Knee Pads

I did a search of all groups and found no useable information nor recommendations about knee pads. I am currently looking at a pair of pads from the Duluth Trading Company. They're rather high tech with replaceable jell inserts and run about $35. To the best of my recollection my knees haven't been repaired or replaced since they were new back in '41. I am hoping for some experienced input from this board or a referral to another group that might be able to help. I can be patient, but I'm getting awfully tired down here and it's most uncomfortable..

Regards, Richard

Reply to
RichardC
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Depends. I bought a set of modest priced (maybe $15) pads when I installed a floor in the family room. Well worth the investment. I've used them maybe once since, but probably will once in a while gardening or something. If I was spending a lot of time on my knees on a regular basis, I'd buy the best I could find. My knees only go back to '45, but I want to keep the originals.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Check gardening supply shops, or ask on one of the gardening newsgroups.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Reply to
Doug Miller

I find that the gel lined ones are good. Because of my bad knees, I have several types, depending on what I am kneeling on. One pair looks like it has a tire tread on it, and it is really good for use on concrete. One of the best I have found was a real cheap set of foam knee pads called "HappyKnees", they used to advertise on TV a lot. But for general use they are great. On concrete or roofing the foam would shred and they are not good on narrow surfaces such as the tops of ceiling joists in an attic, I have others I use for these special purposes.

My knees have been bad since I was about 14 years old -- the doctors blamed growing pains -- and 50 years later, I still have pains. I am very careful of what I do, and take all the supplements, and despite some pain that comes and goes, my knees have outlasted many younger people who have gone in for knee replacements.

Reply to
Eric Tonks

I also have problems with my knees if I'm down on them. I have several sets, also. My original pair were the tire tread sort of thing with a thin foam liner. The upper and lower straps are those H type serrated loops. That's all that was available at the time, but they're a pain. I have relegated this set to concrete work.

I next got a set with the hard plastic outside. It was disconcerting at first but I've come to like them a lot, particularly on concrete (not to be confused with "doing" concrete in the preceding paragraph). They have upper and lower straps with velcro. Much, much better than the thread through thingees.

A couple of years ago in preparation for putting down a laminate floor I bought a "flooring contractor" set of pads that have a soft outside surface so as not to mar your new floor. They're quite comfortable and have a single velcro strap. I wore out my first set on other projects (see below) and bought a second set when it came time to do my cork floor.

The first set of flooring pads became my pads of choice because of the ease of getting them on and off--single strap. They're really handy when I have to go up in the attic and kneel down on top of the trusses. That really tears my knees up but with the pads it's a piece of cake. I can't really wear the hard shell pads up there because there's no traction. I don't need to be doing any ceiling repairs...

I'm almost at the point where I won't even look for a quarter under the coffee table without putting on the pads.

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

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Reply to
LRod

Been there, done that.

Expect to pay$60-$70 for the good ones.

Check out local flooring distriibutors.

There is an outfit around Denver that has some neat product.

HTH

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I have couple of hard and one soft knee pads but never got use to it - not comfortable when the straps cut into the back of my legs when I get up and walk around. Its as uncomfortable for me as warring a double cartridge respirator with multiple straps around the back of the head and neck.

I use the cheap high density 2'x2' interlocking floor mats you could get from Costco or Sam's Club. A good pillow works for me too. Not professional looking but I work alone.

Reply to
Kim

I have to agree with Kim - I never liked the way knee pads strapped to my legs. I bought a pair of wrestling knee pads. They are a long tube

- about 12" with pad & elastic going the entire length. They have a soft face, so I sewed a piece of denim from old jeans over them. I used them for quite a few years when I was remodeling - everything from floors to roofs. Sometimes the bunching in the back of the elastic made me wish I'd found a pair with the center cut out of the elastic, but it was never that much of a hassle. Usually this wish was during the hottest part of summer. As I recall, they weren't very expensive, but that was a long time ago - $10 - $15 at a guess.

Reply to
Jim

On 5 Mar 2005 18:50:22 -0800, the inscrutable "RichardC" spake:

I paid $5 for a pair of Western Safety knee pads (3/8" foam with hard capped knee riveted onto the padding) a couple years ago. They were so handy I got another pair at HF yesterday for A BUCK. They're the Chiwanese equivalent of the Western Safety model. Since I had a knee injury awhile back, I added 1/4" of closed cell foam padding to the old ones and will add the same to these. They work fine for me for an hour or two at a time. I've never needed them for longer.

Why pay so much more? Check out the 5 different models in HF before paying through the nose for some name-brand stuff (which is probably made in the same factory anyway.)

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

-------------------------------------------------------- LOL....You are only 2 years older then me and you can not only get down on your knees but you can get up.... Honest my knees do not hurt (much) but once I am down I can not get back up... When I do absolutely have to get down I no longer use knee pads I use a 2 ft x 2 ft foam rubber mat that I drag along with me... Knee Pads are to uncomfortable and take to long to strap on...

Bob Griffiths

Bob Griffiths

Reply to
Bob G.

