Adding Leather Strap to knee block (Heresy, I know...)

[Fivehole]

I just got a hold of a barely used set of Reebok XLT Pros and the knee cradle was removed.  I have used a velcro knee strap for years and it just works for me but, alas, it is no more on this new set.  I'm not planning on modding these pads a great deal but do want to add a leather strap to the knee block for now but can't figure out how to install it.  The hole for the strap in the knee block is only the width of the strap so not sure if it has to be folded and forced into the hole or is there some other trick.  Any ideas how to add a knee cradle after-the-fact?

[Chenner29]

4 hours ago, Fivehole said:

I just got a hold of a barely used set of Reebok XLT Pros and the knee cradle was removed.  I have used a velcro knee strap for years and it just works for me but, alas, it is no more on this new set.  I'm not planning on modding these pads a great deal but do want to add a leather strap to the knee block for now but can't figure out how to install it.  The hole for the strap in the knee block is only the width of the strap so not sure if it has to be folded and forced into the hole or is there some other trick.  Any ideas how to add a knee cradle after-the-fact?

Separate the ice facing knee wing and knee block, red and blue layers below 

There should be an entry point for the strap on the ice facing side of the knee block, toward the center 

[Fivehole]

Duh.  OK, that was easy.  Nearly made a DIY ass of myself.  Thanks so much - they were right there and I totally missed them.

Still would like to know if after-market knee cradles are a thing as there are no obvious ways to install them on these pads.

[ArdeFIN]

I assume you want to use the strap behind your knee and not down to calf?

If you have a speedy stitcher then it's easy to add something to the edge binding to attach the strap to.

But other than that It's not easy or convenient at all. The original cradle was sewn in and awfully thick. I removed those from my XLT28 and it was a huge improvement for knee pads to fit inside knee area.

Edit: you had the leather strap points still available, so never mind about the stiching thing...

Edited March 29, 2023 by ArdeFIN

[Chenner29]

4 hours ago, Fivehole said:

Duh.  OK, that was easy.  Nearly made a DIY ass of myself.  Thanks so much - they were right there and I totally missed them.

Still would like to know if after-market knee cradles are a thing as there are no obvious ways to install them on these pads.

You can stitch one here along the outside binding of the pad.  I think some of the modern True pads have this as an option. Won’t feel exactly the same but should be close enough 

There are some solutions that involve using the binding cord that runs through the pad (the thick white nylon cord running along the center line of your pad) but I don’t recommend it as excessive force may cause these cords to pull out, and you need these to hold the layers of the pad together   

[Fivehole]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.  I just found a set of knee pads that will probably need the space that was otherwise taken up by the original knee cradle, so I'll work the straps into the landing pad and see how it goes from there.

Thanks again.