The majority of the Lake Country HDO Pads were primarily tested with a variety of Rupes dual action polishers, with most of the evaluation involved with the use of my Rupes Cordless (iBrid) Mini Polisher.

I started out with the Lake Country (original) CCS pads, which are not strong enough for my current polishers (Rupes DA).  But for the Porter Cable, the original CCS pads provided a solid all around experience for me.  Lake Country made a variation of their HDO pad design, which I also use for polishing.  The Lake Country CCS pads brought back a little bit of nostalgia.  For the most part I will be comparing the Lake Country Orange HDO CCS pad to my Rupes Yellow pad for refinement and one step polishing.

Introducing the Lake Country Orange HDO CCS pad.

Not to discourage you from reading the content of this article, I enjoyed the Orange polishing, Black finishing, and Blue compound/correcting pads.  Although I do have a good variety of pads for my dual action polishers, for 1 step correction and finishing, the Rupes Yellow pads have been my most used pad type.  I suspect this pad is likely one of the most popular pads in the detailing industries.  My focus will be on the Orange pad.  In short it will at the least be an equal contributor in cases where I would otherwise use my Rupes Yellow pad.

What we have primarily wanted to see, one example of my findings of comparably good results with this pad.  My goals were just to provide an enhancement polish.

Durability wise, this has surprised me.  Initially considering how they arrived in terms of craftsmanship I was not overtly impressed.  Part of the foam (assuming the way it was cut) was slightly out of place.  I can’t rule out a variation in performance based on the pad received.  But after several washes and uses, they continue to perform on par with my Rupes pads.  The negatives (optics) of the first impression and the positives of its appearance in the long term deserve mention.

Where it provides a unique complementary advantage to the Rupes is its size.  The Rupes pads for example that fit a 3-inch backing plate, essentially extend to 4 inches at an angle.  This makes the Lake Country HDO CCS pads more ideal for tighter area polishing, particularly with 3-inch polishers.

The classic CCS design of these pads contributes to keeping panels cool and allows for an extended working time.  Over time, I have noticed the temperature control being good compared to some other pad options.  This is a benefit to seeing consistently good results, as well as the safety of the paint.  This was noticeable when using foam blue pads for compounding in a two-step polishing process.  Additional polishing does put more stress on the paint.  With the cooling benefit, it makes my job easier.

The price point for the Lake Country HDO CCS pads currently is better than the Rupes pads as well.  Although the Rupes pads cover a slightly larger area.  This is due to ofcourse to the beveled edge design of the Rupes pads.

The one drawback to the Lake Country HDO CCS pads was a slight drop off in vibration control with the Rupes polishers. I believe the drop off was greater than with the traditional Lake Country HDO pads, which I also use.  I found the most noticeable difference in comfort came with paring the CCS pads to the cordless 3-inch Rupes Polisher.  This should not come as a complete surprise to many users of the Rupes dual action polishers.  With respect to ergonomics, the polishers are optimized for comfort with Rupes pads.   The drop off in user experience was not dramatic at all.  But it was noticeable enough for this to be noted.