I'm more a photographer that has been in the Sierra Nevada backcountry a lot over decades rather than climbing that I only ever dabble in. Lots of backpacking and day hiking including much off trail rambling carrying heavy packs. And knee pads for this person are very useful when going through difficult terrain like talus and down logs etc where one can use a knee. And of course as a photographer I'm often low to the ground especially for close-up work for small stuff at ground level like wildflowers and slithering critters.
For a least a couple decades have worn knee pads about 90% of the time after leaving roads and that includes while carrying up packs even on a trail when I really don't need to. Am aware few others have even ever put a pair of knee pads on (please no jokes folks )
. I don't use the usual models that people that do outdoor work like construction and gardening use that are typically weighty with a hard plastic surface in front and thick foam behind. Such pads usually cost $15 to $40 bucks and are likely to get in the way of someone climbing rock. No instead use the cheapest lightest models that least affect movement to the extent one hardly is aware they are on. One result of doing so is I am used to using my knees more monkeying about on rock. Normally one develops a habit of being gentle when pushing their knee up against hard or uneven surfaces and wearing a knee pad changes that. I have been buying knee pads from Home Depot. For $5 they sell a cheap model branded HDX that is a step up from the $4 model they used to stock that was only foam. The HDX model front surface is heavy duty nylon cloth that provides more abrasion resistance to a relatively thin layer of foam behind. It uses heavy duty velcro for a strap. One size fits all.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-Black-Ga ... /203593390
I modified mine because the one size fits all was for big people, not a small 136 pound wiry old guy like me or women. What I did was make a couple small holes through the nylon foam at center top about an inch apart. Then brought a small cable tie through and cinched it up. The result was a concave shape closer to my smaller knee that better stays in the right place. With heavy use, the foam doesn't last more than about a year because the air in the foam eventually escapes leaving flat rubber. But hey for $5 no big deal. And for those reading this wondering, $5 is trivial for a try.
David
http://www.davidsenesac.com/2016_Trip_C ... les-0.html
