New Gear Review: Icon Field Armor Street Knee Pads

I understand that motorcycle riding is inherently more dangerous than driving in a car. I accept that risk and just as importantly, so does my wife. She understands that the feeling I get from riding a bike puts me into a zen-like state that centers me and gives me the strength to tackle the challenges life likes to throw at us. That doesn't mean I like to ride like a squid though. Being a military motorcycle rider means I have to comply with more safety regulations than your average rider. My own desire to be safe on the street lends me to gearing up more than at the regulations require. I finally found something that completes my ATGATT (all the gear, all the time) mentality. Read on for a new gear review.

I have a jacket, boots, gloves, helmet and even a chest/back protector. Knee pads are what I have been lacking. I wear Scorpion's Covert Kevlar Riding jeans for most of my "around town" and casual rides. They have armor pockets in the knees, but they suck quite frankly. The pockets put the armor in the wrong spot for my FZ1's sport touring stance. I found these Icon knee pads after viewing a fortuitous forum post on one of my regular internet boards. They are the Icon Field Armor Street Knee pads with D30 impact protection.

I wanted to get something that I could wear under my Scorpion jeans in order to avoid looking like a riot police officer, but still keep my knees protected. These looked like they fit the bill. I ordered them from Revzilla. Thanks to their "Zilla Cash" system ($5 Zilla Cash for every $100 spent) I was able to pick them up for $60 with free shipping. They arrived in two days and I eagerly broke them out of the box. From the Revzilla pictures and the Icon box, they are meant to be worn on the outside of your street clothes. I imagined that they would also fit under my Scorpion jeans due to their low profile. Icon has another set that has knee pucks so if you find yourself in street clothes wanting to drag a knee.

On the underside of the pad you have a type of dry fabric system meant to prevent sweat from pooling behind the pad as it sits on top of your knees. Inside the pad was a D30 pad rated at CE Level 1 protection. The CE system is a very comprehensive system used in Europe that dictates the limits  of force transmitted through the armor to your body. On the right is the knee pad armor from the Icon knee pads and on the left is an extra armor pad set I bought to put in the Scorpion jeans knee pockets. I guess I have an extra set of knee pads now. 

The top of the pads secures around your leg with an elastic strap and hook and loop tape. This is just like a set of skateboard knee pads except you don't have to insert your leg through some type of sleeve. In my youth and into my adulthood, I get out and skate at local skateparks. I am used to this type of knee pad and how it should feel.

The bottom straps also wrap around your leg but these are non-elastic straps. They use plastic buckles in a criss-cross pattern to keep the pads in place on your leg. The underside of the pad also has a couple of small strips of silicone to prevent the pads from slipping around lessening your protection. While the pads are pretty flexible,  they will have to break in to feel comfortable. I do like the buckles as the straps are flexible and don't have extra stitching that could irritate my skin.

Here is a self taken picture of how they look under my riding jeans. If I didn't tell you that I was wearing them underneath, you probably wouldn't know it just from the photo. In real life you might notice them a bit more. They fit well under the jeans and didn't bind up or cause the jeans to ride up my leg. As I suspected and later confirmed through a 90 minute test ride, they are uncomfortable as is. They will need to break in bit and I got some knee socks to wear underneath to be tolerable for any length of time. I did try them outside my jeans when I got home from the test ride. They were still a bit uncomfortable, but not as much. It mainly is the top strap. You have to wear it tight enough that the top of the pad stays in place, but loose enough that you don't get any restrictions when your legs are bent in the riding position. I am very happy with the purchase and feel better about my lowered chances of injury that come from wearing these pads.

Other content in the works are some final tracks day preps for my TrackXperience Track Day at Streets of Willow on the 22nd with the Ninja race bike. I have a several other posts queued up ready for final release as well including another international ride report. There is going to be lots more to enjoy so swing on back by soon!

Blue