So you know you need some skate knee pads. Maybe the old knee pads finally died after too many days in the Pipe or on the trail. Maybe you or your child/spouse/sibling has just taken up inline skating or boarding and need to invest in some basic skate protective gear. ProTec makes a huge range of protective gear for all levels of ability and usage, including a number of different skate/mountain biking knee pads. Read about each of ProTec’s skate knee pads below or visit the XSportsProtective website to learn more.

ProTec Gasket Knee Guards are the lightest and slimmest-fitting pads in the ProTec skate protective gear lineup. Gasket knee pads offer knee support and unrestricted movement but almost no padding. Going skateboarding or biking and just want something under your clothes so you don’t hit on skin and bones? Going to a park that requires pads? Want some extra knee support while jogging or walking? The Gasket knee pad might be your answer.

ProTec Double Down knee pads are exceptionally low profile with a snug Neoprene body for a slip-on/slip-off design and a silicon panel around the lower interior to help keep the pad in place.  The Double Down is one of the most customizable skateboard knee pads around, however, the Double Down probably would not be a good choice for pipe or other activities where you’re likely to take substantial falls.

ProTec’s Street knee pads are a great knee pad for entry level or casual skateboarders or inline skaters. The Street knee pads feature EVA foam behind the knee, a full-coverage molded plastic cup over the knee, and solid Neoprene backing material for a snug fit.  These are a slip-on/slip-off design, so you need to take off your shoes in order to put them on.

ProTec Park knee pads differ from Street knee pads in several key ways. The molded plastic knee cup still offers full coverage, but is slightly slimmer than the knee cup on the Street knee pad. Overall, the Park has a longer but slimmer profile than the Street. The Park knee pad has a butterfly closure, so you can take it on and off without removing your shoes.

ProTec Drop-In knee pads are high-end skate protective gear for aggressive skaters. They feature natural suede-embossed leather at key wear points, gusseted stitching, and friction/rip resistant nylon. The Drop-In knee pads sport a butterfly design for easy on/off without having to remove your shoes. A replaceable hard cap with a built-in wear indicator makes it easy to see when you need a new cap.

Which ProTec Helmet Do I Need?

One of the most popular lines of helmets we sell at XSports Protective are made by ProTec. You can find a ProTec helmet for just about any sport–skate helmets, skateboarding helmets, mountain bike helmets, BMX helmets. With such a wide product line, it’s difficult to figure out which ProTec helmet will best meet your needs. The helmet liner is your best guide there. (Note that the liner is the padding that is right next to the plastic exterior shell of the helmet, not the soft, squishy foam pads for comfort and fit that sit next to your head.)

We’ve created a handy page that looks at each of the three different types of liners used in ProTec helmets and offers some guidelines as to what type of helmet is best suited to a specific sport or sports.

Briefly, ProTec helmets are made with three different kinds of liners—2-stage soft foam, stiff expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, or surface-activated expanded polypropylene (SXP). Each Pro-Tec liner is designed to cushion your head in the event of an impact. However, each type of liner is best suited for a particular kind of impact. The 2-stage liner is designed to withstand multiple small impacts, such as you might get at the skate park. The EPS liner is designed to protect you in the event of a major collision, such as a bicycle crash. Pro-Tec’s patented SXP is a high-grade multi-impact liner designed to protect even the most aggressive riders.

To read more and to see a detailed photo of each type of helmet liner, check out this page from the XSports Protective website. Whatever ProTec helmet (or other helmet) you choose, be sure to inspect the interior and exterior for cracks or other damage after any serious impact. If you take a hit hard enough to make you say, “Wow!” please check your helmet.

The most impressive piece of Dainese protective gear that we carry is the Dainese Evolution jacket, which offers professional-level upper body protection for mountain biking freeride and downhill, snowboarding, or skiing. Made from elasticated mesh fabric, the Evolution features composite, molded shoulder, elbow, and chest pads in polypropylene with a fixed ergonomic Shield Air 7 back protector. The elbow and shoulder pads sit on top of soft, perforated polyester padding. To top it off, the Dainese Evolution is one of the best-looking pieces of upper body armor we’ve seen. Plus, it kind of makes you look like a superhero, and that’s always a good thing.

Reduce your chance of a serious head injury – get yourself a new snowboard helmet, delivered fast and free!

POC Spine Ergo BUG Back and Spine Protector

The POC BUG back protector uses the same ergonomic hard shell design as the groundbreaking POC Spine Ergo. The BUG is cushioned with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), an expanded rubber padding known for both its softness and shock absorption, to provide excellent ski, snowboard, and cycling spine protection. The BUG series is designed for freeride skiing back protection,  all-mountain ski back protection, snowboarding back protection, or mountain biking back protection. If you’re a racer, you might want to check out the race-oriented POC Ergo Spine Protector.

