Wetsuit Kneepads?

[TimM]

I'm currently looking for a new suit as my arse is about to fall out of my current one and my biggest concern apart from price and value is the kneepads on the suits - specifically the "Grippyness" of them...

I was at the surfshop today looking through the suits and there seems to be either the older style thin rubber like kneepads or as a lot of the new suits have got - a type of thicker foam pad covered in a kind of hardwearing nylon fabric stuff.... The O'neills and Billabong suits seem to have the rubber pads while the xcels, Ripcurls have the woven pads. My worry is that these woven pads might not grip to the pads on my board as well as i think the rubber ones might... Maybe I'm wrong though. Obviously all board pads also differ but by and large they are made of similar material.. Has anyone out there had any bad/ good (kneeboarding) experiences with any of the major wetsuit brands? I wouldn't mind a bit of feedback before I part with my hard-earned cash, this topic doesn't really concern stand-ups so their advice isn't worthwhile.

Any response would be much appreciated..

[Mike Fernandez]

Tim some of the suits have a shiny, thin, iron on looking, plasticky kneepad, I am not sure how those work, however I have used O'neill, Hurley, and Body Glove with the rubbery pads, they work well.

[K-man]

Mornin!here anyways... :lol: I wear X-cel's only because they fit me the best,Kneepads are solid,and along with board pads [parkes] There have been no problems.I surf heaps,and the suits will wear out,but the pads will be in perfect condition.

cheers

[surfhorn]

The O'Neill suits have worked really well for me kneeboarding. They fit my body type well so they're my main suits. I also have a basic Body Glove 4/3 and the knees have held up really well.

And I always 'tag' the sewn seams with wetsuit cement before I wear a new suit, just to make sure thread does not unravel.

[SFKneelo]

Guess it's a 'feature' of having blown knees, but I wear open-patella neoprene pads over the wetsuit. They have stays, but not hinges.

With those, the kneepads on the wetsuit become a non-issue, and the traction is fine. With deckpads, it downright cushy.

However, it does mean carrying more bulk that takes some getting used to...

just another option...

Edit: they do have neoprene sleeves without stays as well. Sporting good stores carry them around here.