Ex-701 Knee Support Brace Review
If you are looking for a knee support brace for any painful or inflammatory conditions that you may be suffering from it is worth spending a few minutes at to understand the scope of what can be achieved with regards to reducing and certainly adding stability to any vulnerable knees using supports that are generally made from neoprene. Firstly if you have had a major accident or severe injury and you are in acute phase of that problem you will most likely be immobilized and if surgery has been done a much more comprehensive knee brace made from hard material such as plastic, fibre glass or metal components will be used to completely isolate the knee region for the best possible rehabilitation.
Aren’t all knee braces the same?
That’s a good question and the answer is both yes and no! Yes there are a lot of knee braces or supports that are pretty similar in both design, look and how well they work, they also tend to be made in a very similar almost cookie cutter manner, the only thing differentiating many of these neoprene knee supports certainly under the $20/£15 region is just the brand and packaging that goes with it. the unfortunate thing is that it is quite difficult to see the difference between several products on online without tangibly feeling it and trying them on.
Let’s look at the EX-701 Performance Knee support Brace a knee support made with high-grade 3mm neoprene. It has been made with several advanced and clever features which do separate it from the generic products in the market in a number of ways:
1.Non Slip fitting – Sounds pretty simple, but you would be surprised at how many other brand and generic knee supports get feedback on one problem! The EX-701 has a rather unique 4-way compression system that is designed differently from other brands and products in the market. Many of the top sellers such as the top listings on amazon are based around what is known as a ‘3 strap design’ where the there are 2 large straps on the top and bottom of the support and smaller middle strap which wraps around behind the knee. If you read many of the consumer reviews on these products a common feedback is that the supports do in fact not hold themselves up and tend to slip down, this combines with feedback of poor actual functional support which makes sense since slipping and no support is conducive to improper fitting and design.
The EX-701 overcomes this because it has two dedicated large straps which secure the support, and elastic inner sleeve which again adds a snug compression but most importantly 2 smaller individual straps which combined with the other two straps and dimensions of the whole product ensure that the knee support will not slip holding firm even upon movement. An optional elastic sleeve also adds extra traction to the knee support making it easy to put on and position around the knee cap and patella for optimum fitting. For competitive people and especially athletes who are needing to either continue training through a mild or small knee problem where extra support can aid in completion of tasks or active individuals that need a knee brace to be worn for improved pain relief and function these features in the EX-701 are very welcomed. Many athletes and sports people now just how frustrating it can be to have external supports, bandages, and strapping placed on body parts which need them only for them to not stay place.
The Ex-701 is ideal for sports that require good lateral stabilisation because of the double lateral springs and the 4 way compression the user will get much more advanced bracing and can customize the level of support especially around the patella area, will be ideal for the following sports:
- skiing
- basketball
- running
- American football
- soccer
- gym
- cross fit
This will be particularly useful for people who compete or are active in skiing, basketball, running and many other sports where a lot of movement is required.
See the positive consumer feedback directly from amazon where the ex-701 can purchased:
exellent product, 1 May 2015thank you EXOUS , for a great product .
JON
excellent buy, 10 May 2015 Helped enormously on a 40 mile charity walk. My …, 10 May 2015These arrived three days earlier than expected which was excellent. I used them on a 7 mile walk …, 9 April 2015Update – I have used them on several walks of up to 10 miles since thie previous review and theyhave been excellent! I have upgraded my score from 4 to 5 as I now have the hang of fitting them so they don’t move.
2. Real functional support of the patella tendon and lateral ligaments – Quite often you need a separate patella brace for patella tendon for inflammatory issues which include tendonitis, bursitis and jumper’s knee usually consisting of a band running below the patella tendon. The design of the EX-701 does much the same as a separate patella brace because of the unique cross over smaller straps which can add fully adjustable comprehensive support of the patella. Creating a super snug fit you can not even put your fingers into the open patella buttress area unlike other product, this gives a very tight and satisfactory compression of the knee cap area helping isolate the tendon and help with tracking issues.
Another reason why the EX-701 performance knee support is an excellent choice to consider is because it has built in double flexible lateral stabilisers, this adds significant benefit to those individuals who suffer from weak knees, knees that give way and especially medial and lateral ligament weakness or injury. Because the metal springs add a level of rigidity to the lateral aspect it also has the overall effect of creating a much more sturdy brace but still very flexible and this alone is enough to really add several levels of firmness to ordinary designed neoprene supports.
3. Designed for comfort and long term use – What you will like about the EX-701 is that again the overall design works in several ways from non-slip fittings two excellent functional support two good comfort. It has a premium Lycra inner lining which protects the skin from possible irritation from exposure to neoprene, most decent brands do have some lining, some are more rudimentary such as polyester some don’t even have any, but the EX-701 knee support has a jacquard lycra inner lining which is the same material under garments are made from for the best material to be in close contact with the skin for extended periods of time. It doesn’t stop there remember those smaller 2 straps which secure the patella so well? Well they also double up by adding a comfort gap behind the knee, this does two things:
- It prevents the material piling up behind the knee which also causes irritation and over heating
- It makes it much more comfortable to bend the knee without restriction and to wear the knee support for extended periods of time
4. Lightweight and non obtrusive – When you try to combine several features such as lateral stabilsers, extra comfort linings and extra compression straps you may think the product will start becoming heavy and worse still bulky which would make wearing the product somewhat annoying and cumbersome. There are some brands out there that sell a ‘advanced level’ knee support which has many of the extra features discussed here but also with a lot of extra material and weight, typically going well over 250g to 300g per unit and tend to have a bulky profile. The EX-701 has a pleasant surprise in this department, it weighs only 175g and has a very low profile which makes it perfect for wearing under clothes and during recreational activities. the low profile and weight make it easy to use and not very restrictive when exercising and walking!
Overall the EXOUS Bodygear EX-701 performance knee support is a product that has been designed with the user in mind displaying clever and innovative features which really do make a difference vs the competition. It is unfortunately something you can’t really feel or see until you have it in your hands which is a shame, but if you do want to try something different its well worth the money priced well below some of the other brands which have many less features and even less functional support and comfort.
The unique features of the EX-701 will help in the following conditions:
Rheumatoid arthritis
Use whilst running and exercising
Patella Tendon issues
Lateral and medial ligament injuries
Swelling
Recovery from dislocation/knee replacement