I've always worn a lid and steeltoecaps that have saved my feet from many a spoking. just scored elbow pads last nite coz someone didn't want them. gave me a wee bit more confidence on the tight turns at speed> started wearing protective gloves after getting my finger fractured on my first nite back from a half year shoulder injury.Could have used knee pads last nit too
Which part of your body are you protecting and Why?
is it time for full body armor ?.It seems that each of us have a part of our bodies that we mind getting hurt more than others. Some wear helmets or elbow or knee or shoulder or shin guards or face gaurds or steel toe cap boots or protective gloves or a jock strap(just thru that one in there.) but very few people have total protection. We've all had some kind of pain with the gain we enjoy from playing Bike Polo. Do you wait to get injured then start protecting that injury or do you know your Achilles heel and cover it up leaving your other parts out for harvesting by the next whacker in line?
I am trying to always wear a helmet.
I wear bmx shoes (661s) that give me enough ankle protection and toe protection.
I wore wrist braces for a few months after i started feeling like i was getting carpal tunnel syndrome, but for now i'm back up to gloves.
I won't play without knee/shin guards anymore - my knee still clicks on every pedal rotation, almost 9 months after i took a really stupid fall at Sespi2 pickup.
edit: i usually wear lacrosse gloves and now I'm going to start wearing a facemask
i cover my doodle in bubblewrap when i play against mike the butcher.
I've got a helmet and feel like I should have a facemask (2 bloody face hits this last season), big lacrosse gloves after nearly breaking 2 fingers getting hit in the hand.
Hard shoes I think aren't really needed, especially if people stop screwing around and get wheel covers (says the guy with no wheel covers).
I did order some ankle guards recently, haven't gotten them yet, but I have a perpetual hole in my right ankle from it slamming into my cranks/chainring on hard stops and wall/body hits, can't wait to have that heal up finally.
I think some light shin stuff would be good, right along the ridge there, but I don't think these giant knee/shin/wraparound things are needed, we're not armored warriors here, are we?
Also have a gootch guard on my stem, hard to ride with a cup and I don't feel like adding another dickwound to the record.
i wear the helmet, wired goggles, and shin/knee guards.
all due to previous accidents. well the helmet came just in time, other wise i would be typing like this: kl;jsdal;kfjakl;jsdsda!
i am finding that Chuck Taylors don't protect all to well against mallets and balls, but i dont wanna wear Doc Martins on my bike.
and lately, after every night of polo, i am coming home with banged up fingers and knuckles. time for some padded full finger gloves.
all the other injuries can't really be covered with padding. the inside of my thigh has a dent in it, also i caught one of Pistolero's shots in my 'knee pit'
i doubt i will see anyone wearin full blown mad max shoulder pads and motorcycle vests. although that would be interesting.
i am finding that Chuck Taylors don't protect all to well against mallets and balls, but i dont wanna wear Doc Martins on my bike.
FALSE DICHOTOMY
$5 to $10 goodwill leather shoes of choice ... chucks are great but they don't last as long and cost more (when bought new). Whatever has thin soles though. $12 Adidas shin guards with that action that goes under you heel and has extra stuff on where your ankle bones stick out on either side. Jeans. Kneepads when I'm smart. Somehow with all that the backside of my lower legs got torn up at Ball Whackers. Main injury that weekend was due to my drunkenness during attempted wheelies, though.
Leather gloves. And a nut case. Trying to learn French so I can order one of those things Martin got his fiance to buy for him that covers up the upper face.
I kind of hate hauling all this gear to polo, but in the end gear means I can play more polo.
Street hockey helmet w/ clear face shield, gloves, knee/shin guards. Anyone wearing a mouth guard?
As many of the "crunchier" bits as possible. The bruises on soft tissue seem to heal a bit better.
While my wife likes me playing polo, the look on her face when she sees the injuries I have on occasion bought home has prompted me to consider both my style of play and what I wear when doing it. The day I came home with a lip so swollen it looked a great deal like the ball that hit it being memorable, most of the others I managed to hide (her being short sighted helps). The strange egg sized and shaped lump on my shin with the creepy bulgy veins around it has fortunately turned into merely a series of small hard lumps under the skin. So, shins, knees, elbows, hands, head and face. I'm 45 years old and already bearing permanent injuries from the past bike "mishaps" so I'll do what I can to keep playing (and walking and seeing and chewing and fooling around and manual dexterity and brain function).
