whitewater elbow pads

[kippers711]

hi, anyone in the uk recommend what elbow pads they use? when i say uk, im only interested in gear i can try and buy here. thanks

[downriver]

You can cut up an old wetsuit and make donut shape pieces and glue that into your wetsuit top.  You can use contact cement.  Use several layers to build up the neoprene. 

If you really need more protection you can add plastic stiffeners. On my kneepads which I use for rescue boarding I have a set of knee/shin pads where I cut off the original plastic knee and replaced it with a much smaller heat formed plastic shell sewn in place. This goes under a 7mm extra stretchy wetsuit with extra neoprene pads glued onto the outside. 

When you add neoprene patches to a suit the suit will often rip at the edge of the patch. To avoid that you can cut the edges of the patch in a zig zag pattern.  A stitching awl is cheap and works well for suit modification and repair.

A lot of people wear pads or board shorts on the outside.  IMHO less junk to catch is safer.  All my pads are on the inside of the suit.

One of the surfing girls here broke her tail bone last season.  Later in the year I plan on working up an unobtrusive tailbone pad as well as a minimalist add on helmet face guard.  I do recommend helmets with a brim as the brim protect you face from the paddle shaft.  I bet my paddle strikes my helmet once a week.

When I fall I turn the face of the paddle down against the surface of the water to keep me from going so deep.   That also keeps my paddle blade off the bottom. 

cheers  marty

[kippers711]

thanks for the reply, sorry took so long to answer. im going for some mtb elbow pads now. just something to wear outside my drysuit. that way i can wear/not wear depending on the river.

[MtnSUPSKI]

Can you get G-Form stuff over there?