187 Killer Pads vs S1 Knee Pads
Seven skaters in our compilation wear one of the two, and none compares them: four wear 187 Killer Pads (Bonnie Thunders, Scald Eagle, Snot Rocket Science, Shove), three wear S1 (Satan’s Little Helper, Caro Hernandez, Tia Pitman). 187 is the older derby choice in our lists and the one sold on Amazon; S1 is what newer park riders sponsored by S1 wear. For a beginner, the sources point to basic pads first and pro pads later.
Gear on this page: four knee pads — 187 Killer Pads Pro (Large and XL), 187 Killer Pads Pro Derby and Triple Eight KP 22. They are optional, the page works without them, and the links to them are Amazon affiliate links.
Amazon prices were read on the listing on 7 October 2026, for the size and colour Amazon shows by default; other sizes and colours can cost more or less. Price and availability are set by Amazon and can change.
The two brands side by side
| 187 Killer Pads | S1 (S-One) | |
|---|---|---|
| Models named by skaters | 187 Gel (Thunders), Pro Derby (Scald Eagle), 187 x Moxi “thick set” (Shove), brand only (Snot Rocket Science) | Pro Gen 4 (Caro Hernandez), Gen 4 Pro (Tia Pitman), brand only (Satan’s Little Helper) |
| From the Amazon listings | Pro Knee Pad, Large and XL; Pro Derby with a removable cap (“Lock In Cap”) and removable washable foam, up to XXX-Large | Not found on Amazon.com on 7 October 2026 |
| Use | Derby; park and street (Shove) | Bowl, park, street; derby (Satan’s Little Helper) |
| Who wears them | Bonnie Thunders, Scald Eagle, Snot Rocket Science, Shove | Satan’s Little Helper, Caro Hernandez, Tia Pitman |
| Sponsor link | Shove’s video is on Moxi’s channel and the set is a 187 x Moxi collab; no sponsor stated for the other three | Caro and Tia ride for S1, and their lists come from S1’s blog |
What each skater wears
Seven voices, no head-to-head: nobody in our sources has tried both and said which is better. The 187 lists are older derby gear lists; the S1 lists are newer and come partly from the S1 blog.
187 Killer Pads
- Bonnie Thunders (often called the greatest player of modern derby; 8 WFTDA titles) wore 187 Gel knee pads in 2010 (WFTDA gear list, Aug 2010).
- Scald Eagle (WFTDA champion 2015 and 2016, Team USA) wore 187 Pro Derby knee pads, with Reebok hockey elbow pads (WFTDA gear list, 1 Oct 2015).
- Snot Rocket Science (Team USA 2011 and 2014) listed 187 pads (WFTDA gear list, 4 Oct 2016).
- Shove (“Fat Girl Has Moxie”, quad skater on street and ramps, ex-derby, former Moxi team, over 350 lb by her own account) says pads above 2XL are hard to find and names one range that fits her, the 187 x Moxi thick set (Moxi, 5 Mar 2021).
S1
- Satan’s Little Helper (Raquel Davila, three straight titles with the Arizona Derby Dames, international coach) wore S-One knee pads and helmet (WFTDA gear list, 10 Jun 2016).
- Caro Hernandez (Colombian bowl skater, ex-derby; S1 among her sponsors) wears S1 Pro Gen 4 knee pads (S1 blog, 6 Dec 2021).
- Tia Pitman (winner of Concrete Waves 2023; Chuffed and S1 rider) wears S1 Gen 4 Pro knee pads (S1 blog, 3 Nov 2023).
Outside these two brands: Jackie Daniels wore Triple Eight pads (WFTDA, 1 Mar 2010), Swede Hurt wore DeadBolt (WFTDA, 18 Aug 2016).
Which one for a beginner
No skater names a knee pad for a first purchase. What the sources say about beginners: Slam (founder of Chuffed Skates) suggests basic pads to start and high-end pads for heavy park use, neither too tight nor slipping (Chuffed, 18 Aug 2022); Estro Jen tells park beginners to learn to fall onto their knee pads (Estro Jen, 9 Jan 2021). Both brands here are pro-level pads; a cheaper hard-cap pad is the “basic” step Slam describes. If you need sizes above XL, Shove’s point stands: check the size range before anything else.
From the skater behind this site
- Knee pads change what falling means: with them you can drop forward on purpose instead of fighting to stay up, and a chosen fall stops a wobble before it becomes a real fall. At the start every pad matters, with no order of importance.
The products we could check on Amazon
| Model | Price seen (date, where) | Who it is for | Linked skater | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 187 Killer Pads Pro Knee Pad, Large | Amazon.com $135.95 (B014170ZZC), read 2026-10-07 | Derby, park | 187 brand: Thunders, Scald Eagle, Snot Rocket Science | Price; “Pro”, not the “Pro Derby” Scald Eagle wore |
| 187 Killer Pads Pro Knee Pad, XL | Amazon.com $135.95 (B014171092), read 2026-10-07 | Larger knees | Same | Same |
| 187 Killer Pads Pro Derby, XXX-Large | Amazon.com $137.99 (B01N5QEW72, “only 2 left”), read 2026-10-07 | Bigger skaters | Scald Eagle’s model; Shove on large sizes | Not the 187 x Moxi set Shove names (not found) |
| Triple Eight KP 22 knee pads | Amazon.com $49.99 (B0000ASZ8S, “only 8 left”), read 2026-10-07 | Basic pads to start (Slam) | Triple Eight pads: Jackie Daniels | Neither 187 nor S1 |
S1 Pro Gen 4 knee pads did not come up on Amazon.com when we searched on 7 October 2026: only 187 pads did.
Beginner FAQ
Are 187 or S1 knee pads better?
Our sources do not say: none of the seven skaters compares them. Four wear 187 (Bonnie Thunders, Scald Eagle, Snot Rocket Science, Shove); three wear S1 (Satan's Little Helper, Caro Hernandez, Tia Pitman), two of them S1 riders featured on S1's blog.
Which knee pads do roller derby players wear?
In our gear lists: 187 for Bonnie Thunders, Scald Eagle and Snot Rocket Science; S-One for Satan's Little Helper; Triple Eight for Jackie Daniels; DeadBolt for Swede Hurt.
Do beginners need pro knee pads?
Slam of Chuffed Skates suggests basic pads to start and high-end pads for heavy park use; what matters is that they neither squeeze nor slip.
Where can a big skater find knee pads that fit?
Shove, who skates at over 350 lb, says pads above 2XL are rare and often custom; the one range she names is the 187 x Moxi thick set. On Amazon we found 187 Pro Derby up to XXX-Large.
Can I buy S1 knee pads on Amazon?
Not on 7 October 2026: our search for S1 Pro Gen 4 returned only 187 pads.
How this page was compiled: 7 skaters named and sourced (4 on 187, 3 on S1), plus Slam and Estro Jen on beginners and two derby players outside both brands, from our skater compilation of 7 October 2026. Each claim links to its dated source. Full compilation and method: the skater gear compilation.
Read next: protective gear that actually fits · S1 vs Triple Eight vs Pro-Tec helmets · skate helmets: what top skaters wear · skates for heavier skaters · protective gear checklist · how to fall safely
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