Product Review 3: Knee Supports/ Knee Braces

Let's get real, at some point in our lives, we all have (or had) injured our knees. It could be when we first learned to walk, or when we learned how to ride the bicycle. then when we were kids.

Do you still remember all the times when you fell off the skateboard (or roller blades) during your teens?

As age creeps up, it does not become easier, to bounce back from an injury? Especially, when you play sports professionally or just trying something new at a really “old age”.  

On this round of product review, I will compare a few products I personally used for knee support.  I am not a medical professional or certified in sports medicine. Everything here is based on my personal experience using these products.

Before, I start on the product review, there are a few things I like to share about knee injuries.

1. Always listen to your body. Don’t try to push through the pain.
2. A knee injury can be many things. A brace can’t help if you have scrapes, cuts or wounds as the braces has to apply gentle pressure. A serious injury, like a torn meniscus, torn ligament or dislocation or fracture is a serious thing and should warrant a visit to the orthopedic clinic.
3. If your knee is swollen, a brace won’t help. In fact based on my personal experience, a brace makes it worse.
4. Get professional help, especially if you feel pain for more 24 hours.
5. Braces can sometimes restrict movements. This is not necessarily a good thing.
6. Good blood flow is essential, ill fitting brace prevents good blood circulation.
7. Elevate the injured knee and apply ice (something cold) to keep the swelling down, immediately after an injury.
8. Knee swelling is not always noticeable. Sometimes there is no discoloration on the skin.
9. I don’t wear any knee brace to sleep. I generally don’t think it is good for the knee. Mainly it prevents proper blood circulation.

El-cheapo Brand/ Ayam Brand

When I say el-cheapo brand (or locally known as ayam brand), I am just talking about a generic brand, which you can get for under $2. The brand I have is called Xiaole. You can also find the exact brace under different brand names.

It is made of woven fabric, with interlaced elastic rubber band.

It usually comes only in one color, blue.

It has very light pressure on the knee.

No specific sizing. Expands to your size over time, gradually.

It lasts about 3 to 4 weeks, until the rubber gives way and becomes kind of a “loose socks” for the knee.

Because it is so cheap, you can always buy a new one without breaking the bank.

Available at Japan Home stores, and budget stores.

Futuro Sport: Adjustable Knee Support

When I first saw this knee brace, it looked so cool, especially with the 3M brand logo and the picture of how it fits on the knee. It really looked like something that athletes and sportsmen would use.

It has Velcro, so it was easy to put on and take off. I like it especially when I can wear it over my trousers.

However, it restricts movement and that at times hurts the back of the knee.

The worst bit is it slides off the knee and requires frequent readjusting.

There is also warning on the box, that some people may develop rashes due to the neoprene material.

I didn’t have any rashes, though.

Priced at $40++

Available at most pharmacies including Guardian and Watson.

Oppo: Spiral Knee Support

Yes, Oppo is also the same brand as the mobile phones. I am not sure if they are affiliated but my money is on that “they are not”. At first, it was painful to use, however I realized knee was swollen.

The spiral metallic strips on both sides, provides comfortable support.

The material is made of woven fabric and highly elastic.

It gives more pressure on the knee, and it doesn’t slide off easily.

The longer length goes above and below the knee.

Of all the knee supports, I purchased, this was definitely my favorite.

It is priced at $35++ was only available at NUH Hospital pharmacy.

Product Review 2: Yamaha Folk Guitar F310P

Introduction

I have not done a product review since I wrote about a pair of hiking shoes.

Link below here.

http://hg2me.blogspot.sg/2013/03/review-brooks-adrenaline-gtx_6429.html

However, I recently look back into my bucket list and I have set out on doing a special blog about my first guitar.

These are the things, which I hope will be useful to beginners, who are seeking their first musical experience with a good ol’ set of six strings.

F310P Yamaha Folk Guitar

In the world of guitar pedigree, we classify F310P as an acoustic guitar.

Yamaha makes good guitars. They make good low-end guitar that sound much better it really should.

This axe (slang for guitar) made in the Indonesia factory has the following specs

1. Top: Spruce Laminated (non-solid top wood)
2. Back/ Sides: Meranti (unusual species of wood to use on a guitar but in this case it works as a wonderful substitute for mahogany)
3. Neck: Nato (good substitute for rosewood)
4. Finger board/ Bridge: Rosewood (no specific species)

In the box

Out of box

Finish/ Rosette/ Inlay Finish/ Pickguard

This one had a wonderful tobacco brown sunburst on the topwood with high gloss finish.

Yamaha also makes one with natural yellow topwood with high gloss finish.

The rosette and inlay on the fingerboard is pretty basic.

Rosette is just decal

Fingerboard inlay

The pickguard is also just a black plastic strip. Nothing special here.

Tuning Machines

Very beautiful covered chromes tuning machines, which keep this axe tuned for a long time.

If you have any reason to mods or upgrade this axe, you probably want to keep the tuning machines.

 

love the headstock especially the chrome tuning machines

Play Ability

Honestly, when I first played guitars back in the day, there was this cheap brand called Kapok. The strings were so hard to press down and after a few minutes, you probably never touch the guitar again.

This axe is not hard to press down but it may not be the best for a beginner player.

As the store was not doing customized setup, I decided to give the guitar a good month of playing before I do anything.

The next week of playing proved to be difficult. As a newbie, I wanted to be able to practice as much as I can. However, as per factory setup conditions, I was only able to play a good 30 minutes before fingers became too painful.

