# wrist guards?? need suggestions



## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Depends what you are looking for. If you want support, Dakine makes a pair, and there are many others do as well. There is also support built inside gloves like the Burton Impact line.

If you're looking for preventive and especially if you've broken/fractured your wrist in the past like I have, I would suggest you look into OTS wrist braces which literally stop your wrist from hyper-extending back based on what type of degree of freedom stop you install on it. They're pricey but they're worth every penny.


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## imsoprfct (Dec 11, 2008)

Check out Level Gloves, very discrete looking gloves with built in wrist guards. I have a pair and they've saved me more times than I can remember


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

Burton support mitts and gloves are the best I've seen. Built in wrist guards that dont allow your hands to bend backwards. I use Dakine wrist guards currently but they're not very good. On a scale of 1-10 on protection i'd give them a 4.


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2010)

I agree with extremo - i have the R.E.D wrist guards (and i like them) but i wish i had of bought the burton impact mittens. But I already dropped over $100 on mitts and wrist guards (after I broke my wrist) before I discovered these and was unable to return what i had already purchased.


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## YouDork (Feb 12, 2010)

I have Dakine, no complaints :thumbsup:
Fits under my gloves perfectly and is supportive. Others I tried on hurt my wrist a bit, (my wrists are a little boney) 
but these fit nicely.


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## yusoweird (Apr 6, 2009)

Level half pipe glove is great... Gore-tex plus BioMex wrist guard is perfect...


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

I bought some Demon wrist guards on clearance. Fit a little snug in my gloves but do the job, nothing fancy but nothing broken either










-Slyder


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## joeydzzle (Jan 30, 2008)

I used the burton impact gloves. i don't really need them cuz i don't fall as much as i used to but i like the safety net. Even tho they are convenient, they aren't waterproof. so once water gets absorbed in the gloves, you're stuck w wet/cold gloves for the rest of the day. I'm looking into picking up goretex gloves + separate wrist guards.


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## sevenstarsfall (Jan 16, 2010)

Ive got the level halfpipe gloves as well and am very happy not only with the built-in wrist guards but the quality and warmth of them, I believe I found them on ebay for $90 shipped.

P.S. Is that a Koala your standing with in your avatar?


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## ranger5oh (Feb 6, 2010)

Dakine for me... no wrist injuries thus far!


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## supremej (Feb 14, 2010)

P.S. Is that a Koala your standing with in your avatar?[/QUOTE]

its a kaws medicom figure


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

joeydzzle said:


> I used the burton impact gloves. i don't really need them cuz i don't fall as much as i used to but i like the safety net. Even tho they are convenient, they aren't waterproof. so once water gets absorbed in the gloves, you're stuck w wet/cold gloves for the rest of the day. I'm looking into picking up goretex gloves + separate wrist guards.


Oh man dont tell me that...I just bought a pair for my kid.


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## Um...? (Jan 22, 2009)

Vlaze said:


> I would suggest you look into OTS wrist braces which literally stop your wrist from hyper-extending back based on what type of degree of freedom stop you install on it. They're pricey but they're worth every penny.


Hey Vlaze, how do those OTS braces fit? Are they low profile to fit under gloves/mittens? I ride with Dakine Viper mittens and they're REALLY snug already with the wrist guard I got from the doctor the _last_ time I was broken.

I need to get something that is low profile and will give me max protection (broke scaphoid x2 and medial fracture in my left wrist) for both board riding and skating. The OTS look like the real deal.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Um...? said:


> Hey Vlaze, how do those OTS braces fit? Are they low profile to fit under gloves/mittens? I ride with Dakine Viper mittens and they're REALLY snug already with the wrist guard I got from the doctor the _last_ time I was broken.
> 
> I need to get something that is low profile and will give me max protection (broke scaphoid x2 and medial fracture in my left wrist) for both board riding and skating. The OTS look like the real deal.


Yikes, sounds not much off from what I had occur to me. I had the scaphiod and carpal tunnel bones fractured/cracked and all messed up along with all ligaments being tore up. Had 4 pins in my right wrist for 3 months in a cast before they were pulled out. 

Anyhow, let me just say this; for your condition or anyone else with an extensive wrist injury like that I would suggest nothing less than OTS. So in other words, make the glove work with it and don't do it the other way around where you look for a protector to work with your glove instead. Those other wrist guards inside the glove or others people have mentioned here only offer support, nothing more. If you have limited movement like I do (only can bend wrist back 45 degrees max when I work on it daily) then you want something to prevent it from moving back anymore if you go down on it. Only the OTS offers that kind of protection that I've found.

