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Which knee pad? (Read 34534 times)

petejh

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#50 Re: Which knee pad?
November 04, 2016, 10:05:48 pm
It's good to discuss, doesn't come across as bickering.

PUTP - a short font 7c+. 12 moves in total of climbing. A 6 move font 7c+.  With the boulder problem coming right after leaving the ground. 60 seconds in total of climbing to the chains with the top moves easy.

Mecca -  a long font 7c/+. Around 27 moves in total. A 16 move font 7c/+ to get into the groove. Then a kneebar. Then a 4/5 move font 7a+ at the top after a good deal of pumpy hard climbing. 2 minutes of climbing plus a bit for the kneebar.

It isn't a direct comparison from what I can tell. Having not tried the moves on PUTP someone more well versed than me in both routes can add more.


Also I'd question why you'd place so much emphasis on local routes.

There's no 'good' reason why the peak would be graded differently to Yorkshire to n.Wales to Scotland, South coast etc. It's all just moving over rock, usually limestone. There's nothing special about raven tor that can't be said of somewhere else in the world. Of course, I'm not stupid and I know local grading exists - usually tied up with historical personalities, scene and peer group pressure. But really, would you place emphasis on local routes over and above national benchmarks if you wanted an international grading scale to have meaning beyond Derbyshire?

Paul B

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#51 Re: Which knee pad?
November 04, 2016, 11:28:24 pm
I think we lost Stu some time ago  :tumble:

Also I'd question why you'd place so much emphasis on local routes.

There's no 'good' reason why the peak would be graded differently to Yorkshire to n.Wales to Scotland, South coast etc. It's all just moving over rock, usually limestone. There's nothing special about raven tor that can't be said of somewhere else in the world. Of course, I'm not stupid and I know local grading exists - usually tied up with historical personalities, scene and peer group pressure. But really, would you place emphasis on local routes over and above national benchmarks if you wanted an international grading scale to have meaning beyond Derbyshire?

Good reason or not grading varies (as you've noted) between, countries, counties and even crags, unfortunately that's what we've got. Without the wholesale re-grading (and subsequent re-writing of history), that's not something that you can easily change and normalising 'benchmark routes' (on a national scale) leaves things meaningless at a crag level (which I don't think is a better scenario). Accepting areas as old-skool or soft is a lesser evil (in my mind at least).

If you took a  representative climber from the RRG and put them on Mecca I think you'd get a very different view on it's difficulty (as an extreme example). Trying to normalise between Yorkshire and Derbyshire is hard enough and reason why I don't feel using the Oak is a great defense.

I think it's unfair to tie it to personalities too, for me at least it's significant routes (and these are around the world).

So really, which pad are you buying, the 'downgrader'?  :tease:

jwi

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#52 Re: Which knee pad?
November 05, 2016, 09:44:54 am
I don't think I've been to a major crag in France (and very few in Spain) without a decent spread of routes that are ridiculously hard and astoundingly soft for their grade. Everyone knows which route is which, and laughs behind the back of visitors who romps up the soft touches and loudly declare the crag to be soft.

(The Mini Strap-On from Send climbing.)

Bonjoy

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#53 Re: Which knee pad?
November 05, 2016, 09:24:47 pm
 :agree: and then these ascents, registered on 8a.nu become next week's visitor's ticklist. And so it goes.

Oldmanmatt

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#54 Re: Which knee pad?
November 06, 2016, 11:38:57 am
How disturbing is it to realise we have a three page, 55 reply, thread; about "Strap-ons"...?


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Will Hunt

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#55 Re: Which knee pad?
November 06, 2016, 05:34:13 pm
Guys, seriously, forget it. People don't want accurate grades, they want the grades that they know and feel comfortable with. Look at how this thread went:
http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,26641.0.html
And that was just for the relatively new stuff where the scrittle is now gone and the grade is 2 or more off. It's like Brexiters. There's more people out there than you think who are not only happy to let an incorrect grade stand, but are happy to take it and pop it in their videos and advertise it as such (don't particularly want to name names there but there's plenty of it around).

Caveat: I've got no knowledge of, or interest in, Mecca and it's grade, and the comments above are not personally about those people posting on this thread about Mecca - it's more a general principle of the acceptance of shit grades.

Sarnian

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#56 Re: Which knee pad?
November 07, 2016, 06:21:09 pm
I'm fighting for the mecca being 8b+ team. I think the kneebar is not the total rest that people make it out to be. I've seen an 8c+ climber on it who's pretty handy at kneebars and he can really only shake out for a few breaths, which is my experience on it too. It's more the foot sliding than the kneebar itself. Obviously it's a lot easier with the kneebar but to me, I think it must have been a nails 8b+/8c without it, not 8b with it.

If it helps I've done 1 8b, 1 8b+ and PUTP. (Disclaimer, I'm a midget so my opinion means nothing)

My pad from Bulgaria arrived, I've only been able to test it on a few indoor holds so not really a fair test. I ordered the Perseus pad which is 19cm^2 with the rubber being 14cm wide by 16cm. So this is actually a lot smaller than the others available although I like the size and find it fits me very well. This is sold as a smaller model, so the others I imagine are more similar to the five ten ones. She also offered to do a custom size in only 7 days, which is pretty cool. So far it looks well made.

Pro's - The first thing I noticed is the madrock rubber feels a lot stickier than the five ten/sender. I asked for a similar size patch of rubber from feet first to make my own and it was going to cost £28. So maybe the other brands use a cheaper rubber, or maybe it doesn't make any difference, but I will take any placebo/ marginal gains going so I'm counting this as a pro. It's the coolest looking pad I've come across. The rubber is very thin, this will be good for some stuff, terrible for others.

