Perhaps a follow up on the initial review would be in order?
Protection
Like some others in this thread, I've found out (the hard way) that the knee protection wasn't adequate, at least not with the pads I was wearing. (Epic 8600's) The knee cap cover does tend to slide up, and there ended up being a tiny gap between it and my pad's thigh board where a flesh seeking puck found it's way in.
To remedy the situation, I bought a pair of
PAW knee protectors.
Sarah added a stretchy velcro tab to them, which I attach to the velcro on the pants where the original knee cap protectors were attached to. The PAW knee protectors wrap nicely around the leg (above and below the knee), and that extra tab keeps everything in place. Works great, and I haven't had a bruise there again. Though I've had plenty of pucks hit that area. (And Sara at PAW is amazing to deal with!)
This fall I bought larger, Velocity 3 7500 leg pads, and haven't had as much of an issue. I stopped wearing the PAW knee protectors for a while, but decided to wear them again just to be safe.
Aside from the knee issues, the pants offer pretty good protection. About the only place I've noticed some discomfort is when the puck hits that sweet spot just between the legs, but in front of he cheater blocks. There's a small gap between the jock, the hard shell of the pant legs, and the abdominal piece (inner, upper thigh area). It's not earth shattering nor confidence robbing. And I really don't know how you would make it any better without sacrificing mobility.
Mobility
Speaking of mobility, now that the pants are broken in, it's as if they're not even there. When I first got them they were so stiff that I'd get a little light headed tying my skates. That's all gone, and now I don't even bother untying the front part where the abdomen flap is. Moving around the ice, they never make themselves known, which is great. And they don't interfere with the thigh boards on either set of my pads (Epic 8600's or the V3's).
Durability
I've had these pants pretty close to a year now. I'm playing about 6 times a week pretty regularly, often times more. I've washed them a few times, both by soaking them in the tub and once in a front loading commercial washer. They're none the worse for wear. About the only signs of wear would be some light fraying where some velcro on my pads grabs at the outer nylon shell, but it's very minor.
Speaking of washing, these things seem pretty resistant to getting nasty too. I generally pile my undergarments in one leg and my blocker in the other at the end of a game. Even when the rest of my stuff is in dire need of a bath, these things don't seem to have much smell at all. I hang them in front of a fan after every use and they dry in about an hour or two. After washing them, it takes about 5-8 hours to dry fully, using a fan blowing right on the, and occasionally adjusting them so the air can get to all the different area.
One Year Opinion
After putting on quite a few miles and more than a few puck marks, I'm very satisfied with these. They keep me from getting bruises, they don't get in my way, they seem to be holding up pretty well, and they're fairly easy to keep clean. What more could I ask for?
Pleaaase?
Linear Mode
