Our favorite insole company is making its way into new territory. A territory that seems to be mostly untouched in street skateboarding and people are either getting more aware of the risk they put their bodies through or getting older and feel slams more severe. Whatever the cause may be, there appears to be a market for protective gear in street skateboarding. You can wear such pads under your everyday clothing, and I have tried out the Low Profile Kneepads by Footprint.

First Impressions

The first thing that we notice when wearing our new kneepads is that they are (compared to conventional protective gear) thinner. Unless you wear skinny jeans or shorts, you can’t really see them. However, you will see the effect of wearing those pads since your sweat will come through, and you’ll have wet spots on your knees. Nobody ever asked me about my sweaty knees, though, so I guess people assume that’s just how I sweat. The pads themselves are quite comfortable, and after warming up, I couldn’t notice them.

In the video below, I am wearing the kneepads underneath my jeans. As you can see, they are barely noticeable.

Design

They’re designed in a way so that you can remove the protective padding and clean the pads properly without possibly damaging any other materials. The eight-millimeter thin material can and will dampen most of the impact you will encounter on usual slams in street skateboarding. If you want to skate vert, wear pads that’ll let you slide, since that could become uncomfortable with the FP kneepads. I don’t shred downhill, nor did I have any recent slam at an extraordinary speed, but I assume that the amount of protection will decrease as your speed increases.

Closing Thoughts

The Footprint Low Profile Kneepads are a great and inexpensive choice for everyone more conscious of their body when skating. Even though I am the type of person that would say “buy real pads, they’re cheaper, “I can see the market for these pads and prefer them over my big protective gear when having a session at a parking lot or skating something casual. I can highly recommend them to anyone who feels like protecting themselves in any street skateboarding situation.

Buy them here (Germany): https://amzn.to/3hvVchr