Mine are as old as yours, and I can get down and up, but it ain't a pretty sight ... more like a retired dairy bull attempting to get his hind legs under him after finally deciding to take a snooze after a week of standing up.

Mine don't hurt too much as long as I walk _every_ day ... but miss a couple of days and they're liable to go on the fritz. They're the only part of me that won't perform up to reasonable expectations ... but at that this age I'll take what I can get. ;>)

Reply to
Swingman

My pads are just some cheap hard-shell pair.

But the elastics were rubbish, so I replaced them. The velcro is now twice the length, the overall length is more geenrous and fits me easily, and the centre part of the strap (where it tends to bunch) is thin ribbon rather than elastic. Now few manufacturers are going to sew a mere strap together from four lengths of different materials, but it's worth the effort.

I barely notice what the padding is - I wear them for protection from small lumps, not for cushioning.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

My first pads were the cheap foam rubber things at Lowe's ($4/pair). They were so much better than nothing. I later upgraded to the AWP monster knee pads ($20 at Lowe's). These are much much better and totally elimate the shooting pains I get when my knee cap mashes directly on a hard floor. The wide elastic straps are a lot more comfortable, too.

Bob

Reply to
BillyBob

I'm older than all of you and pretty soon we need a traveling hoist with a remote control for that extra lift off the ground. My problem is not getting up or down but getting cramps and Charlie Horse during sleep when I'm on my knees all day long. What seems to help is sports drinks like Gatorade to replenish electrolytes, apricot which has magnesium and some stretching. YMMV

Reply to
Kim

I have never had any problem with my knees but as soon as I put my knee down on plywood when roofing or working in a crawlspace I know I need something. I looked at the knee pads available and I couldn't find what I needed. The Tommyco brand ones that they sell here are garbage. I need a good pair of leather pads with lots of felt. They run about $16CDN - $27CDN here but the staps on the back are leather and are not wide enough to stop them cutting into the backs of my legs. I am of the opinion that I need both the strap on ones until they start cutting into the backs of my legs as well as free standing ones that I can kneal on the rest of the time. I suppost I could wrap my knees with surgical supports the type they use for sprained ankles etc with the strap ons. That might help!

Hope this helps, Tom

RichardC ( snipped-for-privacy@rm.incc.net) wrote: : I did a search of all groups and found no useable information nor : recommendations about knee pads. I am currently looking at a pair of : pads from the Duluth Trading Company. They're rather high tech with : replaceable jell inserts and run about $35. To the best of my : recollection my knees haven't been repaired or replaced since they : were new back in '41. I am hoping for some experienced input from : this board or a referral to another group that might be able to help. : I can be patient, but I'm getting awfully tired down here and it's : most uncomfortable..

: Regards, : Richard

--

Reply to
Thomas D. Ireland

Tom Ireland notes: have never had any problem with my knees but as soon as I put my knee down on plywood when roofing or working in a crawlspace I know I need something. I looked at the knee pads available and I couldn't find what I needed. The Tommyco brand ones that they sell here are garbage. I need a good pair of leather pads with lots of felt. They run about $16CDN - $27CDN here but the staps on the back are leather and are not wide enough to stop them cutting into the backs of my legs. I am of the opinion that I need both the strap on ones until they start cutting into the backs of my legs as well as free standing ones that I can kneal on the rest of the time. I suppost I could wrap my knees with surgical supports the type they use for sprained ankles etc with the strap ons. That might help!

Try your Canadian Sears stores. Their GelTek pads are good. I don't know if Duluth Trading sells in Canada, but their (pricey) top of the line models are excellent. I've got several kinds (I keep trying, after knee surgeries that screw up the nerves right where you kneel down). The Craftsman and the Duluth Trading are the best of the bunch. The Duluth Trading type has wider straps than the Craftsman, and uses a Velcro attachment. The GelTeks use two straps with plastic hooks that fit over knobs on the side of the pads. Both are comfortable on MY knees, which means they should help almost anyone.

Reply to
Charlie Self

The seer has spoken. Guess I didn't know what I was missing. My knees were new in '36, and it's been several years since I could get down and up comfortably. When I do have to get down, I'm much more likely to be sitting down and leaning over or laying down on the floor. Thank God for Son-in-laws, I don't have to do my own mechanical work any more, so don't have to worry about kneeling down on those dam pebbles on the driveway or garage floor! Think I'm going to look through this thread again and see about getting a pair of pads though.

Reply to
Norman D. Crow

I use the cheap black foam rubber ones that go for about $8. They work great for working on the car in the gravel driveway. I can drop quickly to one knee with no pain (and I'm a fat guy with sports-related injuries/surgeries on both knees). The thin straps bunch up and ride towards the back of my knee, which doesn't hurt, but is uncomfortable, even while wearing jeans. I've tried using the foam mats, but I find I always kick pebbles or spent pop rivets on them, then kneel on them. Whatever you choose, make sure the straps are wide and won't bunch up.

Shawn

Reply to
Shawn Wilson

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