Good Knee Pads?

I paid about $20 recently for a pair. They are secured with a wide elastic belt which fastens with velcro. The fronts are ribbed, but it is not a hard cap. Occasionally they will rotate around the knee if the the belt is loose and there is some sweating. Got them at Home Depot.

Use a bath towel folded up like a pad, if you're not moving around too much.

When I had to run several hundred screws into my truck bed, I took semi-hard squishy pink foam blocks that had padded a piece of electronic gear during shipping, and duct-taped them to my knees in the morning. That worked OK.

I don't *want* to own good knee pads - the guys that come over would kill themselves laughing at me!

Grant Erw> This is only marginally metal working related, but I know there are

I can't comment on the best knee pads, but I would like to add a word of caution. I had about 45 minutes of work to do in my own attic and here is what happened. I typically wear Carhart jeans as work pants, they are heavy,fairly stiff and offer a certain amount of protection to body parts. Not thinking about anything but getting the job done and getting out of the attic, I failed to pay attention to the blood circulation or the lack of, in my legs, I wasn't even wearing knee pads. A few days later my wife had noticed the my left ankle was severely swollen and suggested that I see the doctor.

To make a long story short, the doctor ordered up an ultrasound of the offending leg, the test found 2 blood clots in the offending leg. In a discussion with the doc, he told me that blood can clot in some people just by a decrease in flow rate and these clots, called DVT's can kill you. Strangely enough I had taken aspirin for the past 35 years to prevent just this sort of thing. Be careful and don't stay on your knee's to long without getting up and moving around.

Ed Angell

Why not try a boiler suit wearing the knee pads underneath.

You could always go naked under the boiler suit if wanted.

For the inevitable future projects, I keep some plywood half-sheets (2' x 8') in the attic, and slide them around to crawl on or lay on as needed.

I really like the pair that I got at Harbor Freight with the white plastic knee area. They do slide a little more than the all foam type, but they are much more protective of the kneecap, compare it to running on gravel in thick wool socks vs. a cushy pair of shoes. You lose some of the ability to feel whether you are kneeling on something or not, pretty important when you're balancing on the rafters, but maybe you can cut grooves in the plastic to give you a "tread" to catch the edges in. You might cover the plastic with RTV or silicon or maybe even Liquid Nails to make it a little stickier or give it the shape you want.

I got them on sale for about $4 but I see they aren't that much more regularly.

I like the plywood idea. It helps to put a handle on one end of the device. Just a block of 2x4 screwed to the sheet will work. It will also span several joists, avoiding the potential for putting a leg through a ceiling. It also prevents over-extension when you need to get just 6" closer to work on something. Can be used as a seat as well. Tom

I actually have a padded work platform with handles. It has some 1/4" thick foam-backed sheet vinyl flooring on a piece of 3/4" plywood. It's great if you are working in one spot that you can get it to easily. The knee pads are better if you are "on the move" running wires under joists & the like.

Doug White

I use kneepads a lot in my job, loading and unloading airplanes. The ones supplied by my employer are ok, good enough that I haven't replaced them at my own expense. They are made by Alta. They are a hard cap type with two elastic straps fastened by plastic/nylon type hook/clips. My only real problem with them is that after a few weeks use the straps' adjustment would no longer stay tight. I'm planning to just sew them in the appropriate length. I definitely prefer the hard cap type, it spreads the pressure over a larger area and of you want more padding its easy to add. As far as slipping goes, I have to move around while working and they do slide, but its manageable, not like kneeling on ice or anything.

I wear mine over my rain gear, this might work better with your tyvek as well.

Good luck, hope this helps, Eric

Check out the garden supply - there might be something there!

Martin

On 3 Nov 2003 06:58:01 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@alum.mit.edu (Doug White) brought forth from the murky depths:

I got a pair of the Harbor Fright hardcaps and they're great. I install them over my pants and they don't slip down my leg much. My knee went out earlier this year after too much work on the floor and in the attic, so I wore a brace for months while I took lots of MSM/Glucosamine (Condroitin made me ache more and is made from Mad cow bones, no thanks). I like the HFT pads because they have a soft foam which didn't irritate my patellar tendinitis.

You could always put some non-slip tape on the hard pads if you're worried about slipping, but these things are surprisingly well made for $6. Hold on a sec...(checking shop)...yeah, they're made by Western Safety.

Boy, are you in luck. You can get 2 pair of pads and a face shield and walk out of there for UNDER $10. (HAH, just try it! ;)

Checking the latest HFT ad, grab a pair for $2.99 #42100/5715 on half-price sale right now. #7466 Western Safety full face shields are $3.97 now, too. Sale ends Nov. 10.

P.S: Don't forget friction tape if you don't have any.