I guess my point was more that if it's hot out, I'm gonna ride trails that don't necessitate pads. Dial the ride back a bit.

X3 or whatever on leatt's being good for thin palms. I have had the palms rip, although on the whole I wouldn't call them less durable than any other option. They're a bit spendy though.

Also...

Yup. Accurate. Knee pads when temps are reasonable, none when it's hot.

When people say "pads," I assume that means knee pads, since I don't know a single person that regularly rides with any...

What BS am I making up?

I said I don't wear pads when it's hot out and you got all worked up about it. I wear knee pads when it's not hot, or when I'm riding lifts / shuttling. I don't wear...

I'll take stitches once or twice over wearing elbow pads ever. Fuck those things.

Coming up on 30 years of never wearing elbow pads and no stitches needed yet.

So you wear full armor all the time, even if you're doing a mellow ride?

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

I generally don't bother with any pads above 85° or so unless I'm hitting something sketchy.

The point of protection is to minimize discomfort in the event of a...

Buy cheap. Replace often.

Unless you want a pretty hot glove, I don't think a durable option exists.