Comparing IPF Approved Powerlifting Knee Sleeves

You’ve probably seen other athletes sporting powerlifting knee sleeves if you’ve been around the sport for any length of time. So what do they do? Knee sleeves serve to provide knee joint support for lifters, particularly for the squat. Besides helping to prevent injury, the extra support provided by knee sleeves can also boost performance.

One might think that knee sleeves might not be meet-legal given the performance boost, but they are in fact able to be used in raw competitions. We will be focusing on IPF approved powerlifting knee sleeves in this article. While you can, of course, get functional knee sleeves that aren’t on the approved gear list we’d rather kill two birds with one stone to get sleeves that will work for both training and competition.

In the table below you’ll find a quick comparison of a handful of popular IPF approved powerlifting knee sleeves. All of them are made of 7mm thick neoprene, the maximum allowed thickness per IPF regulations. Although they all have the same basic shape and are made of the same material, they do have differentiating factors that can decide which is the best fit for any given lifter. Read on below the table to get more details to this end.

Note: Some of the IPF-approved gear manufacturers take a bit of notice to ship out orders, so I’ve included a column for sleeves that are also available on Amazon for quick shipping. If you happen to find this article useful and make a purchase on Amazon, I’ll get a small commission.

Comparing Popular IPF Approved Powerlifting Knee Sleeves

A Closer Look At A Few Powerlifting Knee Sleeves

Hopefully the chart was useful in getting a brief overview of some of the options for IPF approved powerlifting knee sleeves. Below we’ll go into more detail about a few of those options to further help you narrow down which sleeves will work best for you.

Rehband 7mm Knee Sleeves

Rehband 7mm Knee Sleeves have earned high praise from lifters. Among the positive feedback notes are that these sleeves are extremely supportive and provide a good degree of warmth. Many times over lifters stated that these sleeves keep knees comfortable and warm for squats.

The neoprene body and seams of these sleeves are also high quality to make them durable for repeated use.

On the other hand, there is some negative feedback for these sleeves with lifters who say they don’t stay in place as much as they’d like. While quite a few lifters noted that the sleeves stay put well, other lifters had trouble with the sleeves sliding down the knee and bunching up. Make sure you size correctly to minimize the chance of this happening if you’re considering these sleeves.

One thing to be aware of if you’re ordering off of Amazon is that these sleeves are sold as a single, not as a pair. A little annoying, but just be sure to double check when placing your order.

Slingshot Knee Sleeves

The Slingshot Knee Sleeves run in the middle of the pack as far as cost for IPF approved powerlifting knee sleeves.

Reports are in that say these sleeves offer lifters good support and warmth. They are also available in black, red, and pink to give you some style choice, a feature not offered in many of the IPF approved models.

On the downside, there are some complaints of the sleeves not holding up well to repeated use. Specifically, there are issues with the seams getting loose and, in some cases, tearing after a few months of regular use.

Another note to be aware of is that lifters say these sleeves fit larger than specified.

SBD Knee Sleeves

Loads of lifters have a love affair with SDB gear, and the SDB Knee Sleeves are no different.

They are constructed from high quality 7mm neoprene and work exactly as they should to provide both support and warmth for lifters. These sleeves also feature reinforced seam construction to make sure they hold up over time.

Lifters rave about the comfort level, durability, and quality of these powerlifting knee sleeves.

As another bonus, they usually ship from SBD USA within 24 hours of an order so you can get them quickly.

The only negative comment that really came up was for a small number of lifters the fit was too large around the knee.