[Steve R]

Having a go at making a pair of these since most reports on the 5.10 ones are pretty negative.  Anyone have a recommendation for an adhesive to bond the shoe rubber to the neoprene?  I'd guess rubber cement, as you get in puncture repair kits, is a bit too runny and might not adhere to the neoprene very well?     General tips on rubber placement and anything else I should bear in mind gratefully received.  I wasn't going to bother with straps, got double sided carpet tape and duck tape to combat riding down issues.  Assume it's worth shaving the band of leg that will get taped....

[tomtom]

Imnac for the hair, shoe goo for the sticking might be worth stitching around the edge too..

[kelvin]

Yeah - immac for the legs, same as for wearing hold up stockings. You only need to do a two inch band right round.

[blamo]

Some people use spray on adhesive in conjunction with duct tape.  These kneepads seem to be fairly popular: http://rockandresole.com/knee-bar-pads/

They are definitely better than the 5.10s, in my opinion, not sure about international shipping prices.

[moose]

For the rubber adhesive (to stick a sheet of Vibram XsGrip to a caving neoprene-knee pad) I used Barge Cement - this stuff (but I'm pretty sure I didn't pay that much):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barge-Cement-Bonding-QUABAUG-CORPORATION/dp/B00O1E6ZA0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1435867271&sr=8-4&keywords=barge+cement

I have heard "Black Witch" is pretty good too.  Not sure about "Shoe Goo" - I've used it to repair shoes but it is more of a filler than a cement.

[Stu Littlefair]

I used barge cement with great success. If you want to stitch them on for added beef you'll need to score deep grooves in the rubber first. And use a big needle

[cha1n]

I tried using Black Witch to stick some rubber to a neoprene kneepad and it didn't work, though the rubber was quite thin. Wanted it for friction more than protection, so perhaps a thicker, less flexible rubber would have stuck. I wouldn't risk it again though, barge is the only stuff I've heard works but it's stupid expensive.

[Steve R]

Thanks all for the information.  It seems that not only is it hard to buy a decent commercial knee pad without paying a premium for postage from the US but the same applies to the glue necessary for making your own!  Oh well, found some old wetsuit patches to experiment on, will try some building mastics I've got already and if that doesn't look/feel up to it then give the shoe goo stuff a go.   

[tomtom]

A few folk have strapped an opened up old rock shoe to their leg/knee?

[dave]

The fiveten kneepad is fine by the way. Certainly better than I could make for 40 quidsworth of parts, time and effort.

[T_B]

I think the main gripe with the 5.10 knee pad is it cutting into the back of your knee. If you were prepared to do some trimming and sewing I reckon you could solve that issue.

Knee pads seem to be a very personal thing. I couldn't get the Sender one to work at all for me, but others rate it. I'm now happy with the 5.10 one apart from the above issue. Despite my GCSE in textiles, I doubt I'll get round to modifying it.

[cha1n]

if that doesn't look/feel up to it then give the shoe goo stuff a go.   

I've not used it but heard that stuff sets really hard. If it's not very flexible then you may struggle on neoprene. There was a thread, I think on UKC where someone was asking for suitable glue and someone recommended an epoxy. I think I commented on a glue thread on here. I'll have a search (bored at work).

[cha1n]

That didn't take long, here's the post:

Just spotted this quote on the other channel:

Bostick 2402, two part chloroprene adhesive.

Sticks on contact once tacky, extraordinarily strong, used for edge gluing neoprene for divers drysuits and attaching boot soles.

Clean thoroughly with Isopropyl Alcohol (Surgical Spirit BP) or Acetone first, be very careful not to press the rand to the boot until you've got it positioned Just So, because it will stick and stay stuck.

Certainly sounds like a good candidate for glueing rubber at least, not sure how it'd work to create 'stealth paint'. I'm keen to glue some rubber over some holes appearing on the uppers of my wall shoes and also have some rubber I want to glue to a neoprene knee support. I tried other glues but they always seems to come unstuck. Will report back if I get round to it in the near future. (I never got round to it)

[Doylo]

the 5.10 pad is fine , I use it on everything. Would like to try the Send pad though, would be nice to be able to take it off between goes.

