I reviewed the Dainese Trailknit Pro-Armour Pants Winter on end of season trips to Les Menuires in the Three Valleys, and Soldeu in Andorra.
As a snowboarder, I can certainly see the virtues of having knee protection. Beginner snowboarders can expect to fall down a lot; it is part of the process. For this reason, I would recommend knee protection, wrist protection and padded shorts.
But it doesn’t matter how advance you are at snowboarding, you can still unexpectedly catch an edge or not quite stomp a landing.
My problem with knee protectors is that I can never get them to stay in position as they keep slipping down. It is a complete faff having to pull them up to make sure they are in the right place.
With the Dainese Trailknit Pro-Armour Pants Winter this was not a problem. Because the pads are integrated with the base layer pants, they always remain in place.
When I first put them on I thought that the pads may feel stiff and awkward when riding, but this fear proved unfounded as they fit well and are very comfortable. They are also unobtrusive under ski trousers.
Although I didn’t take any hard slams, I felt that the pads would protect my knees if I did. Even when just kneeling on them, I felt that they were a lot more comfortable than just kneeling on hard-packed snow.
The armoured base layer pants also come with hip protection pads, but I removed these as I already had protection shorts and these would interfere.
But this is another great feature as you can choose what protection to include or leave out, because the pads are easily removable as they simply slot into place. This made the pants easy to wash as I simply took out the padding.
The added bonus is that the Dainese Trailknit Pro-Armour Pants Winter also act as a base layer. I wore them under Helly Hansen Cargo Pants and found this to be a perfect combo, as I felt warm at all times despite the bitter cold Andorran wind that whips through the valleys.
The recommend price of £127.50 is a bit pricey, but I have noticed that you can get them for greatly discounted prices from such sites as snowinn.com. Just google!
Overall, the Dainese Trailknit Pro-Armour Pants Winter is a simple but effective product that would be suitable for all levels of snowboarders.
Review Summary
Gender: Unisex
Good for: Skiing and Snowboarding
Price: £127.50
Rating: 9 out of 10