Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt on May 21, 2009 at 6:25pm

I dont use Pro-tec, but I will try my best to help:

1)asking consumers what we think.

2)Knee pads can be hard to get on, gear can always get lighter and breath easier for summer time weather

3)Some stickers here and there and a little spray paint never hurts.

4)Smart designs that work well and offer max protection for our thinkers. maybe the ability to design your own helmet. custom fitted stuff may be expensive but you can work with it.

5)gloves with anti-smelly fabric, breath easier, and knee pads that are comfortable. my name and number engraved in my helmet.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Juki on May 22, 2009 at 7:45pm

1. average in every respect. affordable. decent helmet.
2. protec knee pads shift on landing, thus not always protecting your knees. straps break. (187s are far superior)
gear in general...too bulky. poor flexibility. hard too clean/keep from smelling like death. knee pad cabs usually stick better with duck tape than the velcro they come with. way too hot.
3. only when I'm forced to repair the fabric. protective gear is not really something that you want to draw more attention to. I like it black and simple. as for my helmet, the usual...stickers, spray paint, paint markers.
4. I wouldn't try for hip...try for better. more streamlined. not sooo masculine.
5. a helmet that actually allowed for some ventilation (sorry, but small holes in the top do nothing). breathability. less bulk.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ROBO on May 23, 2009 at 6:45am

1. Serious stuff, goodlooking, well made.
2. When elbow- and kneepads don´t stay in place when bailing.
3. I allways have to re-pad the helmets to make them fit properly. To little on the sides, or to much.
4. I hate trends when it comes to safety-gear. Make good stuff and keep on making them. New stuff is ok, but there must be something more than a new color or print.
5. Most people who dosen´t wear this gear don´t because they are to warm or to uncomfy (and maybe cost´s a lot). I have a great deal of problems to find a helmet that can take 2-3 hours of serious slalom-training a warm day. I allways wear safety-gear regardless of this ( I´m old and know better) but I sure can understand why some don´t.
Me and my bud´s are right now scanning the market for new stuff (currently wear 661-helmets) and it is hard to find one that have it all. We do slalom-skateboard for real and need something that can take it for hours. Why collect the water inside? Let it out! We have been looking into the climbing- and kayaking-areas to find what we want, but they aren´t tuff enough to handle a crasch in full speed.

I wish you good luck and awaits a great lid to hit the stores very soon.

Robo

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by JBH on May 26, 2009 at 9:42am

1. Can you describe PRO-TEC in a few (3-5) key words, and point out where the brand is different in comparison to other protective gear brands.

Well-known; dependable; default/generic (i.e.one of the first brands I think of, especially for helmets); decently priced.

2. Tell me about your worst experience with protective gear, and what you absolutely hate about your gear?

My worst experience is an overall one: Knee pads that slip down due to bad ergonomic/anatomical design. Thankfully, the pads I've worn for the last 10 years or so have been pretty good, so the last time that really happened was in the late 1980s with Pro-Designed knee pads. At that time, they were very pillowy but not very well contoured (in my opinion). The next worst was with elbow pads: I re-entered a frontside rock-n-roll with my weight too far back and slammed hard on my right elbow. The Pryme elbow pads I had on (similar to TSG and Pro-Tec's basic pads) were basically useless. The padding was probably thick enough, but the padded area was simply not where the impact was.

So what do I absolutely hate about safety gear? Raised seams that irritate the skin, not enough flexibility (both were pet peeves about my mid-90s Rector Fatboys); and the difficulty of finding elbow pads that are neither too wimpy (see comment above) or too huge (some Pro-Designed and others).

3. Do you like to customize your protective gear? Why and how do you do this?

I really don't customize my knee or elbow pads, as long as they fit well. On helmets, if they come with various thicknesses of soft foam, I do play around with them to try to get the best fit possible, but that's about it--except for stickers.

4. Do you see trends in protective gear in terms of what will be hip in a few years?

For me, just being truly functional is "hip" enough. For pads, I'm perfectly satisfied with the dark colors that dominate the market. For helmets, I don't have any particular comments.