The lovely James (ex Sparkle Motion)in London wore a mouthguard when I played him a year or so ago. As for gouges in the back of legs, my exposed (now replaced with bashguard) chainring has left quite a few puncture scars on my drive side leg.
I protect in this order: Hands, Knees, Head. Should prob do face too. I find hands take the most damage followed closely by knees. Head protection, not so much for crashing but for errant mallets and balls, which mean (imo) bike helmets are not the best thing for this sport. You want some thing that will protect your head from an impact, not your head form impacting.
one of the guys in Claremont caught a back swing to the teeth. thank god his dad works for the city, because he had an emergency visit with the dentist on a saturday morning. he now wears a mouth guard.
I wear these gloves:
because of this:
but also because of the occasional mallet to hand and getting your hand stuck in someone elses handlebars.
I wear this helmet:
Because of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcShP_zN7eM (@6 min mark)
But I have been hit in the face/head by mallets and balls half a dozen times now in as many months.
I wear these knee pads:
Because I used to cut my knees us _every time_ I played for the first year. I rarely crash and land on my knees anymore but I feel naked without them now.
**edit/new photos**
Also because of this:
I also sometimes wear a velcro/neoprene back brace/support which isnt really 'protecting' me like gloves or a helmet but it is amazing. (I should probably stretch a bit before I play too.)
I was getting back problems, maybe from all the twisting and reaching, maybe from getting old? :) It was bad enough to stop me from playing for a few weeks. This has probably been the most significant health/body issue (with the potential to have permanent effects) that I have actually encountered while playing polo.
I wear these gloves:
because of this:
but also because of the occasional mallet to hand and getting your hand stuck in someone elses handlebars.
I wear this helmet:
Because of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcShP_zN7eM (@6 min mark)
But I have been hit in the face/head by mallets and balls half a dozen times now in as many months.
I wear these knee pads:
Because I used to cut my knees us _every time_ I played for the first year. I rarely crash and land on my knees anymore but I feel naked without them now.
**edit/new photos**
Also because of this:
I also sometimes wear a velcro/neoprene back brace/support which isnt really 'protecting' me like gloves or a helmet but it is amazing. (I should probably stretch a bit before I play too.)
I was getting back problems, maybe from all the twisting and reaching, maybe from getting old? :) It was bad enough to stop me from playing for a few weeks. This has probably been the most significant health/body issue (with the potential to have permanent effects) that I have actually encountered while playing polo.
i have been seriously considering a back brace. especially for grass polo here in Phoenix, where games sometimes last 45 minutes to an hour.
i went to the doctor & told him i needed a backiotomy (hehe)...what i really had was a pinched sciatic nerve & spasms in my lower back. he gave me a shot of toridol in the ass cheek, anti-inflammatory pills, and told me to not play sports or work my labor-involved job for 2 weeks. i didn't listen. i was stupid, and now my back hurts again. dingo, your post might seal the deal.
Can we all be thinking of how ultra violent we could be toward one another if it meant no serious injuries were incurred coz we were all padded up to the max .WOW wot FUn we'd have. I TAKE THAT LAST THOUGHT BACK COZ THE SKILLZ INVOLVED IN NOT INJURING ONE ANOTHER WHILST PLAYING ARE WOT MAKES US "NOT DICKS"
After watching that video posted by urbanbicyclist i think we need a new thread on penalties for such dick moves as that..... like a life time ban or a good kickin.
Played in the Fall Ballin' last weekend and saw maybe two balls go higher than frame height so I took my face grill off (modified bern/ice hockey thing), no problem. Play some sweet throw in tonight and I feel like it's suddenly bike volleyball. And one of us got a mallet in the face, no stitches but ...
Hockey helmets and lacrosse gloves are looking pretty attractive. I like my fun to last.
A useful thing for the ice hockey helmets with grill - I cut out as many of the horizontal bars as I could without compromising structure. The vertical bars seem less noticeable than the horizontal ones.
661 shin/knee guards (the ones with plastic on the exterior, so you slide across pavement). Knees have always been protected someway, but shins are now added to list of weakspots. Lacrosse gloves for the mallets/handlebars/ whatever. Lacrosse helmet with cage, one too many close calls with mallets and i just don't trust people to always keep the sticks low. Also deflected a ball last week with the cage, so that's another bruise avoided.
What do you mean shoulder brace? I am just about recovered from a multiple broken shoulder and have been thinking of how I can protect it a little bit. Was also thinking about putting some kinda visor on my bern because I have taken a few in the face, Mallets and balls. Also lacrosse gloves are great and my DH shins if I feel the need every now and then. After missing 6 months of work after just getting married has made me think about my safety a bit more!