Con's - It has a similar enclosure fitting to the five-ten pads, which seems like it will cut into the back of the leg just as bad when wearing it near the knee. (The other models have a different style fitting) The straps are quick release buckles which would be good for taking it off on the other models but not this one, and it's hard to cynch them up tight. The inner fabric is a bit like the inside of the jumper, so it feels luxurious but not very sticky and I find the pad slides down easily.

It cost 43 euros plus 7 euros delivery. Now after discovering the price of rubber I'm counting this as a bargain.



standard

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#57 Re: Which knee pad?
November 07, 2016, 08:02:35 pm
That's not the price of rubber. Torquil sold me a piece for £5

Sarnian

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#58 Re: Which knee pad?
November 07, 2016, 09:24:50 pm
Oh that's good to know, I sent him an email today because I was still want to have a go at making one.

Wood FT

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#59 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 12:49:49 pm
reading quite a bit of 5.10 pad hate on here, so, anyone selling one?

Doylo

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#60 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 01:25:05 pm
reading quite a bit of 5.10 pad hate on here, so, anyone selling one?

Think I'm the only one who rates them.

T_B

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#61 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 01:29:43 pm
I got a Send Downgrader from the States and sold it almost immediately, having found it way to clumpy and sitting half way up my thigh. I prefer the 5.10 pad, but when someone actually designs a kneepad (i.e. not a thigh pad) then I'll buy one. Maybe it's my massive tree trunk thighs/gigantic knees, but I tend to use my knee on most kneebars. The kneepads I've tried all sit on the thigh. I have a neoprene knee support which I generally use over the 5.10 pad, despite it having nay rubber on it.

tomtom

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#62 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 01:33:08 pm
reading quite a bit of 5.10 pad hate on here, so, anyone selling one?

Ditto - I'm looking for one...

Maybe when Shark gives up climbing limestone he can sell us each one?

abarro81

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#63 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 02:36:44 pm
TB - the Rock n Resole pads are the ones which are easiest to wear low. I really don't think that 95% of knees require this though, off the top of my head I can barely think of a single kneebar in the UK where I've really struggled with wearing the pad low enough.. anyone got any examples? Yesterday I did a route with 6 knees, some of which were the crux of the route, and I used a Send pad as the slightly firmer/thicker rubber worked better than the softer RnR ones. Wearing it low enough wasn't an issue.

standard

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#64 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 02:52:25 pm
I've got the original Send climbing pad, and have just received the new Slim.
So that's
- 4.2mm vs 3.0mm rubber.
- 3.8mm vs 2.8mm neoprene.

I had a large (mistake) in the original, so bough the mini slim version.
They are a world apart.

I'd suggest anyone thinking of buying a new pad to try and find someone with a Send Slim, before making a decision (sorry, i'm not in sheffield).

webbo

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#65 Re: Which knee pad?
November 10, 2016, 06:09:46 pm
This is all getting a bit S & M with folk talking about how low slung they wear their rubber aids.

Paul B

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#66 Re: Which knee pad?
April 18, 2017, 11:56:04 am
Over the weekend I decided to 'rubber up' my Huesca thigh support with sections of old inner tube (courtesy of Peewee). It's worked really well (and was used successfully by my better half yesterday).

However, if anyone else is going down the DIY route can I suggest you glue the rubber onto the pad in a stretched position (i.e. on your leg, probably with a barrier of some sort against the glue!). The combination of the neoprene and rubber means that I'm going to seriously struggle to get it on.

Shoe goo seems to have worked well for bonding the rubber to the neoprene but less well rubber to rubber. I think I'll add a round of stitching to give some extra protection.

moose

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#67 Re: Which knee pad?
April 18, 2017, 12:33:30 pm
Barge cement worked well on my home-made pad - hard to get hold of cheaply though (I think it's American - possibly not licenced for sale in Europe).

Yossarian

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#68 Re: Which knee pad?
April 18, 2017, 12:35:59 pm


I'm really liking the look of this new knee bar / arm bar combo pack...

tomtom

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#69 Re: Which knee pad?
April 18, 2017, 02:06:31 pm
He looks a bit sweaty though...

Footwork

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#70 Re: Which knee pad?
August 22, 2018, 10:49:48 pm
I'm thinking of getting a knee pad.

I used one once on Lizard King and it made a small difference in beta that made all the difference in sending. I'm pretty crap at using them, but every now and then it would be useful to have a pad in the bag.

Was considering the Send mini slim as I like the idea of a low profile design and reckon I won't need a full on thigh of rubber. Any thoughts? Or is it a try before you buy?

Cheers

shark

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#71 Re: Which knee pad?
August 23, 2018, 09:39:16 am
Wow just read this thread for the first time and it went majorly off piste.

Toying with getting a Send pad and wasnt sure which version though I did borrow the Large just recently which is a substantial unit on first acquaintance though got used to it quickly so tempted to get that one though now see there is a thinner version of both Large and Mini.

Too much choice.

remus

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#72 Re: Which knee pad?
August 23, 2018, 10:00:00 am
I've got the three strap thin rubber one. Personally Id go for the two strap thin rubber one, the three strap seems to cover most of my thigh and I don't think I've ever used the top half of it. The thin rubber one is already pretty thick (compared to a 5.10 pad) so unless you make a habit of knee barring nasty little spikes the thick one seems excessive.

shark

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#73 Re: Which knee pad?
August 23, 2018, 10:38:52 am
Thanks Remus

abarro81

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#74 Re: Which knee pad?
August 23, 2018, 10:50:59 am
Best to have an arsenal... slip-ons for wearing really low (when the straps on Sends can be annoying) and onsights, then the bigger Sends for most hard (but not super low) knees IMO. I've never bothered with a thin Send on the basis that I have my slip-ons for thin ones; mini (2 strap) Sends I don't think stay put as well but that may depend on leg size/shape

 

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