5. What would be your favorite product improvement in protection gear?
A decently sized and contoured elbow pad, large enough to cover better than the current ones, but not so huge as to feel like full body armor.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by The Shmoo on May 27, 2009 at 10:11pm

1. I don't know enough about Protec or other helmets to judge.
2. Protective gear stiffles the feeling of freedom I get from longboarding, so I only wear it when I am going to go pretty fast.
3. I spray painted my helmet and put stickers and stuff on it. I also wrote stupid little phrases in sharpie all over it.
4. Helmets will never be "hip" in a mainstream sense, but the some people can look badass with them. They just have to have the right mentality. There's not much a company can do about this.
5. This is going to sound stupid, but a comfortable helmet with no straps that just looks like a beanie. Maybe I would be the only one to buy one, but I would wear it a lot. It would have soft protective stuff like on those helmets people with epilepsy wear, except all that would be inside the mesh so you couldn't see it. This would be just for sidewalk surfing and stuff that I would not wear anything for; it would be more of a "better than nothing" than a replacement for a real helmet.


I hope this helps and I will try to be better about protective gear in the future.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Darius on May 28, 2009 at 4:48pm

1) I honestly think it is the most popular in the skate category. But I honestly cannot tell the difference between my helmet (which is PRO-TEC) and another.

2) I have a classic skate from you guys. The bads are hella grimy now. Little ventiliation and breathing from the pads.

3) Yes, I do. I like to tweak stuff to my liking. Of course I wont mess with the structure of a helmet, but I added a poly-carbonate windshield to my fullface helmet (which is just a mountain biking helmet from BELL). It would have been nice to at least have a company made shield. I also took off the visor to make it a tiny bit more aero.

4) Yes. Well...
You should make good, durable, slide gloves that are innexpensive. If you can get some gloves out there for $30- I guarantee you'll have success. They dont need to be leather like Landyachtz- infact, dont do that. If your fingers drag when you slide, you'll wear through anything so it doesnt matter. Just have a velcro wrist and longlasting pucks. And sell replacable pucks too- then you can use lower grade slide puck material, but sell the pucks for a bit less.
Also, You should make knee and elbow pads that are almost a short sleeve. So that they are not bulky, but keep you from getting shredded. It wont be an impact saver, but most of the time the impact is fine but the skinned elbows aren't. It could be like a breatheable elastic sleeve with a plastic material in placed in smaller pieces (like slits, rectangles) so that it can bend.

5) FULL FACE! Make a sweet full face helmet that is under $150. Make it somewhat aero and don't have a giant face-guard like on motocross/mountain biking helmets. And have removable/replaceable/buyable wind shields.

Thanks,
Darius
Seattle

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Heather on June 1, 2009 at 1:49pm

Hi Kevin,
I think for women, looking good while skating and being protected is very important. Still looking sleek in jeans (with hip/thighpads) but with protection would be great MacDavid makes some roller derby and slider shorts that are sleek and offer some protection. To take it a step further, they are not great for skateboarding- they help, but the pads are not exactly placed right- we need more protection on the hip bone, and outer upper thigh without it being bulkier -no other padding on the leg/hip is necessary really- so we still look sleek enough in jeans ( you know how most women do not want to look bigger!).
Wrist guards- offering more palm protection padding for protecting against bruises (which wrist guards do not protect againt)- when you slam hard, the wrist guard protects the bone, but not the impact.

Thanks

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mark Chandler on June 5, 2009 at 11:44am

1. Can you describe PRO-TEC in a few (3-5) key words, and point out where the brand is different in comparison to other protective gear brands.
Pads are sub-standard. They don't hold up, or stay put. Vastly inferior to 187 or TSG.

2. Tell me about your worst experience with protective gear, and what you absolutely hate about your gear?
Having a knee-pad slip down and expose my kneecap to concrete. No bueno.

