Just now assembling my first kiteboard (mbs core 16) and need pads now, but not sure if I need just knee and elbow or knee/shin and elbow/forearm pads. I intend to kite on hardpacked beach sand and cruise with some air eventually. I am leaning toward max protection, but I may be overreacting to mycrash yesterday when I flipped my buddie's buggy and hit my unpadded shins and knees on metal and hard sand. OUCH!:wow:

Dude,
I would say pad up! Don't forget the wrist protection, too.

You may even want to consider butt and hip pads as well. Especially if you are wanting to get air, you will be doing some landing on things "other" than your board.....:evil:

Must have-
Helmet
Wrist Guards
Knee Pads

Recommended-
Full Face Motocross helmet
Full set Harbinger pads,
kness
elbows
wrists
Good boots with good ankle support
hillbilly crash shorts

Scoop

Oh yeah. Knee pads always, at a minnimum. Elbow, & helmet if on ice / frozen ground.

Scoop's list sounds like a lot to me, but you can't be too safe.

I frequently wack / drag the &*&#$ out of my shins on my mountain board. I guess shin pads (hockey style?) would help, but I just can't bring myself to wear 'em.

I find that the padding in my Da Kine waist harness gives some good (if minimal) hip protection on grass, and ice.

My list does sound a bit large, but let me tell ya, one good whack somewhere, and Im hurting for 3 or 4 days. Just from something small. These pads can turn something serious into something small. This is something also you can NEVER plan for. You NEVER plan to crash, but it happens. So pad up, suck it up, deal with it, and ride hard. :D

Have a look at the 661 Knee/shin and elbow/forearm pads. No more expensive than a good set of knee pads. Shins and forarms have no meat on them, so when you take a hit there, it hurts. Check out the 661 website or our site. (www button below)

Wrist guards are a must. When you go down, that's the first part to hit the ground. Of course, it goes without saying, you should wear a helmet. I wear 661 MX-2 knee braces when I board (most of the time). People comment that they are expensive, but I can say from experience (three times), they are a lot cheaper than knee surgery. Same goes for other pieces of safety gear, it's all cheaper than a single visit to the ER.

The need to pad up becomes more evident as one gets older. At 43, I don't bounce as well as I used to.

Ross

There's always the inflatable sumo suit!

Yeah mate. get as much protection as you can. the shells on the beach can be VERY sharp. (especially where i am, where there are masses of razor fish shells). I make sure I'm wearing gloves for when my hands scrape on the floor. wearing knee and elbow pads will stop your clothes getting ripped aswell.

Make sure you wear a helmet especially on hard sand. its supprising how much it hurts when you land on your head I talk from experience

Protection is the way to go! And though most people in this discussion have used the rationale of "impact" protection, an even bigger issue to me is "abrasion" protection. When you bite it on a board, you don't just HIT - you SLIDE. And a hard packed sand beach is essentially a large field of 200 grit sandpaper!! Just like sandpaper, it will remove substantial layers of flesh, from even moderate impacts (I learned this the hard way, and still have the scars!!) Knee & elbow pads, helmet, gloves, and a decent padded seat harness to protect your a** (That part seems to always hit first) As an added bonus, with all that gear on, you'll feel less scared and learn faster.

Later.