This is my first real blog post for OBO and I hope it isn’t full of spelling errors (I’m English so cheap viagra canada colour isn’t spelt color!)
In the past I have modified gear and tried many makes of gear, but of course when it comes to innovation and design OBO are at the top of the pile, that’s the obvious bit out of the way.
That said I have now tasked myself (with OBO’s blessing) to modify the existing HotPants to make them better, it’s a hard task I admit but I’m up for the challenge. I’m doing this in the off season, the main aims are to sort out the upper thigh and inner thigh protection and throw in a little bit of extra adjustability, bob’s your uncle, fanny’s your aunt, hopefully this isn’t gonna be a faceplant!
If there’s anything that anyone wants me to try and do let me know, leave a comment on here or head over to fieldhockeyforum.com and send me a pm.
That’s all for this post but check this space cos this s**t’s gonna get real!
(P.S. I have the Chelmsford Summer League (Div 1) to test my additions etc. If any of you are playing in it I’m the keeper with the fluorescent helmet, hard to miss I know)
I like the current hot pants. But there’s always room for improvement. For me that means:
get rid of the clip on the front. I’d prefer some sort of velcro like the one that’s used on the 2011 body armour. I don’t like having clips anywhere else besides kickers and legguards. Getting hit there is always dangerous.
try to integrate the kneeprotector OBO is offering
much more protection for my gentlemans area. No matter which tock I use, it hurts like hell getting hit there. Mostly because most protectors aren’t really “fixed” to their position. Integrate them. Make them stay at their place
offer some sort of connector for the body armour, so that the armour always covers your lower abdominal area no matter how much you stretch yourself to reach a ball
offer a black color option. It’s the color of all great goalkeepers.
I find the sizing for the pants don’t work. I had to remove the side hip pads because they wouldn’t stay high enough in place because the part that wraps around the leg doesn’t fit higher up on my leg. I have a size small, I tried medium but they were too long and interfered too much with my leg pads.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but my goalie coach suggested I take the hip pads out and I agreed, they just got in the way and dug into my sides sometimes when I’d slide or dive.
Also, if the strap wrapping around the leg is longer, I wouldn’t have to strain so much to get it to tighten and stay.
One thing I previously added to my Bodi Arma was a webbing loop that I sewed in at the point where there was a seam (in behind), I pass the Hot Pants belt through this and it helps keep the pants and Arma together.
I’ve recently picked up the new chest protector so am going to have a go with this as well with hopefully more attachment points if possible. I think this could be achieved easier with wide(ish) velcro straps, possibly removable ones? Not sure if that would be possible.
Think the hip panel could be extended/reshaped more around the front or better padding added there, the small T insert that is there doesnt really do much.
Either the ability to adapt the length or another model that is shorter for those of us with short legs would be great 🙂
I agree with Euphy. The reason I don’t currently use them is that they are too long.
At 6’3″ and a bit, or 192cm in new currency I find them just slightly too short. The hip pads sit a little high when the waist sits just right. So I guess that says something. To have length adjustability would be hard, I imagine. The hip pads would have to be able to move up and down in pockets or some such. Maybe length options would be better, given this is the premium product?
We’re working on a new version of the robo pants that should suit the taller goal keeper better than the current products.
i thinnk you guys should stop whining,i have to use mazon z force pants and half the pads are missing!
I’m a short keeper at 1.74m and i struggled with the length, it actually wore away some of my leg guards. I also struggle with the length of the side strap if they couldengthen that i would make a big difference with some of us that have bigger legs.
You can trim down the internal foams in the pants if they are getting in the way of your legguards.
Just to let everyone know I hit a few roadblocks with my ideas, but slowly working through these now. I have worked on allowing the bottom thigh pad move up and down to adjust to people’s height.
First mod I actually did came up on here which was to have a velcro strap to hold things, first problem with that was getting the velcro to hold for long periods of time. That said I may have come up with an idea to combat that.
Also may not have helped packing the pounds on, Eating with the wife whilst she is pregnant is not such a good idea!
I think that putting some of that silicone grippy stuff on the inside around the groin and legs would be good, to help everything stay where it should.
There is a tendency for the groin and inner thigh padding to move out of place if the legs rotate too much, which happens when you are wearing compression shorts/leggings because the Lycra slips around no matter how tight you do up the big leg Velcro. This leaves a gap right on the groin/hip flexors between the shorts and your pelvic protector/box.
In all the Robo shorts I’ve owned the small pads on the inner thigh have fallen out or just dont stay in place – something to fix that would be great.
Another thing that drives me crazy is having to constantly readjust the shorts as they slip down my legs. I guess the fact that my legs are on the skinny side doesn’t help much! I’d love if they had two velcro straps per leg instead of just the one thick strap – one lower down where the current strap is, and another higher up at the top of the inner thigh. I think this would make the shorts much more secure and snug for easy movement. The difference to my game and how I feel when my shorts are tight and hugging my legs the whole way down is massive!
Maybe if the thigh pad was long and almost rectangular instead of circular it would solve the issue of fitting different leg lengths. It could also create space on the inner thigh for a mini version of the padding on the lower thigh – strap and all. That’d make me a happy keeper for sure!
If you could possibly make something that is comfortable to land on, eg when diving then that would be amazing and also what about adding a knee protector, maybe something that is removable, you would make many indoor keeper very happy.