3. Do you like to customize your protective gear? Why and how do you do this?
No.

4. Do you see trends in protective gear in terms of what will be hip in a few years?
No.

5. What would be your favorite product improvement in protection gear?
Helmets that offer better ventilation while still having optimum protection.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Amy Bradshaw on June 6, 2009 at 11:28am

1) Helmets are the most popular. Knee and elbow pads not so much.
2) Had serious knee injury wearing Pro-tec knee pads. have since changed to 187's, I hate the straps on the helmets. They are way too difficult to adust. There's gotta be a better way!
3) Most skateboarders like to have their own look. I like that 187's can be customized. If not customized, at least have a few patterns or colors to choose from.
4) I've noticed alot of the pro's wearing different patterns (dragon, rasta, plaids & loud colors) everyone likes to think they have something new and different.
5 Quick, easy to use and adjustable straps and closures.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shahn on June 29, 2009 at 6:07am

1. Name I think of first in safety products
2. My worst experience is w/a pair of wristguards that cut my hand. My Pro-Tec helmet has a haze one it.
3. Stickers & signatures on the ol helmet.
4. I see more breathable, lighter gear incorporating newer materials such as Kevlar. More custom fit options.
5. Ummm, dunno.

*My Pro-Tec "Drop In" Knee pads are tearing and have been since I purchased them where the neoprene meets the pad. Customer service there was not too helpful. Also, the velcro strap is too small for my calves.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dave on August 10, 2009 at 7:04am

1. Can you describe PRO-TEC in a few (3-5) key words, and point out where the brand is different in comparison to other protective gear brands.

Classic helmets, that's about it though.

2. Tell me about your worst experience with protective gear, and what you absolutely hate about your gear?

I bought a set of pro-tec knee pads to replace my old Rectors when I started skating again. They are a pain to put on, slip when you slide and don't handle impact well at all. I got a masonite tattoo on my knee and bought a set of 187s. The 187s fit better, have multi-layered padding that really helps with impact, they don't slip, and they are easier to take on off with the straps rather than slide-on elastic. I will add that the pro-tecs elastic was coming unraveled after 2-3 months of use also.

3. Do you like to customize your protective gear? Why and how do you do this?

A helmet without stickers is like a pizza without cheese.
I will say this: I added some velcro to my 187 knee pads after the top strap started to wear out. Had these pads for over 2 years now and just recently did the upgrade though.

4. Do you see trends in protective gear in terms of what will be hip in a few years?

Not sure how you define trends. I think better cushion on impact for old knees should keep developing. Perhaps better odor control also, I skate with a guy that really needs to wash his pads.

5. What would be your favorite product improvement in protection gear?

For helmets I would say better ventilation. Pro-tecs are an old standard, if I was a designer at pro-tec I'd stick with some of what you have and take a hard look at how Giro designs cycling helmets. On a hot day at a concrete skatepark I often go sans helmet just because the thing makes me so hot it's unbearable.
Consider an insert or something that you can put ice in. I stick ice cubes in between my helmet pads every few minutes sometimes, that feels good.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stephen Lavin on August 26, 2009 at 12:03pm

Since I am out here responding to jack's recent blog post about the recent press related to skate accidents, this seems appropriate to respond here too;

1. Cannot, don't own one but I like them and have tried them
2. I split a lid years ago in a pool. I am having trouble recalling the manufacturer (long gone I think) but it was very well made. If I was not wearing it and based upon the area of the skull that landed it's likely I would not be able to write this. I don't hate anything about my gear.
3. Just the helmet - stickers and shit from friends and vendors.
4. The better knee pad has been a great dev I think. Someone mentioned below it's hard to slip them on but I can see a Pad like a good knee brace being done that open and closes on the leg with no need to slip on/off. I think also a lid with chin support on the strap would help stabilize the lid better but this is probably uncomfortable for most riders. More carbon fiber, less bulk and weight is hip. Offer lifetime warranty to include wear and tear - tough to do probbaly but would build brand confidence.
5. Just a poster of Megan Fox nude wearing just Pro-Tec goods; that should do it.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page