However, it only offers the protection for hyper-extending your wrist backwards, nothing for forwards. But then again if you manage to land on your wrist in the forward flex position that's quite a feat in itself. The majority always fracture their wrist having it hyper-extended backwards.

Most of the time I fit it inside my gloves, even managed to with Celtek small sized gloves that wrap snug around my wrist. I think you can wrap it in there just keep in mind that it won't look tight tight look if you're worried about how it look (which you shouldn't anyhow). Worst come to worst, you can always just wrap it around the outside of the glove as well.

I've taken some nasty falls and slammed the backside of my hand/wrist on the snow crashing and while it stung and made my wrist sore because of the surgery, it made sure as hell nothing got broken and was nothing more than just a sore aftermath.

This site is the cheapest one I found looking around when I got it: http://www.cyclezoneinc.com/wrist-protection.htm. I bought the CF pair just in case I did something nasty to possibly damage the brace but both will effectively protect your wrist well.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

Did I just see $250??? Damn...but that's exactly what I need. Looks like i'm going to have to sell a kidney!! It's worth it though, I re-injure my left wrist every year even wearing the dakine guards. 

Vlaze, How comfortable are they? Is it something you can wear all day without losing circulation and such?


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Extremo said:


> Did I just see $250??? Damn...but that's exactly what I need. Looks like i'm going to have to sell a kidney!! It's worth it though, I re-injure my left wrist every year even wearing the dakine guards.
> 
> Vlaze, How comfortable are they? Is it something you can wear all day without losing circulation and such?


Yea, I wear mine all day on the slopes without a problem, fits on like a glove. It slides over your wrist and it has a removable strap around the main body portion of it that you pull snug and has 4 strings that tighten it up around your wrist. The portion that goes over your hand slips around your thumb to position it when you put it on and then wrap the strap around to tighten that area up.

I'm losing my terminology here to give a detailed explanation, I think I'll take some pics after work tonight to show what I'm referring to. You don't btw need the CF version that I paid for technically speaking. The CF is just stronger in the aspect of very little worry in regards to breaking the thing in case you have a really, really, really bad fall that damages it. They don't however use laces like the CF does that I explained above about, where the 4 strings (laces) wrap around your wrist but they use velcro straps which is essentially the same concept used in all of them technically so I think they would work just as well.

I love mine so much that I never felt I'd be comfortable with how fast I go on the slopes after my accident until I bought and wore that brace last year testing it via crashes a few times. I don't even think once about my injured wrist when I wear the brace, it just gives me so much assurance knowing that unless I go down perfectly at the wrong angle to flex it downward really bad, the worst that will come of it is a sore wrist and not an injured one. I'll post up some pics later tonight.


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## Um...? (Jan 22, 2009)

Good lookin' out Vlaze.

Thanks for the reply.


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

holy motherfucking terminator powerglove! that thing is intense...

i've done my scaphoid as well... 3 months in a cast and luckily no surgery. also have had ongoing ligament issues and a reoccurring ganglion cyst. looking at that thing i think i'd use it post-surgery/cast and during the PT until i got strong/flexible again, but i'd be worried about the CF breaking my arm or hand during a fall... i dunno i could be wrong - maybe if you fall that hard you're going to break something regardless. :dunno:

i have had luck with athletic tape. i like that it can be applied just like a wristband, gives support where i need it and if i use paper or light cloth tape it will break away in a bad fall - after it has absorbed some energy along the way..

and its cheap - all that said, if you want a brace that is some real serious protection - that is obviously the way to go... not knocking it


best thing is alot of PT. these are hard injuries to recover from, especially when you keep using it and falling on it. takes time


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

The possibility of this thing breaking your arm with this brace is slim to none, I'm bent on none. It will likely flex at least a little and it's not like it's a fully wrapping CF around your entire arm, it's just covering the top so the cloth will allow movement/flex. I've never heard of anyone breaking their arm with such a protector. If there even was the slightest remote possibility you could, look at it this way in the worst case; what would you rather break, your arm, or your wrist? I've broken my leg, cut open my knee all the way down to the knee cap, broken my arm and fractured/broken my wrist. 

Any joint is far worst in repair and much more complex contrast to a solid bone such as an arm or a leg. My wrist and knee were the worst in regards to surgery and healing. Obviously my wrist got the worst out of any with limited movement now.

