Wrist Guards

**Petary791** · 08-13-2009 10:07 PM

I don't fall on my wrists much but when I do it hurts a lot. In fact today I sprained my wrist falling. After watching Chlorine I saw Salba with some wrist guards. I've never worn them because of the whole broken fingers aspect, but I'm thinking about reconsidering. What do you all think? If you believe in them, what do you wear?

I'd put this in the Safety section but I don't think there's many park skaters there.

**Cruzer** · 08-13-2009 10:27 PM

I have a pair of the Tripile8 wrist guards, I don't wear them because they feel really awkward

**dcphotos** · 08-14-2009 06:18 AM

I've always worn them. I've seen post on the site about them making you more likely to break a finger or arm and I think that's silly. I've taken some real hard slams since I turned 40 that would have put me in a cast if it wasn't for these things, I've never been hurt because of them. I have a set of pro-designed now, my old set was made by Rector.

**Gary in VA** · 08-14-2009 11:30 AM

888 Hired Hands. Wouldn't skate without them. Broke my wrist at 16 and still have problems with it to this day.

**Cann0n** · 08-14-2009 12:15 PM

Learn to take a fall effectively. You are never suppose to fall on your hands like that. You risk breaking your arms. I snapped mine when I was about 12. Picture jabbing a straw into a brick. The straw will cripple.

When I fall, I naturally roll and spread the impact on a wide area of contact instead of concentrated on my hands.

**dcphotos** · 08-14-2009 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Cann0n

Learn to take a fall effectively. You are never suppose to fall on your hands like that. You risk breaking your arms. I snapped mine when I was about 12. Picture jabbing a straw into a brick. The straw will cripple.

When I fall, I naturally roll and spread the impact on a wide area of contact instead of concentrated on my hands.

Agreed, learning to fall is a needed task. Wear wrist guards and knee pads and learn how to go to your knees and slide and you'll be much better off. Of course this applies to skating transitions mainly, I gave up street skating a lot of years ago.

**Petary791** · 08-14-2009 12:42 PM

My hand just went down, I fell so fast I couldn't even catch it. If I got these it would be for "oh sh!t" more than a "relying on my hands" sort of thing.

**msk** · 08-14-2009 08:04 PM

I'm currently using TSGs, but those are about due for replacement. Due to severe wrist damage from when I was 19 (see avatar), I can't skate at all without wrist guards. If I fall on my right wrist, it WILL break, and require surgery to rebuild/replace again.

The "you'll break your arm" argument has some merit, but not in the way most people think. Most wrist guards help disperse the impact enough that you're less likely to break anything, but if you do, it'll most likely be your arm instead of your wrist. But if you fell hard enough to break your arm, you were going to break something. And much better that its your arm and not your wrist. Take it from someone who spent about 50% of the 70s with one arm or the other in a cast. Broken wrists tend to take longer to heal, are more likely to require surgery, and often cause problems later in life...

Originally Posted by Gary in VA

Broke my wrist at 16 and still have problems with it to this day.

Same here. Haven't had a pain-free day since August 17, 1980...

**Petary791** · 08-14-2009 08:23 PM

So should I go with the Triple 8's?

**McPoops** · 08-14-2009 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by Petary791

So should I go with the Triple 8's?

Pro-Designed. 8)
I promise no other has put as much thought into it.
When removed it opens fully - able to be laid flat, ya know. So, when you go to wrap it around yer hand you got this padded strap that wraps from the palm 'tween yer thumb and index and velcros to the back of yer hand (nicely enough along the rear splint). Thataway you've got just enough - just where you need it. Oh, and btw it's got a second thinner velcro strap that lays the opposite way over the top of the other one so you just adjust it to yer hand once and leave it there until you manage to kill um'.

They are good effin gloves, lemme tell ya.

**dcphotos** · 08-15-2009 07:19 AM

I have pro-designed wrist guards also, they are the best I've seen. They make them to fit, you give them the measurements and they send them custom made. But I will say the straps towards the back are way too long on both mine and my friends pair, he had his fixed at a laundry/seamstress place and I glued some more velcro on mine. I've had them for a while, they have saved me on many slams.

**FBD** · 09-17-2009 12:35 PM

Triple 8 WRISTSAVER

you could definitly wear regular slide gloves over these

**Chrispy23** · 09-17-2009 12:46 PM

I've got the 888 Hired Hands and love them. I was looking at the pro designed (great pads), but went with the attached glove. You can't go wrong with either.

**Cann0n** · 09-17-2009 09:12 PM

Welp.. Thanks! I was jinxed... I was practicing stand-up slides in a parking lot today and ran through an oil slick from a parking spot. I figured, hey, that looks fun... I watched as the wheels turned wet and shinny with oil. I cut my board to my BS and leaned back, pressing that tail out... Next thing I know, I land on my right hand and jar the F*CK out my wrist. I think I will start wearing them unless I am commuting.

It's been a long time since I did that. It really hurt. The base of my palm is pretty tender and swollen. Oops! It was so fast, I was on the ground. Board took a good hit into a curb and somehow ramped the curb. Time for a nose guard too.

Another lesson learned.

I'm also not on health insurance.

**Classicrocker42o** · 09-22-2009 05:00 PM

I've broken both my wrist.

Icsay go with the wrist gaurds. lol

**Dragongurl** · 09-22-2009 05:48 PM

This is going to be only somewhat helpful, but here goes. When I was looking for guards for snowboarding the best ones I found were by Dakine and Roces. Roces are highly recommended by orthopedists, but they're hard to find and expensive. Dakine guards meet the same criteria at a cheaper price. I can't find the website I got this info from(sorry this was 2 yrs ago), but I think what made these designs best for your wrists is having the stiff material against the palm, and a flexible material against the back of the hand. There was also something about the length. For some reason longer guards are worse. Also, I don't know if this has been said, but learn not to put out your hands when you fall. It takes all those things sensitive to breakage out of the equation. HTH.

**Dragongurl** · 10-01-2009 06:21 PM

I wanted to clear this up for anyone who read my post because I got some stuff wrong. Here's the link I was referring to: Wrist guards for snowboarders - www.ski-injury.com - Ski Injury

Their suggestion is: to provide maximum protection a snowboard wrist guard should:

* Have a degree of flexibility in the guard material - rigid inserts may be more likely to cause the sort of fracture shown in the pictures above
* Have protection situated along the back of the wrist (the most important spot), with or without protection on the palm side and
* Extend some distance up the forearm and not be of the short stubby type used by inline skaters (this type of guard is designed to slide along concrete/tarmac surfaces. Quite different to a fall on snow)

The last bullet is the only difference for skaters.