Clear Tape or Sock Tape for Shin Pads?

Your shin pads sit under your socks, and they need to stay put when you skate, fall and block shots. That is the job of shin pad tape, sold as clear tape and as coloured sock tape.

Clear and sock tape are the same material

Both are stretchy plastic tapes, not cloth.

• Renfrew Pro makes its Polyflex shin pad tape from moisture-resistant polyethylene. It says the tape is durable, tears by hand, and has elasticity and memory. It sells Polyflex in clear and in colours.
• Howies describes its clear tape as high-grade polyethylene that conforms to the contours of your shin pad and leg and stretches with your muscles.

Howies’ shin pad tape is listed by one retailer at 1 inch wide and 30 yards long. Renfrew Pro sells a mixed season pack with white and black cloth stick tape plus 10 rolls of Polyflex clear.

Clear vs coloured: how to choose

	Clear	Coloured (sock tape)
Material	Polyethylene	Polyethylene
Job	Holds pads and socks	Holds pads and socks
Look	Nearly invisible	Matches or contrasts with your socks
Best for	Any sock colour	Matching a team or sock colour

The choice is about looks. Both hold the same way.

Why not use stick tape?

Cloth stick tape is a different product. It is woven cloth with a rubber-based adhesive, made to grip a stick and a puck. Shin pad tape is made to stretch with your leg. Howies says its clear tape stretches with your muscles, and Renfrew Pro says Polyflex has elasticity and memory.

How to tape shin pads

The tape types page sums up the basics:

1. Put the pads on and pull the socks over them.
2. Wrap over the sock, not on bare skin.
3. Wrap snug, not tight. You want the pad held, not your leg squeezed.
4. Use a few turns where the pad tends to slide. Add more only if it still moves.
5. Cut it off after the game rather than trying to unwind it.

Safety note

Never wrap so tight that it pinches, tingles or leaves your foot cold. If you feel numbness, cut it off and rewrap looser. When you cut tape off your leg, use blunt-tipped scissors and keep the blade pointed away from your skin.

Keep a roll in your bag

Shin pad tape is used every game and cut off afterwards, so it goes faster than you think. Keep a spare roll with your stick tape. Store it somewhere it will not get crushed or overheated, like your other tape.

For the full list of tape types, see cloth vs grip vs clear vs sock tape.