I originally wrote the review and review Edit below on Amazon in 2011/2012. While these knee pads are still great for car camping i have since changed my camp site activities to be much more efficient and no longer bring them on most trips. They do stil come on longer car camping trips as the difference they make for low work is substantial. But for backpacking, it’s pretty clear that while light, they are bulky enough to warrant leaving at home.

Now that i’ve gone camping a couple of times, i can honestly say that these are serious knee savers.

Whenever kneeling down for campsite work, setting up the tent and putting down the guy lines, trying to build a fire after digging a hole when you need to blow on the tinder to make it light well, or trying to cut into a fallen branch to gather wood, the difference these guys made was awesome. These el cheapo knee pads are great for cushioning your knees without adding weight to your backpack. There are a lot of things in my backpack that i can do without now that I’m getting to know what’s needed and what is just wasted space and weight, depending on the type of camping i’ll do, and on my second camping trip, i left many things behind. But these are so valuable and make such a huge difference, I’ll never go camping without them.

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I didn’t know much about knee pads and never gave them a second thought. Recently though, while watching youtube videos of backpacking, I realized that there was a lot of work that was done on your knees including tent setups, making campfires, firewood work with a hatchet, etc. etc. So I wanted something that would take some of the pressure off my knees but wanted something super light to carry in my backpack.

Are these the most comfortable knee pads in the world? No. Are they the most stable? Nope. But they are padded enough to make a world of difference when doing low-to-the-ground work and are light enough that the can go in my backpack without adding weight, plus the velcro makes them easy to attach and detach instantly, making them effortless in use. The curve of the pads around the top of the knee and the straps to keep them on means working around the campsite without having to think about them too much.

At this price, I imagine they won’t last forever, but they sure come in handy. One of the best buys I’ve ever made.