Cho-pat cha***e

imported
#1

Hey all.
I recently ordered myself a cho-pat after hearing such good things about it, the kind that’s just one strap under the patella. I wore it around for about 30 minutes before the velcro rubbed a blister into the back of my knee. Has anyone else had this problem, know a way to fix it, or can recommend any other similar products that don’t chafe? I don’t wanna pay the return shipping! I made sure both sides of the velcro were well lined-up, but even so the edges of the velcro on the top rub pretty badly when I bend my knee. Help!
mle

mle

#2

huh, why did my subject get asterisked out? is cha***e a dirty word? maybe it means something different than i think it means.
anyway. the above query stands unchanged.
mle

mle

#3

chaffe, chaffe, chaffe, chafe, aff, add, etc.

probe

#4

I’ve been using the Dual-Action model - strap above and below the patella, velcro in front. A bit more expensive. No chafing trouble. No knee trouble.

Dioko

#5

thanks dioko. i decided not to use the dual-action because i don’t really need that level of support, just a little help for those painful downhills…

mle

#6

Just curious, but, you diagnosed a knee problem by seeing what others have said about their knees ??? Please tell me your orthopaedic doctor suggested a specific type of brace for your problem,and you decided on cho-pat brand for that brace.If not please do so before wearing it again,the blister may have saved you some real pain. Oo

Onlyone

#7

I just tied 2 simple long socks under both knees and that did the trick .

french connection

#8

I actually tried that, tying a long sock under my knee, because I was mid-way through a long section and was desperate, literally hobbling on the downhills. Unfortunately, it didn’t help.

I’d run into Del Doc that trip in '02, and he suggested tying my stream-soaked banadana under the knee cap to get me to my car. Unfortunately, that didn’t help either.

I’ve tried every brace out there subsequently, and the one that permits me to hike is the ChoPat Dual Action. It keeps my kneecap tracking when my quads tire, as they often do on a section when I am not thruhiker fit.

I agree with having your knee checked out, but testing a $25 brace that keeps you kneecap aligned is a whole lot cheaper than a doctor’s visit. If it solves the problem, fine. If it doesn’t, keep looking and not a whole lot of money lost. If you’ve torn something and need surgery, a brace won’t change anything - you’ll know it.

My support needs were definitily a fitness issue. Although I am lean (or rather, WAS - now I am “leanish” LOL!), the up and down of trails puts a strain on my leg muscles that normal life or even “the gym” doesn’t. After a few weeks of hiking, I can leave the brace off for hours at a time, putting it on in the morning to warm up my joints, and then putting it on again later in the day. But it’s a companion with me on all my section hikes now, even strenuous day hikes.

You do strengthen out of the ChoPat, which was one of my worries - would a brace further weaken supporting structures? I can answer, an unqualified “No!”

By Catawba,VA on my thru, I had shipped one of the ahead with my winter gear to the Whites, and kept the other for emergencies. But I rarely used it. However, once in the Whites, with the step-and-lift of hiking there, I REALLY was glad of them. And you couldn’t argue I wasn’t walking fit - just not fit for the new demands of the fabulous and demanding “trail” there.

If there was a cheaper brace, or a knockoff that would work I would certainly tout it. This is just the only thing that has worked for me.

Jan LiteShoe

#9

Are you folks using the ChoPat to help problems directly within the knee or for those nasty (tendons?) on the outside of the knee (my issue)? I can draw a straight line from dead center of the knee (or slightly below) to the outside (90 degrees from dead center) where, on long/steep downhills (>3000 ft), my pain will often start. Does the ChoPat help with this? (and which do you suggest - the single or dual-action?). Thanks!!

OregonHikerDave