Blakpad

I'll start off with saying that knee pads are aid and I'm an aid climber because I suck and have poor pain tolerance.

My knee pad journey started out many years ago on some climb at Rumney. I'm not sure which one it was but I purchased the send climbing classic mini because I thought it'd fit my leg better than the larger one. I was right to some degree. They fit over my pants and had good clearance to not be overlapping the leg loops on my harness. They provided enough coverage to keep my legs from getting messed up and the two straps secured the pad nicely. I think I got made fun of by essentially everyone at Rumney for the smaller size of my pad and the fact that I never used duct tape or spray adhesive.

My stubbornness kept me from using duct tape or adhesive spray when I sent Urbansurfer but I needed something a bit more than that 2 strap mini pad. Enter the triple strap, large, slim si pad from Send. The 3 straps and si material kept the pad in place better than the double strap. Because it was physically longer than the mini pad, I could slide the pad down to almost my knee cap and not fasten the lowest strap and still have a secure fit. This was good.

I was planning on buying a Blakpad overseas and having it shipped to me but the current tariff situation is so messed up that I abandoned any of those plans. Luckily, I was able to get a hold of one after a friend undersized his pad.

Unlike the Send pads, the neoprene inner is secured with Velcro instead of hand holding it in place while you try to strap the pad on. Also unlike the Send pad, only one side of the buckling system is attached to stretchy material to allow for the straps to move to the side of the leg instead of wrapping underneath the leg. The triple strap Eon is about the same length of the Send mini but having 3 straps ensures that it's a little more secure. The rubber is thicker and squared off on the edges to allow for more rubber contact with the rock. Also, these pads are side and size specific to allow you to have the buckles out of the way while you knee bar.

When I want this thing on tight, like I normally like my knee pads, the non exposed metal fasteners attached to the stretchy material of the pad dig into the back of my leg which makes it quite uncomfortable. Since these three straps are closer together, it isn't as secure as the large Send pad which distributes those 3 straps over more area. Finally, it's much harder to get this pad closer to my knee cap due to where that first strap is.

I'll be breaking this pad in more but so far, it's only been ok.