Wilko wrote:
Bill Tuthill wrote:
Hand paddles for $40 (in another thread) got me wondering
about other stuff. (Are web-fingered gloves good enough to
get down a difficult river? If not, no point carrying them;
better to walk out or wait for rescue.)

Anybody have words of wisdom about elbow pads? It seems
my elbows are the only thing I ever injure nowadays, so...

Here are some choices of elbow pads, on order of price:
$25 Protec (mine are plastic reinforced, unlike pictures)
$29 Shred Ready Tsunami Elbow pads (look great)
$33 Six Six One (for cycling, might absorb too much water)
$45 NRS Elbow pads (overpriced?)

Some provider makes an under-the-drytop elbow pad
that might stay on more securely than the above models,
but I can't find it on the web now.


I've bought elbow pads in 1999, and I've used them on just about every
whitewater trip since then. Breaking your elbows is a painful
experience, and after I had that happen twice, they seem a lot more
susceptible to weeks of pain if I do hit them in the wrong spot again.

My conclusions based on my experience so far:
-Get something that has a hard outside and soft inside. The completely
soft elbow pads don't spread the impact on a point that well.
-Get elbow pads with a seperate (hard) protection for your lower arm as
well. The chance that you only hit something with your elbow and not
with your lower arm, especially when you deliberately use your arm(s) to
protect yourself against an impact, seems pretty low to me.
-Get pads that stay in place (no turning or twisting around your arm,
and no sliding down either!). I have the Lotus elbow pads (no longer
made) with neoprene shaft around the bottom and top, combined with
elastic straps at both top and bottom. That doesn't work, because the
lower arm is narrower and because the top strap sits right on top of the
biceps, so it *will* slide down! Solved that problem by adding another
strap on the inside of the elbow.

-I have pads with neoprene on the inside, and the protection (plastic
with layer of minicell) as well as strong covering material over the
plastic protective parts on the outside. That means that my arms are
effectively well insulated, which helps quite a bit in the winter and
doesn't bother me in the summer.

I've seen paddling buddies use skateboard elbow guards, but I haven't
seen anyone really enthouaistic about those.

I've bought a set of Mountain Surf (?) elbow guards to replace these
Lotus pads, but the Lotus set just keeps on working so well, that I
haven't had a reason to use them yet. Maybe I'll convince my GF to start
using them... :-)

I paid roughly 60US$ for the Lotus pads, and maybe 40 or so for the
other pair. It is a lot of money, but for me that was money very well
spent!

I believe in paying more and getting what works than paying not so much
for what doesn't work... :-)

There are a lot of good elbow pads for mountain biking that should work
well for whitewater. They start at ~$20.