THE FENTO STORY

Geert Kaal and René van Rijn are the founders of FENTO KNEE PROTECTION. They developed FENTO’s knee protectors together.

In the year 2000 sailmaker René van Rijn went to his doctor with chronic knee complaints.He was referred to Geert Kaal, physiotherapist and specialized in knee and back complaints. After ten treatments, René’s knee problems disappeared, but after 3 months he returned with exactly the same physical symptoms.

But now so bad that he could no longer work on his knees. René had already bought and tested several knee protectors, but nothing helped him to prevent his knee and back problems. This was the moment he asked Geert: “Can you help me develop a knee protector with which I can continue working?” After studying the “knee position” dozens of people were put into the “form-foam” to find the right ergonomic shape. From this, several prototypes were made and tested by various ‘knee sitters’ such as carpet layers, parquet layers, tilers and construction workers.

The idea was born, we have to develop a knee protector where the pressure is not only on the knee but is also distributed on the lower leg. In addition, it must be lightweight, breathable, and water-resistant. Five years later, the first model was ready for the market. We rented the smallest stand at the fair and after two days we were sold out. The rest is history…We now have more than 500,000 satisfied users in more than 10 countries. We still enjoy the ride every day and are very ambitious to further expand FENTO internationally.