Many E-Skaters don’t wear knee or elbow pads when they ride, but I always recommend them to help keep you from getting more scraped up than necessary if you fall. Knee and elbow pads are designed to both soften the impact on your extremities when you take a fall, and keep you from getting some nasty scraps if you slide along the ground.

Pads are generally pretty cheap and can start at as low as $20 for a complete set, but some high-tech impact resistant pads such as those from G-Form can run $100+.

JBM Knee and Elbow Pad + Wrist Guards

JBM’s pads are a traditional set of pads with a plastic impact resistant exterior and some interior padding to make them more comfortable to wear.

I personally use a set of JBM knee and elbow pads. This is a cheap, complete set of pads that even includes a set of traditional skate wrist guards. I’ve never fallen in these but they seem plenty sturdy to protect against impacts, and they definitely make it more comfortable when I have to kneel on my knees on concrete or asphalt to change my Boosted Board battery.

They’re slightly cushioned and a little on the bulky side, but definitely will help keep you safe when you take a hard fall.

G-Form Pads

G-Form’s Pro-X2 elbow pads, which are a much slimmer alternative to traditional skateboard elbow pads. Source: G-Form

Frequent E-Skaters often don’t want to put on a set of bulky pads that restrict their movement. G-Form’s pads are a high-tech and more expensive alternative to traditional pads, and are made of a slim, high-impact resistant foam. G-Form makes knee and elbow pads for a variety of different sports, including skateboarding.

For your knees, we recommend the G-Form Pro-X2 knee pads— their latest generation of knee pads. They start at about $60 for a set. G-Form’s Pro-X2 elbow pads are approximately $50 for a set, coming to a total of $110 for a full knee-and-elbow set of safety equipment. It’s significantly higher cost than traditional pads, but much more high tech and significantly more flexible and slim.

G-Form optionally also has body pads that help protect your torso and upper legs. We recommend using their torso or leg protection if you have a high speed board (such as the Kaly.NYC family of boards) or are going off roading using an all terrain board when you potentially could fall onto a tree stump or rocks. The G-Form Pro-X compression shirt runs about $100 and their Pro-X compression shorts are around $90.