Dealing with falls seems pretty instinctual to me, although a tutorial video would not be a bad idea.  It would definitely reduce the scary factor of bocking to prospective buyers.  A big part that's not so instinctive is to try and land on your pads instead of unprotected surfaces.  And if you're falling on the ground without any pads on, you've kind of earned the scrapes.

Sounds to me like the first snap was a crack starting, then the second snap was the crack getting bigger.  Since one is now softer than the other, it sounds like there's a crack slowly expanding and you don't want to be on them when it goes completely.  Take some pictures, look at the spring for anything sticking out (you may even want to go as far as taking the protection off), and look for white streaks of death.  Those are the fault lines, but small white marks can just be from random scratches.

Sweet!  That would make MY day, definitely.  That's a fine pile of change you collected.

That's true... Plus, California is a long way for a lot of bockers and DC, although it favors the east coast, is more centrally located.

Tire socks are strips of bicycle tire attached over the hoof to protect the hooves from wear, or to cover over worn-out hooves.  Hooves die faster than any other part, so many people use them.  If you pick the right tire, you'll get more traction too.  Check out the mods section of the gallery to get a better picture of what they are.  They're usually fastened with jubilee clips or zip ties, but if you step with your feet a little out of alignment, they will slip.  I didn't notice my right foot turned outwards until my tire sock kept slipping.

And yes, using bocks will definitely make you better at lunges and squats.  There are few muscles they don't work out.  Legs, abs, back, shoulders if you use your arms to balance, pretty much everything is tired when I bock for too long.

They are nice and light, particularly around the hoof where weight counts the most, and believe it or not, they haven't collapsed under anyone as far as we know.  But  the cuffs are uncomfortable and unstable, and not totally failing does not mean that they are of good construction.  Jollyjumper has put out a few pictures of prototypes for an Up-Wing remake with either normal kneebars or Poweriser-style cuffs, better foot bindings, and a bike-style quick release on the knee bindings, but don't expect that to come out any time soon.

Perhaps you could put more padding on the inside of the kneebar so you don't need the kneepads for the bars to fit right?  Foam pipe insulation from a hardware store is supposed to work pretty well.  It's less gear to put on and probably cheaper than buying new kneepads, but it may interfere with your current pair of kneepads, I'm not sure.

I added in Skyrunner and named the Chinese company, Flying Locust.  I don't know if it will stay, though.

Oh, OK then XS, I understand now.

And Pro-Jump, I was admitting that my opinion had been biased, you don't have to call me childish.

Running long distances is pretty damn hard on bocks, but it's also on a whole different level of fun from running on foot.  Since you seem to be interested in getting in better shape, bocks will definitely make it more fun to do so.  They use pretty much every body in your body, especially if you get a model with a pivoting footplate.

AS for the classic/pro question, you will get what you pay for either way.  Cuffs are wonderful, but also expensive.  I do believe getting the pro model is much cheaper than getting the classic model, getting snowboard bindings, and then buying cuffs separately.  Pros are $180 more, but $180 better too.  It's a tricky decision because the prices so closely reflect the quality.  I would get the pros, and in fact I DID get the pros, because it's a fairly safe bet you won't decide you don't like bocking.  It'll be a while before you're doing car flips, but they ARE as fun as they look.  And you'll develop all the strength you need after a while, but don't expect to be able to bounce all day the first time you put them on.  For the first few weeks, I couldn't use them for much longer than half an hour because they put a lot of load on weird muscles.

If you're strongly interested in the exercise aspect, you may want to look into the Flyjumper/Powerizer/Pro-Jump (all identical stilts) pro version with the pivoting footplate.  It's cheaper than the Poweriser Pro, but its only advantage is the pivoting footplate.  It has cheap foot bindings and kneebars.  But be dubious of the Up-Wing/Redoxx/ a few other names, the one with a radically different design, as it isn't all it's cracked up to be.  The cuff is uncomfortable and unstable and there are a few other small problems, though the stilts are not as fragile as they look and they are very light.  The annoying thing with the Up-Wing is that none of its parts are interchangeable with other brands.

It may be possible to upgrade the Powerisers with pivoting footplates from another brand, I'm going to find out as soon as I have the spare money.

I think you would be best off with the Poweriser Pros in the end, and you'll want the 90-120kg springs even if you're planning to lose a lot of weight.  By the time it's gone, the springs will have gotten a little softer anyway.

