Finally, New Knees

At last, my new knees from Motorcycle Superstore arrived, and they work! These are Alpinestars Bionic Knee Guards and my greatest fear--that they would be too shallow for proper side of the knee coverage--was unfounded.

They're a big improvement over the KneePros I've been wearing for the past 5 or so years. They look more durable and they cover more. Instead of plastic hinge pins on the side, they have billet aluminum. The velcro straps are much wider too, and seem much more convenient than the old KneePros, which had to be permanently attached in order to keep the buckles from coming off in the middle of a bout.

Of course, like the KneePros, they have to be worn under pants.

If you get tired hauling your full leg harness back and forth into the woods battle, a pair of these might be just the thing as replacements. I'll use these without my cuisses for the woods and other skirmish style melees. If you think you're going to get whacked in the thigh with a stick though, don't use these alone!

I recommend these for anyone whose knees are at least as skinny as mine. But I'm not sure I can recommend the vendor. It took about 10 days for them to ship the product after I ordered it. And I don't mean travel time. So call your local cycle shops for alternatives.

And if you have big knees, then maybe these things will work for you as elbows. Mungoe once borrowed a spare KneePro from me when he forgot his arm harness.

Update: Over the course of a year of regular use, 3 of the 4 C pins that held the billet aluminum hinge pins in place rusted out or otherwise failed. Nevertheless, after repairs with copper rivets and fender washers, the knees work fine. I've also been hit on the knee several times, with no injury.