I've attached some pics showing the unit and installing sequences onto my wrist. The last pick shows my finger going underneath the latch to pull the laces apart like you would on a boot to loosen up the cloth so your wrist can slide in. You'll do this once again after the day is done unstrapping the velcro straps and pulling on the latch to loosen and take it off.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

A few more pics showing of wrapping it up around my wrist. Locate it inside the thumb hole on whichever hand you're using to locate it, then pull and stretch the velcro strap w/ laces to bring it snug around your wrist and wrap it around and around the brace as the strap comes around to stitch into place. The key word is snug, not bloody tight where you cut your circulation off. The nice thing about this brace is you have a large range of tightening up the brace for your comfort and it is very comfortable IMO. Afterwards, wrap the strap for the thumb around on top of the front portion of the brace. Make sure the strap goes evenly perfectly over the thumb cloth between your thumb and index finger. Otherwise, it will rub on your skin and irritate the shit out of you throughout the day.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Showing the allowed movement I have using a 20 degree stop bending back and forward of course is unlimited. Also showing the 1st pic of putting on a Celtek short wrist glove to give an idea of a snug fit. Yes, the Celtek straps on no problem, I'm just showing what it looks like unstrapped with the brace under it. Also in the 3rd pic is the hardware that comes with the brace which is the 0 and 40 degree stop (I'm using the 20 degree currently), 2 alan wrenches for the threaded pieces to remove/replace the stop on the brace and a spare washer.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Showing the 2nd pic of the Celtek gloves along with the Burton Impact gloves for a tight wrist fit. The impact gloves as you can see are bulky. I used these last year for support on my left wrist while removing the wrist support in the right glove so I could fit my brace inside of it. You can see from the last pic how much room I have to strap down the glove itself, not much. It depends on what size glove you have to work with and how flexible the wrist portion of the glove is to wrap around it. As the celtek glove shows, it wasn't an issue but worst case with a thin, snug glove, just use the protector on the outside of the glove.

Right now I use a typical pair of Dakine gloves that have the bungie cord or whatever you call it (excuse my terminology) to pull on in order to shrink in the glove around the wrist/arm once your hand is inside it to prevent snow from getting in; a typical, basic glove. This works fine and does the job as well. Only if you got something as stiff as the Burton Impact glove would I be worried about fitting the brace inside of it. If you do want something like the Impact glove, go one size bigger as I did to make sure it fits.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Conclusion, this is not a brace everyone needs nor that I'd say you must have. For those who have had fractures or broken their wrist I recommending getting this brace highly. It is worth every penny.

For those who do not have anything more than a sprained wrist or sore injuries, I would suggest possibly at least a wrist support to help prevent injuries. In the end, the best prevention of wrist injuries is learning *how to fall* when you crash which is tucking your wrist/hands in by your chest or stomach and not sticking them out there like a rag doll landing on them. I'm still working on getting the hang of this myself. While my right wrist was not injured from snowboarding (motorcycle accident) I still need improvement on keeping my wrist from potentially being injured on the slopes when I go down.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

That's a good looking piece of machinery. What size impact gloves are those? I was expecting the brace to be a little more bulky that it looks. I think I'm going to take a chance on the injection molded model. Thanks for the pics...I probably wouldnt have bought it if I didnt see them. The site doesn't offer much for alternate veiws.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

I'll have to check when I get back tonight what size they are...not sure if I recall them being Large or XL.

The injection molded ones look different from their pics on the top of the brace but nonetheless should function the same.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

Extremo: The Burton Impact gloves are a Large size


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## Click Here (Feb 17, 2010)

I don't use them anymore. My guard actual broke my wrist the second time. It bent the other way. Like a monkey hand? And the guard stopped it from bending forward and just broke it. I found it super ironic, and painful. Impact mittens are the way to go!

My 2 cents.


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## Vlaze (Nov 12, 2008)

^With what brace/guard? Sounds weird the way you explain it how it occurred


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## Click Here (Feb 17, 2010)

Vlaze said:


> ^With what brace/guard? Sounds weird the way you explain it how it occurred


Not sure. It was a couple years ago. Picked them up at REI I think.
It was weird.


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## mattus123 (Jun 1, 2009)

biomex or flexmart make the best wrist protection
have a look into those


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## qc89sc (Nov 19, 2014)

*what about flexmeter?*

nobody speak about the flexmeter i'm curious about it and ill maybe go with this dont want to buy integrated gloves i already bough nice spyder goretex gloves last year

Flexmeters and Other Snowboard Products to Purchase | Snowboard Secrets

Been snowboarding for 15 years now and fell in a closed piste where there was almost no snow... Many knows this story so a broken wrist im on a plaster for 4-6weeks and stopped from working for 3months... But would like to snowboard(the easy way) while being off work after the plaster is removed (maybe not the best idea but hey im sure you all understand)


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