Setup

[MCFlask]

Cool, ill get me some decent pads and that.

Also I meant to say 'bobbing' in a former statement, not 'boobing'.

[mikey]

lol i actually read bobbing..only noticed u said boobing now you said it

[mcnaryxc]

My knees thank you guys so much for the pictures showing where the knee bar goes. Until recently, there were right in the soft part of my knee. Not only do my knees feel better, but I have better control of my jumping and running.

And discovered today, I now understand what Bill means about buying a knee brace to go with the pads when doing tricks. I was trying to land 360's and 540's and, boy, if you land wrong or jump wrong, it's painful.

Thanks again guys. (and gals )

[Bill C.]

...i dont think the strap would go tight enough.As I'm a bit of a skinny whippet it always seems to be pretty loose in that area, ...how do you guys cope with it?

Knee pads are best to fill up the space.  You can also just add another layer of pipe insulating foam tubing (from your local hardware store) to build up the loop padding.  I've seen memory foam pipe now for pipe insulation which would even be comfortable against a boney naked shin.

And discovered today, I now understand what Bill means about buying a knee brace to go with the pads when doing tricks. I was trying to land 360's and 540's and, boy, if you land wrong or jump wrong, it's painful.

Yep...  It is very easy to accidently hyper-extend the knee while tricking on bocks due to where the knee loop rests as a pivot point -- possibly resulting in a torn ACL.  Not fun.  Be very careful.

[mcnaryxc]

Hey Bill, what kind of knee brace do you use? Wrap? Hinged? Expensive?

[Bill C.]

Hey Bill, what kind of knee brace do you use? Wrap? Hinged? Expensive?

Cast from a mold of my knees and expensive -- but medical insurance covered the cost of them after my surgeries.

http://www.townsenddesign.com/html/product%20pages/full%20oa.html

As you can see from the design, it not only protects me from any accidental hyper-extension of my knee and relieves some bone on bone arthritis pain in the joint, but I also do not feel the knee loop against my shin.  The next level down would be something similar, but bought off the shelf and not custom fit -- but still really good -- costing a few hundred dollars each.  Below that would be the type you can buy in a sporting goods store for tens of dollars.  That is probably all you need for some "better than nothing" protection against hyper-extension as long as the store-bought brace is substantial and has built-in metal side bars and hinges.  Don't just get a cheap-looking Ace elastic sock with a side hinge.  I can tell you from experience they are useless because they stretch and shift.  Find yourself a pair of decent velcro-closing knee wraps with side hinges.

For example...  Here are the ones that Sports Authority carries.  Scroll down and check out the ones that say "hinged".  They have multiple pages of knee supports.
http://www.sportsauthority.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=knee%20support&origkw=knee%20support&sr=1

Bill C.

[Friis]

Do you mean this?

http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1300101&cp=&sr=1&origkw=knee+support&kw=knee+support&parentPage=search

I don't fully understand what they do... do they take preasure from your knee and put it above and below your knee? Is it metal plates inside it?

[Bill C.]

The brace has two vertical flat metal strips down each side of the knee with a hinge where the knee bends.  The velcroed wrap and hinge helps limit side to side joint movement and hyper-extension (beyond straight) of the knee.  Because of the location of the knee loop acts like a fulcrom on that joint, it is easy for the long stilt to put extra force onto the knee joint and bend the knee in an unnatural direction if landing incorrectly or falling.  Again, just my opinion that people should be wearing at least this level of protection on their knees.

These are the heavy-duty customized fiberglass ones I wear.  Very RoboCop-ish.

[coachgeo]

ROBO BOCK lol. 

I really do need to get my stuff moved out of my cargo container so I can find my brace like yours.  My ACL replaced right leg is little unstable in bocks.  Thats the main reason Im not tricking yet.

[poweriser kid]

because i had been using them for 2 houers every day for weeks aprox 2.5 years ago i now have perminant indentations on my shins where i had them straped tight
it is like a little guide
and it grows with me
lol

PK

[BackB0NE]

Plastic football (soccer) shin guards with some velcro straps are an excellent protection against the knee bar indentions.

I was on the stilts for 3-hours and even with the knee bar with it extra padded, I still got the indentions on my skin and my bone aching.

I find the baseball catcher's shin/knee guard combo works best. These provide protection for both the shin, while adding some circumference in my calfs to fit more snug with the straps, and knee pads.