt pads some of the time. So I'm thinking about padded shorts that cover the entire area.

https://www.shop.kinziescloset.com/Unlimited-Motion-Protective-Elbow-Knee-Gel-Pad-UMElbowPad.htm
https://www.shop.kinziescloset.com/...-Protector-Carpal-Sleeve-SiliposGelSleeve.htm

Anyone have experience with any of these products? Are they flexible enough for double jumps and tight backspin positions?


I'm not worried about breaking anything. I just want something between my skin and the ice so I can avoid terrible bruises. I tend to fall HARD when I fall because I'm so tall, it's a long way to the ground. Then I can't skate because I wacked myself so hard.

The things I've smacked in the past that really hurt: elbows, knees, hips/butt, and wrists. So I want all of those areas covered well.

Right now I'm still struggling to fully rotate my axel and double jumps and it's because I just won't "go for it". I don't jump high enough and rotate fast enough to fully rotate the jumps because I don't want to fall. I keep my air position super loose and crunchy so that I'm "guaranteed" get out of the jump safely... instead of tucking in tight and letting myself fall on the landing, just like the kids do. I am more bold with my waxel pads on. They have definitely helped. But I still worry about hitting the area between the pads, which I've done before and I worry about hitting my knees/elbows/wrists, which means I don't fling myself into the air with all my might and no thought for the landing, which is what the kids do because they don't care if they fall.
We've tried the harness multiple times. It freaks me out more because I don't like being attached to something when I'm trying to jump. A pole harness would possibly work better for me since it's more "natural" and you can skate how you usually do into the jump, but we don't have any male coaches at our rink. Our female coaches do the little kids, but they can't do taller people on the pole.


UPDATED:

Just went to the local sports stores and walked through all of the different sections seeing which sports I could steal padding ideas from.
Here's what I found:
Nike Streak Volleyball knee pads: https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/nike-adults-streak-volleyball-knee-pads
BCG Basketball Shooting Sleeve: https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/bcg-adults-basketball-shooting-sleeve#repChildCatSku=104503059
P-TEX Adjustable Wrist Support: https://www.golfgalaxy.com/p/p-tex-...ort-17pteuptxdjstblwrspm/17pteuptxdjstblwrspm

I also considered buying the Adidas Padded Compression Short Knee Sleeve: https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/...eve-17adiudpdcmpshrtkbka/17adiudpdcmpshrtkbka
because I was worried the Volleyball knee pads might be too thick and get in the way of a tight backspin position, but they turned out fine.

The Adidas knee sleeve had slightly thicker padding than the McDavid Hex knee pads. I tried on everything in store and all of the McDavid brands had really, really thin padding and I didn't like it. The padding I chose is nice and thick while still being really flexible and comfortable. It didn't get in the way of my spins or jumps. I tried wearing the Nike volleyball knee pads under my skating pants and over the top of them, it is comfortable either way. Wearing them outside the pants means you don't have to go into the bathroom to take them off. Wearing them inside the pants disguises them to the same degree as having your waxel pads in your pants.
The basketball sleeve and wrist support are easily hidden by hoodie or jacket and gloves.


Ultimately, it's a lot cheaper to steal from other sports than it is to buy specific skating pads from skating stores online.
And the bonus of going into a local store is you can feel how thick or thin the padding is, and try it on to see how tight or loose it is.

Look at these: https://shoprainbo.com/womens-figure-skating-products/training-gear/body-protection.html

and try page 111 and onward for padding etc with this catalogue from Jerry's in Canada.
https://www.jerryskate.com/downloads/JerrysSkating2018WebCatalogue.pdf

Good luck!

Arwen17 said:

What I need:
1. Need good knee bend. (aka not too tight or inflexible.)
2. Need to be able to do tight backspin positions for axel and double jumps. (aka not too bulky.)
3. Need the pad to not shift on me and remain in its proper position. (aka not too loose.)
4. Would prefer the pad to be fairly discreet. So I'm not advertising to the world that I'm a big chicken. My current waxel pads are great. You have to really be paying attention to notice they're under my skating pants. I have zero butt or hips, so having the waxel pads on just makes me look like a normal woman for once lol.

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I haven't tried the products you listed but for knee protection, the Skating Safe crash pads are excellent. If you get the right size, they are barely visible (not bulky) and if you have a tight pair of pants on, they stay in place well. They also cover all sides of the knee and absorb shock incredibly well. I was hesitant to buy these at first because of the price, but so far they have absorbed all the impact of falls and were definitely worth it. Since they don't extend to the back of the knee, they don't hinder knee bend and gel is very flexible.
https://www.skatingsafe.com/product-category/ultracrash-fall-protection/

Does anyone wear protection for the spine?

moonkat said:

Does anyone wear protection for the spine?