OK, I'll try and keep in mind that FL is a lot better than it used to be.  I guess I have a bone to pick with them because the Chinese dealer companies are always stealing pictures and videos, and few things anger me more than that.

But on the price thing, 365 pounds is still off the wall. even counting for things being more expensive in the UK  This has very little to do with the original question, I'd just like to assert that I'm at least right on that point.

Anyway, I hope that you have a blast with those, I doubt you will be unsatisfied with your choices or find your money to be poorly spent, and I hope you find this forum to be very useful!

I've got no idea where you got those prices...  Those prices are unusually expensive in DOLLARS, but in pounds?  I've always seen the baseline models priced very closely, around $300.  I'm not going to bother to convert to pounds, this is just for comparison, but I've seen the FL Pro version for $450 and the Poweriser Advanced for $500.  I'm not contradicting XS, Pro-Jumps may be the best buy for you, but those prices you listed are extremely inflated, particularly the Powerisers.  I would be extremely excited to buy a pair at a normal price and then ship it over there to you for a price like that.  I would be easily doubling my money.

The price that website has for the Poweriser 2008 is pretty good, by the way. 200 pounds for the Poweriser Advanced is cheaper than in the USA, where Poweriser appears to be unusually cheap.

As for what kind of shoe works best, I just use random sneakers and it's fine.  Skate shoes or trainers would work fairly well, I guess it wouldn't really matter that much as long as they're comfortable, but sandals are a bad idea.  You get all the support you could ever need from the knee binding.  The only time when what kind of shoe really matters is on the Powerskip Pro model, to which you bolt a pair of shoes for the foot binding, and I believe that's a long way off.

Anyway, your decision, Poweriser is tougher but more expensive, Pro-Jump is cheaper but not as tough.  I do doubt that you'll decide you don't like this, but I'm not you.

On the CF springs?  Yeah, I wasn't too sure about that...  If it's something else please tell me what.  If you'd just rather I shut up and leave the noob-advising to the moderators, just say so and I will hold my tongue.

The cheapest Powerisers I could find are $299.99.  Where are the $279 ones??

I don't really want to start a flame war, and I'm coming perilously close to making flame-bait, but you should also take anything positive a vendor says about his own brand with a grain of salt.  It was more than just the rubber part of the hoof, they also had a batch where the metal part consistently broke in half due to a rather obvious design flaw.  However, there are better reports on the most recent versions and that design flaw has been completely fixed.

I can tell you out of experience that the Poweriser Advanced is worth the extra money, although the normal version is still perfectly good.  I'm not so sure about Flying Locust models, but the Up-Wing is definitely not all it's cracked up to be.  Surprisingly, it hasn't collapsed under anyone, but the cuff is uncomfortable and unstable and the pin that locks the footplate from pivoting is not strong enough, although they do send a spare pin.  I haven't heard anything bad about the Pro version with the pivoting footplate, though.  Pro-Jump is right about spring breaks- even Powerskip has made a few springs that broke, but Flying Locust carbon fiber springs are known to be relatively unpredictable.

I do feel the need to point out that the price difference between Flying Locust and Poweriser is only about $20 or about 10 pounds.

I still think Poweriser or 7leagueboots are the best choices, but Flying Locust child models will hold up perfectly well for the kids.

More random facts:
Poweriser and Powerskip hooves do not scuff.  7leagues and FL brands do.  7league hooves are considerably more durable and quieter than other brands.  The 7league S-Rex type X is not any stronger than any other 90-120 spring, but it still has a nice character and does not need breaking in.  You can get about the same height from any spring from any brand as long as they are rated for the same weight.  Neither 7league nor Poweriser sell models with pivoting footplates.  Do not get Skyrunners, as they are illegal due to copyright laws, and they aren't any good anyway.  Pretty much all bock parts are interchangeable, so you can upgrade your bocks with parts from other brands.  Poweriser is the only brand that sells calf cuffs, which are all they're cracked up to be.  This may be important to you as you seem concerned with comfort.  If you have kneebars, you'll want to mod them with more padding and maybe change the straps.  Otherwise, bocks are not uncomfortable, although it will be a while before you can use them for extended periods of time due to the weird musculature they require.  Just make sure you have some comfortable shoes and you'll be fine.