The Gear Shed - G-Form Impact Protection
CE certified for motorcyclist/bicyclist limb protector (CE EN 1621-1:2012)
Body-mapped impact absorbing SmartFlex™ pads
Moisture-wicking, UPF 50+ compression fabric
2-panel design for second-skin fit
Technical mesh back panel for breathability and moisture-wicking
Review
G-form produces a variety of impact protection devices that I will be covering in this article. Most important to rafters are the G-Form Knee-Shin Pads and the Pro X-2 Elbow Guards. I also have been two secondary pieces that are extremely useful, The Pro-X Compression Shorts and Pro-X Compression Shirt.
Elbows
G-Form Elbow pads are pretty solid all around pieces of equipment. Since I run a lot of creeks and spend a good amount of time scouting I often slip on rocks and bash my elbow. I also take a lot of hits on rocky swims. I am not a fan of hard plastic pads since it limits my mobility so I’m a bit more partial to the soft pads. One of the most surprising things I found from the pads is how grippy they are on rocks. I have been able to climb up some pretty steep rock without handholds, though it does create some pretty serious extra abrasion on the pads by doing so. The impact absorption is definitely good, but still get slipping issues when I wear them outside my drysuit.
Knees-Shin Pads
I do a lot of steep low volume creek boating and I really should have been using more impact protection than I have been. I found they took a little getting used to, but the flexibility of the G-Form pads made them feel like they weren’t even there. Ideally these are best next to your skin below any other layers since the rubber ring band that holds it in place needs something grippy to stick to. The impact mitigation is good, you will feel it, but it certainly reduces the pain of the impact. My biggest complaint is that when you are wearing a drysuit they do not do well under the suit since you cannot adjust their position well. If you have any slippage then the pad can rotate into an uncomfortable position around your joint. To reduce this it is best to wear it close to your skin under your mid layers or on top of your drysuit. If you do use them on the outside they tend to slip more, but they also help to protect the most wear prone areas of your suit so it is a bit of a double edged sword.
Compression shorts
Since I typically don’t wear board shorts on the river I feel pretty comfortable wearing these. The shorts are great at keeping everything in place so you don’t end up squishing everything when you move about in the boat. The best part about the shorts is the tailbone protection which comes down pretty far. I have taken a few hits on the tail bone with these and it felt ok. The outer thigh pads are good as well, but don’t offer as much protection as they could for boaters.
Shirt
Ok this piece was the one that impressed me the most. The shoulder pads are fantastic. Not only do I feel like an 80s action star, but they work well. The real part that really makes this a great product is the rib protection. G-From dropped some pads exactly where the gap in the pfd pads are under your arm. It also comes with a pad on your sternum, but given that you already have 2-3 inches of foam on your chest then this part is not at all useful for boaters. I injured myself in Kyrgyzstan by falling on a rock that hit me between the pads of my PFD under my arm and it nearly put me out for the trip, after I got the shirt I took a similar hit in California and it did no damage to me so I’d say the rib pads are a super solid investment.
Ideal Uses
If you are a creek boater then the all the pads will help you a lot to avoid injury. If you are a commercial guide I would highly recommend the shirt as well since you get a lot of rib and shoulder hits from your guest’s t-grips. If I were to rate the usefulness from most to least in different circumstances they would be as follows:
Creek Boating – Elbows, Shins, Shorts, Shirt
Commercial Guiding – Shirt, Shins, Elbows, Shorts
Rowing – Knee-Shins, Shorts, Shirt
If you row a lot, the knee- shin pads are probably the best investment a rower can get. They are extremely effective at mitigating impact to the knees if you are tossed around violently in the raft.
How is it in the water?
Swimming with any G-Form product is a breeze. They don’t easily come off and the skintight nature of the products means that they also cling to your body well. G-Form designed these products to move and they move with your body very well, though they will need some adjustment if you are moving a lot.
One thing that oddly stuck out is the grippiness of the surface of the pad itself. While I was trying to pull myself out of the river on a slimy and smooth granite dome I could not get any grip with my hands. I was able to use the pad to get a small amount of traction to pull myself up on the rock and out of the water. It is situational, but if you are desperate there seems to be a small added benefit there.
How tough is it?
Though I haven’t attempted to rip or tear them apart, I have taken several falls on both lumpy metamorphic rock and on gravel. In either case the pads have held up well against ripping, pulling, and abrasion. Though as with most fabrics you can develop pulls in them from hook and loop closures.
Ultimately the pads are held on to your body through the force of Velcro so as soon as you stretch and wear that out you will require new pads. I also pitched the following question to G-form and this was their response:
RM: How have G-Form pads been tested for prolonged immersion in water? What are the results of those tests for impact protection after repeated submersion?
G-Form: We do a wash test on our pads as they are machine washable. This test involves washing them 100 times in a row which is pretty intense. I’d say that counts for prolonged and repeated immersions. Our pads don’t denigrate over time in relations to performance. They can take a beating in the water and come back good as new for more.
Important considerations
The rubber thigh and bicep band is prone to slipping with heavy movement.
If you intend to wear this on the outside of a technical outer layer you will need to size up.
They are not hard pads so they can only absorb so much impact before you really start o feel it.
Color options are not varied so they are easy to mix up.
The new Pro Rugged pads come with tabs to help hold the pads in place
If you wear the pads on the outside of outerwear they will shift around a lot, they are best worn close to the skin.
The stretchy compression fabric will get small holes if you get it stuck on anything like blackberries so you may end up with some small holes if you bushwhack a lot, that being said the fabric is not prone to ripping and tearing.
Is it worth the cost?
Shortly before publication I was out paddling and hit a hole where my r2 partner hammered me with a full force impact. We came to an immediate stop and I took 180 lbs of clobbering directly to my side. Most of the impact was in the form of a fist and a hip directed at my hip and ribs. I also caught a paddle to the shoulder and helmet. Normally an impact like that would leave a solid bruise, but not on that trip. I took a fist to the thigh on the pad of the shorts, but I ended up with no bruising. It is still a little sore a couple days after, but it feels like I just worked out really hard. Honestly I can say that I felt the impact, it just did a really good job at mitigating the damage.
Bottom line if you are a casual boater a pair of elite knee shins would really help to avoid lower leg injuries and are will worth it since your lower legs spend so much time in contact with the boat or other obstacles. If you ducky, are a commercial guide, or you are running anything harder than class III then I would definitely suggest getting more pieces. Coming away from a trip with less bruises is always worth it in my opinion and these will help accomplish that goal often.
