Triumphrat

Ken M1

I have noticed that many riders rely on "built in" knee armor in their pants. Built in knee armor is convenient, but seriously lacks protection.
Imagine this...you are riding along and suddenly swerve and have a get off. You hit the pavement. The knee armor in your pants (which only fits your knee right when in full crouch) hits the road but is not properly covering your knee (because you don't hit the road in a "full crouch"!). You tumble and your knee hits pavement again, except this time you armor is off to the side from the friction of your slide. Bam! You now have broken your knee cap (at best).
"Built in" knee armor (no matter how adjustable, CE approved, or whatever) is a VERY poor thing to rely on.
Do yourself (and your knees) a favor and get some "strap on" knee armor (such as KNOX "cross knee" guards). You can ditch whatever armor comes in your pants and wear them. That way, you'll have PREMIUM knee protection no matter what position your knees/legs are in (walking, standing, crouched...it's still where it should be). Doesn't matter how you legs are bent, how many times they hit the ground, and will be familiar to you as they are ALWAYS in the same (proper) spot ALL the time. A side benifit of this is that the same pair of knee armor can be used under ANY pants you have, thus always feeling the same and comfortable.

munsonbw

Great advice, Ken. I have been really struggling with what to do for the occasional rides to work in "dress casual". I really hate to sacrifice protection for convenience, but I truthfully didn't see myself wearing an overpant to work and stripping out of my battle armor once there. What are you thoughts about having these strap-on armors over the top of pants? I have a few pairs of pants that I doubt I can get the armor underneath with a big hassle. Seems quick and easy to strap them on over the top, which probably means that it is a bad idea... nothing is easy!

Ken M1

You could wear them over pants, however they would only offer you initial impact protection then, as the guards (under friction of pavement) would move. Guards over pants are CERTAINLY better than no guards. Of course, textile pants (of casual fabric) will only offer you a fraction of a seconds worth of abrasive resistance anyway, so it's kind of a moot point. My advice for you situation would be to buy a set of cheap, 600 denier or higher, overpants that zip up the sides. Then ditch the cheap armor that comes in them. That way you can wear your work/casual clothes, put the knee strap on guards OVER them, and then slip into the abrasive resistant overpants. That way, you'll still be well covered and armored. Also, if you're worried about the bulk of knee armor...I'd suggest KNOX "cross knee" armor. I swear by those things and will wear NOTHING else. They are CE approved, flexible, fit slender legs (or larger as well) VERY well! If you want to see a video of them, check out http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Detail.bok?no=4152 I use the short version (knee only), as I'm not interested in the shin portion (large).