My left shoulder has been dislocated a couple of times. The kind of crash where the bars twist away from you can be hard on it & this helps prevent that.
Where did you get that from and what's the cost. and do you find it makes a difference.
Same question... Do you find it helps? I have a similar problem, my left shoulder can dislocate in situations where the bars rotate away from me just right. I've looked at these braces but haven't talked to someone who has used one.
i dont know if you guys saw my post in the 'like a sharpened baseball bat' thread, but a lot of you have been posting about eye/face protection.
this is what i wear
if you want to protect your teeth, Wal Mart has mouth guards for $3.
These goggles i got are from www.lacrossemonkey.com
They are required protective gear for girl's lacrosse. the wires are thick, but you learn to look past them. they are really comfortable and can take quite a hit. plus, they are really affordable, only $25.
at www.LacrosseMonkey.com and www.HockeyMonkey.com you can find other kinds of protective gear for cheap
Those are pretty amazing. Do they affect your vision looking down. They seem to have some kind of blinder on the bottom...
I wear what you see in the photo - helmet (because the back of my head met the pavement once, and that's all it takes), knee pads (because there are so many scars on scars there now) and gloves (because scabs on the palms is the worst).
I am also thinking elbow pads and potentially hockey gloves, though haven't tried them out yet.
Due to a large head and strangely wide but not so long hands, I generally have to try shit on. Seems like lacrosse stuff gets most things covered so anyone know of a store in Manhattan/Brooklynn that has a large choice?
How 'bout XXL Bern?
Bern helmets run small for sure. And their different models are sized uniquely.
I have an XL Bern G2 and I wish I had a XXL. I wear a size 7 1/2 hat aka a pup tent.
So went to Paragon Sports on Broadway to try a bunch of stuff. Really like the one-size-fits-all lacrosse helmet, came with a lot of extra padding to fill out those loose areas (Fuck me sideways, sounds like I'm talking about a wonderbrah...) but it cost 190 dollars.....so gonna get a CCM hockey helmet which was pretty damn comfy for about 90 instead. Just needs a bit of foam trimming.
Liked the Brine gloves which weren't too expensive either.
try the Easton s19...lightest hockey helmet out there...it's ridiculous light yet tough...you can find em on craigslist and ebay for under 100 pretty easily.
Murphy's Law.
Was just riding with lots of layers (pretty damn cold on the 4th floor of a parking deck)
ROC mechanics gloves
ROC mechanics gloves under fingerless windbloc fleece gloves with thumb (they used to have a mitten part cover but i removed it)
but after reading the accounts on here and watching more videos, going to up the protection...
Also put my hand through some spokes (luckily he had stopped) and got hit right between the eyes the other day... so when it rains it pours...
Im looking into a cup after spearing my dong the other night...I want to choose to be purple. Seriously messed up.
That would be a pain to ride in? I know I saw a long time ago roller blading padding like that and it was not as bulky
http://www.skates.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=300711&Click=143139
Was it on the stem? Local poloist, James, makes custom stem pads. You can contact him at @beardbags on twitter. http://twitter.com/beardbags
heh - given the context I'm a little affraid to click on this link drizz.
I've never tried a cup so this is an uneducated speculation: I worry about stuff getting pinched in everyday pickup seat interactions. And having to sterile clean my polo gear more regularly doesn't sound like fun
Knock wood I haven't had a potentially sterilizing moment that might change my mind on this.
Anyway. I'm more for stem pads and shorter less dangerous looking stems.
Heyo!
No seriously, I don't know how you could ride with a cup but for the love of god put something padded on your stem.
I still have a hematoma from hitting my stem like a year and a half ago. It's in the "broken players" thread if you need more detail, but does anyone here really want to piss blood, and pay more stupid ER bills?
if you're into the style thing ok, but i don't really see the need to buy anything to resolve this issue. i just get some pipe insulation foam (that i usually find on a work site or by the side of the road), put a couple of layers on, wrap it up with hockey or electrical tape, and poke some holes in consideration for future adjustment of the stem. its free and it works.
Endo'ed on a ball..bars landed at a 90 degree angle to the ground & I landed full weight on area.
Also Im changing my bar ends at ome point. I have those CHARGE rounded metal ones.