If you want to get a better look at the POC Spine Ergo BUG Back and Spine Protector, check out the latest video from the XSports team below.

Ankle Guards

This little anatomy lesson was spurred by the arrival in the XSports office of the Dainese Performance Ankle Guards. These ankle guards combine soft polyethylene (PE) and polyester mesh to protect your medial and lateral malleolus, as well as to compress the ankle, adding stabilization. Flexible high density PE foam cups cradle each side of the ankle, while a larger soft pad cushions the Achilles tendon. Dainese ankle guards are just one of a number of ankle guards we carry. Check out the SixSixOne Race Brace Pro Ankle Guard, the McDavid AnkleX Ankle Brace, the POC Joint Ankle Guards, or the ProTec Soft Ankle Guards. No matter if you want mountain bike ankle protection, BMX ankle protection, skateboard ankle protection, or roller derby ankle protection, chances are XSports Protective carries the ankle guard to meet your needs.

You might not always think about ankle protection when you’re headed out the door with your bike, skates, skateboard, but an ankle injury can sideline you for days or even weeks. Why waste the time?

One way to protect yourself is to wear the proper protective gear. If you’re going to be hitting the slopes, you might want to look into investing in a pair of ski padded shorts. We’ve put up a new video on the POC Hip VPD ski padded shorts so you can get a full 360-view.

VPD stands for Visco-elastic Polymer Dough. VPD is soft and comfortable yet, upon impact, stiffens to absorb an extreme amount of the energy created by the impact. Since it is this energy from impact that ultimately causes bodily injury, the more energy your protective device absorb, the less likely you are to suffer injury. Most protective padding is static. The POC VPD Tailbone Protector is progressive, meaning the harder the impact, the greater the proportion of energy from the impact POC’s VPD Tailbone Protector will absorb.

You can also check out our full line of ski padded shorts (and snowboard padded shorts). Chances are, you’ll find the right pair of hip protection for your needs.

Ski Protective Gear
Is this the year you’ve resolved to finally get back on your skis (or to learn to ski)? Just about everybody knows you need a pair of ski goggles to protect your eyes from the sun’s glare and from bits of flying snow and ice, but a ski helmet is equally important. A blow to the head can cause serious injury or even death. Advances in materials technology mean that helmets have gotten lighter while offering better protection. And you can find ski helmets that are specifically designed for how or where you ski. For instance, you can find Giro ski helmets that are designed for park use, powdery conditions, or ski racing. Depending on what type of skier you are, other ski protective gear includes ski padded shorts or pants, ski body armor, or ski elbow and/or knee pads.

Snowboarding Protective Gear
Whether you’re pulling your first Ollie or going for a McTwist, sooner or later you’re going to fall. A snowboard helmet is a necessity. Given that it’s a winter sport, snowboard gloves are a necessity too. If you’re going to have to wear gloves anyway, they might as well protect you. Level makes great protective snowboard gloves with a unique wrist guard called BioMex that’s been shown to reduce the likelihood of snowboard wrist injuries by 7.5 times. Depending on where you snowboard, in what conditions you snowboard, and what kind of tricks you’re attempting,you might want to invest in snowboard body armor, snowboard padded shorts and pants, snowboard goggles, and snowboard elbow/knee pads. Our snowboard protective gear Learning Center can give you a little more information on how to select the right protective equipment for you.

Inline Skating and Roller Blading Protective Gear
Did you get a new pair of skates this holiday? Did you get a skate helmet too? Remember that even the most experienced skater falls once in a while. Why risk serious injury to your head? While many skate helmets still have the classic styling from the late 1970s, advances in materials technology have made them lighter, more comfortable, and more protective. And they come in some fantastic colors. The other must-have piece of skate protective gear is a pair of skate wrist guards. When we fall, we instinctively put out our hands to catch ourselves. Skate knee pads and skate elbow pads are helpful too, but trust us on the wrist guards.

Learning a new sport can be fun if you take the proper precautions. No matter what your New Year’s resolution is, please do it safely.

What Is a HexPad Anyway?

McDavid’s patented HexPad technology has been used by a majority of Division 1 football teams for several years. In 2010, the company began offering HexPad technology in ski protective wear and snowboard protective wear. As the name implies, HexPad material is made up of a grid-like pattern of hexagonally shaped pads that are permanently bonded to the fabric of compression garments. Each individual hexagon pad is less than an inch across and can move individually or along with the other pads. This configuration allows the McDavid Freeride protective shirt to conform to the shape of your body, no matter if you’re standing straight up, in a crouch, or rolling on the ground laughing after taking a tumble. The tiny HexPads squish and expand upon impact, working as a unit to absorb the force of impact. While it may not be as dramatic as the Grinch stealing (and then saving) Christmas down in Whoville, the McDavid HexPad Freeride ski padded pants and ski body armor can save you from a lot of pain and injury, and that’s pretty nice.