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No, you wouldn’t be able to skate wearing that, if you’re talking about the vests for horse riding or motorcycles.

moonkat said:

Does anyone wear protection for the spine?

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There are special pads specifically to protect the coccyx/tailbone base of the spine. But if you're talking about protecting the entire length of your spine ... none that I'm aware of.

I tried one of the thin gel pads for the tailbone, after I'd had an injury there. I bought the wrong size - too big I think, so it wasn't a successful purchase.

RoaringMice said:

I tried one of the thin gel pads for the tailbone, after I'd had an injury there. I bought the wrong size - too big I think, so it wasn't a successful purchase.

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This is true of protective gear in general: it must fit properly in order to be effective. Best to buy it locally rather than online if you've never bought it before.

To sort of hijack this thread, for those people who wear wrist guards what type do you use?

Ducky said:

To sort of hijack this thread, for those people who wear wrist guards what type do you use?

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I like the Rollerblade Bladegear XT wristguards (https://www.amazon.com/Rollerblade-...497&sr=8-1&keywords=rollerblade+xt+wristguard). I wear them over thin, lightly-insulated leather dress gloves. It's best to buy them locally so you can try them on over the gloves of your choice. These wristguards are lightweight, not bulky, and easy to put on. I skate 5 times a week year round, and my first pair lasted for about 3 yrs (the Velcro straps wore out); I'm on my second pair now. They work ... they've saved my wrists mucho times. Note: These are designed for inline skates; so the palms are intentionally designed to provide some sliding motion on rough surfaces. On ice, they probably slide a bit too much by themselves. But with my leather gloves, the leather provides sufficient friction. If you wear smooth gloves that don't provide enough friction, you can apply some Velcro tape to the palms of the wristguards to provide more friction.

I previously wore more traditional wristguards with a splint and a V-protrusion (such as https://www.amazon.com/Triple-Saver...479&sr=8-1&keywords=triple+8+saver+wristguard). But those are bulkier and harder to put on. Also, when you fall on the V-protrusions, you slide a lot (even if you wear gloves, the V-protrusions keep the gloves from contacting the ice sufficiently).

For wrist guards I actually use the second one tstop4me posted (splint and v-protrusion, that exact brand). I like them just fine. I bought them on someone else's recommendation after I broke my left wrist in September and my doctor said I could go back to the ice earlier if I promised to wear wrist guards lol. I wear regular gloves under mine. They do slide quite a lot as tstop4me noted.... personally I prefer that because I know if the momentum is going towards sliding outwards it's not all slamming straight down on my wrist, which was how I broke it.

HopeSpringsEternal said:

For wrist guards I actually use the second one tstop4me posted (splint and v-protrusion, that exact brand). I like them just fine. I bought them on someone else's recommendation after I broke my left wrist in September and my doctor said I could go back to the ice earlier if I promised to wear wrist guards lol. I wear regular gloves under mine. They do slide quite a lot as tstop4me noted.... personally I prefer that because I know if the momentum is going towards sliding outwards it's not all slamming straight down on my wrist, which was how I broke it.

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How long did it take for you to heal? I did something similar to you and jammed my wrist into my hand. Right now my occupational therapist is telling me no skating for the rest of the season but I'm hoping to bargain if I promise to wear wrist guards.

It took my wrist roughly six weeks to heal, but I was very fortunate; I had a very clean break. It was a transverse fracture to my left radius that did not go all the way across and was not misaligned. It was very close to the wrist bones--but it wasn't any of the tiny wrist bones or joints. I was told that if I had broken one of those, or had a different kind of break, the healing process would have been much different (and much longer/more complicated). If you have a different sort of break, you'll probably be in a different situation. The rest of the season seems kind of long though, depending on when you broke it. Expect at least 6 weeks off ice, but it can't hurt to bargain with your doctor if you show him or her available wrist guard designs and promise to wear whichever one they think is best.

I broke my left wrist several years ago and have been wearing these flexmeter wrist guards (designed by a doctor for snow boarders) ever since. They run small:

https://demonsnow.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=337&search=Flex+meter

I tried many different types. But I never found one that my skater is satisfied. Generally she felt that it constrained her movement. So I feel that it is a tradeoff. There is probably nothing perfectly both safe and flexible. Eventually, we ended up with only using Jerry's pad inserts underneath her skating pants. At least it protects her hips and tail vertebra which I think the most important. She doesn’t use anything on her knees, elbows or wrists. But she is fine with it, and no injury so far. It depends on the skater's level, what she works on right now and how comfortable she is.