[highrepute]

My effort, made quite a few years ago now and still going strong. I used Shoe Goo (used it for many shoe repairs) and it seems good to me. I would say it's quite a flexible glue once set, as glue goes. My tip would be to put the pad on your knee while gluing the rubber on so it sets into the shape of your leg. I really like this pad as it's very comfy to wear and works very well for me but suspect that's mainly due to getting used to it over the years so that I find other pads unfamiliar.

I've also got a 5.10 pad, which works but I also have back of knee comfort issues.

[abarro81]

Send is the best pad I've used IMO - doesn't slide as much as the 5.10 or hurt as much. That said, I used the 5.10s plenty previously and whilst they're uncomfy they do work fine.

Homemade: I've got a couple of homemade ones which are very comfy and much lighter than commercial ones, thus good for onsights. I used non-slip thigh pads with vibram rand rubber, stuck down with sho goo. They stuck ok but the corners can come up a bit so this other stuff sounds better. Use thigh supports not knee supports.

Rock and resole: these pads are nice, but they don't (or didn't) ship abroad - you have to get them shipped to someone in the US, then get them to send to you. Need sticking down with spray stuff and/or gaffa, at least when I bought them, as it's not a non-slip thigh pad that they use. Less bulky than the send but don't stick as well IMO. WAY more comfy thatn the 5.10 - you can happily smash these on for a 40m onsight on the offchance that you'll come across a knee

Gaffa: worth using even on the commerical ones, to get the least slip. Shave the leg for minimum slippage and easy removal, or just take the pain for the amusement of those at the crag when you rip off the gaffa.

[cha1n]

I think it's worth mentioning that I used someone's 5.10 pad that had been modified (elastic at the back cut so only a few inches remained in the middle) and the difference was unreal. I'd been using my standard one all day and as the back of my knee was nearing blood, I tried the other one and was no longer afraid to bend my leg due to the pain... Which helped...

He said he just cut the elastic and melted the edges with a hot knife to stop it fraying. I just heated up an old screw driver to do mine this morning. Sorted.

[dave]

You can fold the bottom bit of the elastic over to similar effect.

[Paul B]

I pointed this issue out to five ten on twitter who responded telling me that it wasn't meant to go across the knee!

Why the final production knee pad looks nothing like the red one Busby had baffles me (other than it being 5.10). I object to paying for a product and then hacking it to bits simply so I can bend my knee but as T_B points out it's unlikely I'll do better for the money. Thus, I'm entertaining purchasing from send (if anyone wishes to share postage?)

[ghisino]

I used a paint called acquaglutene for mine.

Normally used for protecting wetsuits from abrasion, sticks ok-ish but probably miles off proper rubber. Very thin and flexible though.

For the base, nothing should be better than cutting an old beaten up wetsuit, the problem for most would be easy access to one...

[SEDur]

I would be interested in splitting Send shipping (as mentioned in the original topic about their pads), however, it will be 21 august before I have the right money together. Can you wait till then?

In the mean time, I have an old TSG neoprene MTB knee/shin protector set-up that I have been planning to add rubber to for a while.

Is there a good place for buying small sheets of XS Grip?
I also have access to Industrial Cyanoactylate which doesn't actually seem to melt all that bad like the airfix stuff.
I may try it out and report back.

[tomtom]

Hey SEDur - maybe start a new thread 'group buy of Send knee pads' - maybe with a deadline of end of Aug etc.. And see how many folk are interested..? Seen that done quite a bit on other forums (car ones) for getting overseas parts etc.. Might even get a bulk discount!

[Paul B]

Hey SEDur - maybe start a new thread 'group buy of Send knee pads' - maybe with a deadline of end of Aug etc.. And see how many folk are interested..? Seen that done quite a bit on other forums (car ones) for getting overseas parts etc.. Might even get a bulk discount!

I've lazily bought one from another member but it looked like Ru, Barrows and a few other people wanted additional pads so I'd imagine as TomTom suggests you've got a good shot at getting a group buy sorted!

[T_B]

Easy enough to order from Send, but you'll most likely have to pay import duty (we did).

[tomtom]

Easy enough to order from Send, but you'll most likely have to pay import duty (we did).

Duty or just VAT?