Armguards

[pyrolyzer]

First, I wanted to do something about the sweaty and clammy factor when wearing a neoprene armguard. So, I took a polypropylene sock and cut the foot out of it. Now it creates an easily washable wicking layer between me and an arm-guard. I had a polypro sock with a hole in the foot already so the wicking layer didn't cost me anything.



I took a section of camping ground pad and cut it to fit around my arm (the dense closed foam pads they sell for about $5 in the camping seciton of Wal Mart). In order to hold it in place, I warmed up a sheet of kydex and formed it around the pad to form a C-shape. I glued the pad inside the kydex.



The pad with a kydex shell over it is quick to don and doff. It just slides over the forearm to go on or off. I had both the kydex and the ground pad sitting around, so again it didn't cost me anything. I guess that you could buy sheet kydex and build guards like mine for about $10 per guard.



Aside from the speed that the guard can be donned and doffed, it's an extremely effective guard. Just to try it out, I smacked my forearm with a claw-hammer a few times to make sure it worked. I worked like a charm. I felt my arm move with the impact but the kydex spread the impact and the foam took the sting out of it. I can't imagine taking a shot that hard from the blade of a trainer knife.



Chuck

[argyll]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like an effective guard. Does anyone know the brand name of the guards that Mike J. uses for MBC arm guards?

Qui non est hodie cras minus aptus erit -- Ovid (He who is not prepared today will be less so tomorrow)

[Michael Janich]

Dear Chuck:

Ditto -- thanks for sharing. During my tenure as Spyderco's MBC instructor I messed with a variety of different armguard designs, including everything from simple boxing hand wraps to professional meat cutting protective equipment (I still have a very cool stainless steel mesh protective sleeve). I also hand-sewed numerous prototype guards that never received enough support to make it to commercial production. The problems I found with kydex are that it is very difficult to make a one-size-fits-all guard and that any edges -- even if they are smoothed -- tend to tear your partner's knuckles once you start playing hard.

With that said, if your guard works well for your purposes, use it! Kudos to you for your creative spirit and resourcefulness.

As for what I currently use, after a lot of experimentation, I've settled on the McDavid 478 neoprene thigh wrap, available from most well-stocked sporting goods stores for about $12.00.

I have't given up on a purpose-designed guard, however. Now that I'm working for a division of BlackHawk Products Group, I may be in the perfect place to raise that particular bar...

Stay safe,


mike j

[Michael Cook]

any progress made on armguards? What do you folks use in your training?

[paulks]

I'd like to second Mike's caution on hard armguards. Last weekend I split the skin on a knuckle as I trained with a partner who wore a hard armguard. A good armguard should protect you and your training partner.

I have improvised armguards from commercial 3" pipe insulation foam. I cut a V notch in it so the tube would taper.

One of my training partners hits hard, and this gets old after a while. I will improvise a hybrid pad that adds a layer of foam to part of the McDavid thigh wrap. This will give me a bit more protection than just the 2 layers of neoprene.

-- Paul

[pyrolyzer]

I really built mine to be a quick-on and quick-off design. It works well for that purpose but I found another solution to the problem. I wanted one that could come off quickly so I could avoid the sweaty, annoying clammy feeling under the arm guard. Well there's more than one way to skin a cat (by the way, what is the "one way to skin a cat" that that saying refers to? . . . and why are they skinning cats?)

Instead of taking the armguard off to keep dry, I make sure that I have a layer of polypropylene between myself and the arm guard. I'll either wear a lightweight long sleve polypro t-shirt, use a polypro "wristie" under the guard or I've even taken an old polypro sock and cut the toe out of it to wear under the armguard. (Find them at a backpacking store, sporting goods store, army surplus store or even Wal-Mart's sporting goods section.)

If you're not familiar with polypro, it's a fabric that was originally developed for baby diapers that wicks and transports moisture readily. It will carry moisture from under the armguard to the part of the fabric exposed to the air where it can evaporate. It's funny how effectively it works. When I wear polypro under the McDavid wrap, my wrist below the guard and my elbow above the guard both get chilly due to the ammount of evaporative cooling that the polypro generates.

[Michael Cook]

http://www.karambit.com/forearm_protector.htm
Well, I did some more net research and found these folks have lamenco forearm protectors for around $40. Not too bad of a deal considering the apparent quality.