Most importantly, my modified Bern helmet with baseball face cage (as seen below in the Urban Velo link - mine is the smaller pic)
http://urbanvelo.org/more-bern-helmet-polo-modifications/
Lacrosse glove on my mallet hand (more articulated than bulkier hockey gloves)
661 shin / knee combo pads (admittedly, I do not wear these all the time, but they are great and I love them nonetheless)
Early last year, I took a dive and landed square on my bar-ends (capped, thank Jeebus). The blunt impact tore a hole in my abdominal wall that still hasn't completely healed. I was out of polo for two months because of that one. Since then, I've been looking for some sort of padded girdle, or gut protection that wasn't too bulky to ride in, but I seriously doubt I'll ever find what I'm looking for in that regard.
What about those football type shirts. They are skin tight and have the pads built in the material. Easily worn underneath something else.
/edit like this. Good thing those go under clothes.
I've been looking at padded shirts. Playing goal on those cold fall/winter nights can spell pain if you get hit with a slap shot.
Something like this might be good:
A padded paintball shirt could work as well. You can also buy these in long sleeve:
thanks for the suggestions!
Just noticed I majorly chipped my elbow and have a loose piece floating around in there. Might be time for elbow pads
http://rollerhockeymonkey.com/closproteq-ep.html
i have been shopping around for elbow pads too. but i dont want anything too bulky.
i know there are downhill cycling gear as well
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/sub/354-Clothing-Protective+Gear.aspx
they usually have some pretty great deals. but im little so i would need to try stuff on, or have straps instead of elastic.
so i thought i had myself pretty well covered turning up in Tempe with steel toe cap boots , full length shin and knee gaurds , elbow pads , padded gloves , glasses , a helmet , an ear piece and a layer of torquoise blue fun fur..............................WROnnnnnnNggggG. Halfway thru the 2nd game on day 2 my possessed steel steed flipped me a clear head over heels landing me straight on my back on the 20inch boards fracturing a rib in my back and tattooing my insides with a pulmonary contusion on my right lung. Lost that game, won the next 2, lost the last won and qualified as wild card number 4 for Calgary. Polo the fuck up beetches but dont fly with a broken rib coz it is nauseatingly painful in such a way that you can't even have a free beer on the plane. Has anyone got any protection against this . Please post ASAP
I'm sure everyone has told you this so much you don't want to hear it but..
Speaking from personal experience, you are in for a painful 2-3 months. And if you don't let the rib heal without aggravating it it will take longer to heal.
How long of a break are you going to take from polo?
For that injury or any other severe sudden impact the only thing that could work would be hard plastic body armor. Pads probably wouldn't have helped in that situation.
Pads may help tenderness and stop elbows from hurting your sore insides.
Thanks Sveden . I'm not playing again until Monday when i have the strength to put my bike back together from the flight . Where would i find hard plastic body armour?
Any mountain bike shop or motocross hop. make sure the bike shop sells down hill shit before you go there? My arm for DH is lit and breathable with a great kidney belt and removable spin protection and full shoulders and arms. Shit do if people see a dude your size in armer that is going to scare the piss out of them!! Nice. I refed that game I wish I recorded that fall it was intense!
thanx mr anderson.Your refereeing skillz and dedication to jumping in on every game possible , whilst others , including me , hid from the bright sun , where amazing Thanx for the info. I'll be sure to wear some fun fur over the armour so that people want to hug me not run from me. Would be an honour to sit down for a beer or two with you in Calgary. I'll probably be there 3 days either side of the tourney
Shit yah we will have to keep in contact so that I can make sure we get you set up with some rad stuff to do!
A major fall. Finished up the tourney. Monday, helped tear down boards (much, much love for this). Plane flight home. Your an animal Steve. Protect yerself.
Indeed.
I ave thouhgts to protect my sanity and virginity from the players of thee hard polo games .Ven ee comm to Cascadia i vill wear protection vrom you people including someting too cuvver my helmet.
shit this protection shit is getting serious :) I wear shorts and tee for pickup and long trousers, a tee and a helmet for tournaments (since we made it a rule)
Could stick on my full DH armour and full face but that would just encourage me to play like an ass hole...
I consider myself a very clean player and need to protect myself from me mainly coz of the number of unassisted spills I have from losing control of my steel steed from playing as hard as I can .
i have always worn a helmet and gloves but now wear knee pads (after slamming on knees 3 times in one night) and have a little piece of coroplast tucked in my shoe to cover up my right ankle bone (after getting hit with rock hard winter balls playing goalie). i will stop using that when the 'balls get squishy' again, as they say.
would probably never go more than this, though i worry about my eyes (they're hard to grow back, ya know?).
-my stomach is a pickle-