Why do we bother cutting defender elbow pads?

Equipment Uniforms
1

I got my new defender pads in the post recently, fully expecting to have to cut them down to dispose of all that extra elastic, but once I opened the package it was clear to me that there is no need to cut them down.

Simply turn them inside out, fold the extra material back in on itself, drop and couple of stitches in to the bits you want to hide to keep them in place. When you turn them back out all the extra material will be secured inside the pad and you wont have to worry about the edges fraying or any of that nonsense.

It appears to be a really simple solution to a problem that worries a lot of costumers, or is there something obvious I’m missing?

I’m going to stitch mine up tonight and I’ll be sure to post a few pictures to show the results but I think it’s going to be nice and easy!

2

i found that mine had loosened up quite a bit when i cut the excess out. i need all the room i can get-- im a big dude with big arms!

i still tuck a little of the extra at the top on the inside so that when i flex my arm, it doesnt get folded outwards and expose the inside elastic of the pad.

thats just me though.

3

i found that rolling the excess makes them too tight.

2 reasons why people cut their pads:

  1. Makes them much more comfortable

  2. its screen-accurate to do so

4

Seconded.

I had a pair I never cut from a few years ago, and I’ve got some pretty damn small arms; and they were too tight even for me.

5

Yeah, mine were really tight until i cut them, but I didnt cut to look like the movies exactly I still rolled mine once after I put them on.

6

I’m in the rolling crowd on this one. I tend to have bad experiences when it comes to cutting something and hoping that it can be sewn back into shape.

7

Ahh, thanks guys… good to see both sides of the argument from everyone.

8

wish I had big manly arms. They kinda look girly, but luckily they’re festooned with body hair, so in a way, they are kinda manly…

9

well obviously they’re good enough to manhandle a wild foos bobaganoosh

10

I can’t wait to her response to that one!

11

Even after cutting the extaa off, and stretching large pads on soade bottles for a week, and being thin, plus the wife also being smaller, the elbow pads still were uncomfortable after 4 or 5 hours of wearing them.

Trim em!

12

Mine are rolled over and sewed… I think they look better that way, but to each their own.

13

I trimmed ours, and then hemmed the edges.

14

Is hemming something that can be done by hand? I’m good with a needle and thread, but I don’t know how to use a sewing machine.

15

yes on something this small, it is easy to do by hand but make sure you use some kind of elastic stretchy thread or you will not be able to wear your pads comfortably.

16

They make an elastic/stretchy thread!?

17

Joy, another thing that I don’t have kicking around that I get to go buy (and pay a premium, most likely).

'kay. Elastic thread it is. Anything else I might need to know about the process? I’d rather not get halfway through and then suddenly someone’s all “HEY WAIT YOU HAVE TO DO X FIRST!” and I’m all “What’s X?”

18

cut mine and then used some of that liquid seam sealer anti-fray stuff…

…i don’t anticipate it will hold up for too very long.

19

Elastic thread is thick stuff. Make sure you have a big enough needle. The one I’m using, a Minimate Ghostbuster could use as a freakin’ harpoon! It’s getting the job done, though.

Really need to get my lazy ass to Home Despot, tho’.

20

This might be a matter of taste, but is it a better option to dye/paint first and then cut, or cut first and then dye/paint?

I’m leaning towards cutting first, but I don’t know if the paint will affect the sealing liquid stuff (as I don’t trust my sewing abilities).