I noticed the low E bass strings had significant buzz, this may be unappealing to intermediate players.

After a week and half, I decided to see a guitar luthier who lowered the guitar action, making it more playable. This is of course out of pocket.

Post setup conditions, guitar is very playable and I could easily play up to 2 hours straight.

The buzz on the low E bass string was still there.

What it sounds like?

1. As I was searching online, the 2 things guitar pros recommended:
2.  Buy a guitar, which looks good. Each time you look at it, you want to play more. Hence, the tobacco sunburst.
3. Buy a guitar that sounds nice to you. This one really did.

It has a mellow sound. Nice for picking and does wonderfully well when you strum.

As compared to the higher end models solid wood Yamaha axes, this one can really hold its own.

I believe it is really down the laminated Spruce used on the F310’s.

Another thing you will notice, is that they are loud.

What else you get for SGD229 (on offer price)?

The “P” behind the 310 means it is package set. You get a guitar and

1.  3 pieces of Yamaha picks (Useful) ($3)
2.  Guitar strap (Yes its useful) ($10)
3. A simple non-padded bag without a sling. (This means you need to carry it in your hand) ($15)
4. Alice brand pitch pipe (not very useful as beginners you are better of using a digital tuner) ($5)
5. String winder (Yes its useful) ($3)
6. Set of gauge 12 (light) Yamaha folk strings ($6)

Final Words

This a decent guitar that weights about 3kgs, the package itself is loaded with things not really needed by a newbie guitar.

As a newbie, a few extra dollars is probably needed to setup the guitar especially to ensure the setup is low enough to make it easy on the fingers.

I recommend brands like Epiphone, which has great playability off the box.

Product Review 1: Brooks Adrenaline GTX

It's been awhile since I had this pair of shoes but I did not have a good chance of testing them out.
Until recently when I have to take them out on a hike and a really long walk in the park.

Why I Needed it?

I been trying to get a decent pair of shoes (or boots) for hiking.
One of the downside of hiking shoes is weight and they are not the best if you decide to run. In other words the hiking footwear provide the grip, stability and support you need but minus the speed and weight.
So if you want something light and fast, then trail running shoes would be fine except for not having waterproof material like Goretex.
If you used any old running shoes on muddy terrain, you get mud seeping through and that will lead to dirty socks and blisters.


First Look


The shoes are called Brooks Adrenaline GTX (Medium)
I am not sure what the medium means though.
I got mine at local sports store. They are not cheap. It goes for SGD 189 but as the store is getting rid of their older models it was selling at SGD 90. The size Euro 44 or UK 9 normal width (D). Don't ask what "D" stands for either.
It feels true to its size. So you don't need to get a size smaller or larger to match exactly to your feet. So good news for online shoppers.








The sole looks fantastic and designed something for the military rather than sports.

The color I got here is called lava red. Sort of "orangey" like red. They also come in green.

Like any other shoes this one also needs some break in. A few runs should do the trick.

For night runners or hikers, you will be glad to know the designers added reflective strips for the shoes.

I don't know how useful is it but it doesn't hurt.









I love the cushioning and it is comfortable for wide feet. I was a little worried about the depth of my feet inside the shoes. It seemed rather shallow. You probably notice that most running shoes have that sort of deep foot placing especially for the heels. Well this one doesn't but I don't feel any affect when Iuse them.

But the reason why I bought these shoes is the waterproof Goretex feature. It protects the feet from mud and water that tries to seep through.





Goretex is widely used for waterproofing most hiking apparel and footwear. Waterproof would not be the most correct technical term as nothing is waterproof, rather water resistant.

However, I been warned by store assistants that Goretex can be hot on your feet for tropical climates and I soon found out how hot it really can get.






Performance

I first tried them on a rainy day. I walked on tar pavement, cement pavement and then over a sewer lid and whoops I almost slipped. To be fair most shoes might of made you slip on a metallic sewer lid and these are not your urban walking shoes. The Goretex does keep your feet dry and warm even though it was raining.

After a few runs, I brought these shoes out for a hike on a muddy trail. Mud did not seep through. Hiking in these made the hike a lot more fun. It can easily out run hikers in hiking shoes. Grip is excellent (thanks to the military like shoes threads) and definitely no slipping here. There was some slight abrasion on my toes. I wasn't sure if it was from these shoes.

Final test was a walk in a park (literally) on a really sunny day. I was walking mostly on a tar pavement. The Goretex which was meant to keep your feet dry may actually cause them to sweat more. I was wearing thick sports socks and in the heat, my feet was begging me to remove these shoes. After the entire walk for at least 3 hours or more I found a blister on my toe.


Conclusion

I like these shoes. They are light, fast and I think I made a good choice over hiking shoes. The Goretex delivers but it can be a double edge sword. I found that wearing shoes inserts and thick socks makes the shoes unnecessarily tight and gives your the top of your toes some form of minor abrasions.

I now wear these with thinner socks, without any inserts and avoid long runs on tar pavement.

I notice another thing is that the shoelaces easily comes undone. More of an irritation than a major flaw. But I guess serious runners would not agree with me on that.

Pros

• Goretex delivers but do wear socks that wicks away sweat fast.
• Grip is great.
• Performance up-to expectation for off road.
• No issues even for high arch feet.
• Lighter than hiking shoes.

Cons

• Limited color choice.
• Goretex can make your feet sweat.
• It is hard on tar pavement, if you have to run (or walk) for long hours.
• Constant shoelace tying.
• Retail price may match a pair of hiking shoes or boots.