Professor strap question

[Xdave90x]

Since i switched from ccm to warrior knee pads my pads feel loose and sometimes my knee fell a little offset on the knee of the pads. I'm thinking of ordering the kenesky professor strap to help with this issue, on their website you have 3 option when ordering either nylon elastic or leather strap so here are my question is there a durability issue with the plastic buckle on the nylon strap and is it better to go with a leather strap nylon or elastic? Thabks in advance for taking your time to answer my question. 

[Mroy31]

A lesson I learned with my own professor strap mod was the difference in feel between nylon webbing and elastic. I started with webbing and the downsides I found were related to how snug I like that strap. Since it was so snug, I had trouble getting the clip secured (mind you I put those fidlock buckles from the SLRs on mine) and if I wore larger knee pads I could feel the pad sitting differently because the knee pad was effectively pushing my calf further from the pad. I had to loosen the strap but then the pad was looser than I wanted it. 

Elastic fixed that for me, but that's based on my preferred fit and the fancy buckle I insisted on using haha.  If you can do the strap up first and crank it tight then it shouldn't matter (although not sure that's an option since they look like how mine are), and standard clips should be a bit easier to get done up even with a snug strap. 

[Chenner29]

I've had a couple pairs of pads recently with Professor Straps.  It serves as a connection point to keep your knee from falling off the back of the block, as well as help make the pad more responsive when you recover to your feet.

IMO it should be snug (not tight) with minimal give.  I found the inch wide elastic straps didn't really do much unless they were doubled up.  On my latest set, I went with the leather strap.  I'm in the Eflex4 now with a 2"(?) elastic strap that works pretty well.

I did not have durability issues with the plastic buckle, but there is always the slim possibility of the buckle getting blown up by a weird angle shot.

[Chester]

Passau does a removable professor strap. It’s leather with Velcro. Loop it thru thru the heavy duty rectangular clip and fold it back on itself velcroing down. Velcro lets you adjust your tension and doesn’t slip in play. 

[gotc]

On 9/28/2019 at 6:38 AM, Xdave90x said:

Since i switched from ccm to warrior knee pads my pads feel loose and sometimes my knee fell a little offset on the knee of the pads. I'm thinking of ordering the kenesky professor strap to help with this issue, on their website you have 3 option when ordering either nylon elastic or leather strap so here are my question is there a durability issue with the plastic buckle on the nylon strap and is it better to go with a leather strap nylon or elastic? Thabks in advance for taking your time to answer my question. 

Did you end up getting the Kenesky professor strap? I'm thinking of getting a set and am wondering if looping the attachment points through your pads' cords (that run down the length of the pad) led to any loosening of those cords or any undue wear? If so, did you make any adjustments?

[bunnyman666]

4 hours ago, gotc said:

Did you end up getting the Kenesky professor strap? I'm thinking of getting a set and am wondering if looping the attachment points through your pads' cords (that run down the length of the pad) led to any loosening of those cords or any undue wear? If so, did you make any adjustments?

When I played more than once per week, yes- the professor strap anchored by the lacing cord WILL pull it. This is where you can find up to 12” of extra lacing cord in an import pad. Not trying to indict import pads here, but it shows how much the materials in an import pad can compact as well as the extra cord the factory workers leave loose in the pad,  but North American pad can end up with a few inches of cord.  I typically would reach behind the toe or thigh trims and pull the cord taut. The bonus? You can shape the pad into a better “S” shape when you pull it taut. In my Brian’s Zero G pad, the cord is hot glued into place, so you can't pull it as easily. But eventually, you will need to pull that cord or the professor strap will be sloppy and won’t work as effectively. Not all pads will suffer from this, but in my experience, I have had to re-pull the cord after some use. 

I actually am cooking up something that could supplant the professor strap. The problem is that it would most likely need some modification to the pad, but would be more stable on the pad. I love the professor strap, but cord mounted versions can cause maintenance problems and you may eventually break the lacing cord. My PAW pads have a place to put one in without touching the lacing cord. My Factory pads don’t need one as they rotate just fine without one. 

[Punisher Goalie]

7 hours ago, gotc said:

Did you end up getting the Kenesky professor strap? I'm thinking of getting a set and am wondering if looping the attachment points through your pads' cords (that run down the length of the pad) led to any loosening of those cords or any undue wear? If so, did you make any adjustments?

Ive had Kenesky professor straps on my custom CCM EFlex 4s for 10+ games now. No pulling on the cords for me. One thing I feel I need to point out - I have had problems with the attachments coming undone mid-game. This is despite the Kenesky design with velcro and a metal snap. I want to be clear this could entirely be unique to my setup (maybe due to my knee pads catching on them), but they only work for me because I have sewn them shut with a few stitches of waxed thread. Once I did that, no problems whatsoever. 

[goalieThreeOne]

9 hours ago, gotc said:

Did you end up getting the Kenesky professor strap? I'm thinking of getting a set and am wondering if looping the attachment points through your pads' cords (that run down the length of the pad) led to any loosening of those cords or any undue wear? If so, did you make any adjustments?

On my first set of 2x Pro's, it pulled the assembly lace out A LOT. Probably an extra 3-4 inches of slack on one side. I have since stopped using the strap on my second pair of 2x Pro's because the prof strap would loosen over time and I don't trust that pulling the assembly lace won't start to warp the pads. If I had a decent cobbler near me, I'd have it sewn in.

[gotc]

Thanks so much for the heads up guys! If I go ahead I might ask 'em to forgoe the snap closure and maybe just ask for a jenpro tab I can sew to inside of calf wrap.