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Buying guides

News, buying guides and gear reviews. Our scores and verdicts are only published after field testing.

Illustration of a lineman in a three-point stance seen from the side, with helmet, shoulder pads, one gloved hand on the ground and studded cleats Buying guides

Lineman football gear: gloves, cleats and pads

Padded gloves, high-cut cleats, line-cut shoulder pads and the protection worn under the pants: the lineman's kit and the rules that govern it.

 Illustration of football shoulder pads seen from behind on a green disc, with an orange padded roll wrapped around the back of the neck opening Buying guides

The football neck roll, and what it is really for

What a football neck roll actually does, what manufacturers and the medical literature claim, and what the rules demand of anything attached to shoulder pads.

 Illustration of a leg in profile: the match pant stops above the knee, a knee-high sock covers the calf with its top band in orange, and the foot is inside a studded cleat Buying guides

Football sock height: what the rules require and what they leave to you

No rulebook sets a football sock height. What actually decides it: the team uniformity rule, where your pants stop, and the knit inside the cleat.

 Illustration of two football sleeves side by side: a padded arm sleeve with an orange pad at the elbow and a plain compression leg sleeve Buying guides

Football Arm and Leg Sleeves: What They Actually Do

Compression sleeve, padded arm sleeve or leg sleeve: what the manufacturers claim, which one carries a safety standard, and what the uniform rules allow.

 Illustration of a mouthguard, upper arch seen from above, resting on a flag football belt with its two flags Buying guides

Choosing a mouthguard for flag football

Flag football mouthguards: required or only recommended depending on your federation, the colour rule, the 1.25 cm limit and which models work without a tether.

 Illustration of a football helmet in profile next to three cheek pads of increasing thickness set against the inside of a shell, the thickest in orange Buying guides

Football helmet jaw pads and liners: when to replace them

Jaw pads, crown pad, front pad: the checks Riddell, Schutt and Xenith publish, the replacement thicknesses on sale and the rules on factory parts.

 Illustration of a football helmet in profile with its orange facemask lifted off the two bare mounting points on the shell Buying guides

How to change a football facemask

Removing and refitting a football facemask: NOCSAE compatibility, clips, screws and T-nuts, the Xenith tightening order, hardware kits and recertification.

 Illustration of an American football stand-up tackling dummy tilting on its base next to a hand shield with an orange striking face Buying guides

Football tackling drills: contact levels and the kit behind them

Football tackling drills explained: what the targeting rule forbids, the five USA Football contact levels and the kit that lets players work without a partner.

 Illustration of a white football helmet in profile fitted with an orange soft shell cover over the crown Buying guides

Guardian Cap: what a soft football helmet cover does

Guardian Cap explained: the reductions measured by Virginia Tech, the NFL practice mandate, what NOCSAE says about add-ons and the flag football case.

 Illustration of a low-cut moulded football cleat on the grass, beside a flag on its pop socket Buying guides

Flag football cleats: what the rulebooks actually allow

Flag football cleats: the 1.25 cm limit in the IFAF, FFFA and AFVD rulebooks, why moulded studs win, and which sole suits grass, turf, indoor courts or sand.