Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => Gear Talk => Topic started by: DaddyDog on July 14, 2007, 02:18:13 PM
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Folks, I taped the edge of my paddle with Columbia vinyl black electiral tape. This is the cheap stuff, the really cheap stuff, I bought it to do tapeoffs on 10 minute epxoy ding jobs. It formed nicely to the paddle and seem to be solution to reduce rail dings. We'll see how it wears, and if this becomes a daily taping job, in which case it's a non starter. Like I told my wife, we're putting 3.5 cents worth of tape on a $400 paddle. She said "as long as it doesn't hurt my performance" -- she's a smart lady! Seems to work. I ask a guy in the shop what to use, and he said there is something from auto parts, but he wasn't able to recall exaclty what is was. He implied that it was self adhering. Any ideas on what would be better?
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I will pass on a tip from one Wardog of http://surfingsports.com/ (http://surfingsports.com/). Go with Mastik tape (for now). This is an ultra durable, stretchy tape that is great for board and paddle protection. It is thicker and, IMO, more protective than electrical tape, and effects performance less than the self adhesive automobile door piping (trim).
It does detract a bit from the crisp release of the paddle, and it will leave black marks (easily removeable) on your rails.
I think (hope) paddle manufacturers will address this issue better in the future with flexible paddle blade edges, like those found on safety fins.
Best,
Randy
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Folks, I taped the edge of my paddle with Columbia vinyl black electiral tape. This is the cheap stuff, the really cheap stuff, I bought it to do tapeoffs on 10 minute epxoy ding jobs. It formed nicely to the paddle and seem to be solution to reduce rail dings. We'll see how it wears, and if this becomes a daily taping job, in which case it's a non starter. Like I told my wife, we're putting 3.5 cents worth of tape on a $400 paddle. She said "as long as it doesn't hurt my performance" -- she's a smart lady! Seems to work. I ask a guy in the shop what to use, and he said there is something from auto parts, but he wasn't able to recall exaclty what is was. He implied that it was self adhering. Any ideas on what would be better?
The auto part you want is the door edging used to prevent dings in parking lots. I found some super soft black door edging that works great. It comes with self stick tape built inside it. Push it over the edge and it sticks well. I'm using it down the sides of my paddle blade only. I am not cover the bottom edge. I think the blade feels better paddling without edging on the bottom. The blade enters and exits the water cleaner. At least, it feels that way to me anyway.
It protects better than tape for sure. It looks better too.
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Not sure about perfomance hinderance but you can get this stuff from Infinity... (scroll to the bottom of the page)
www.infinitysurfboard.com/stand-up-paddle/
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Not sure about perfomance hinderance but you can get this stuff from Infinity... (scroll to the bottom of the page)
www.infinitysurfboard.com/stand-up-paddle/
But its not a dollar a foot at an auto supply store, look for door edging
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I really like how the mastic tape is working out. I've paddled with it on my board for awhile now and the 1st application is still holding strong. 1 roll of tape was enough to put two layers on two paddles. The tape is $4.50/roll at home depot.
I don't even notice the difference in paddle feel. Two layers stretched tight creates an edge about 1/32" thick.
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Man I wish we had prices like you do in the mainland. Mastic here at Home Depot is $10 a roll.
I've tried a number of remedies for the edge of my paddle. So far the most protective is the Infinity Surf edge stuff http://www.standuppaddlesurf.net/2007/09/27/save-your-rails-on-your-stand-up-paddle-surfboard/ but you do feel the drag on your blade. It's easy to put on and cheap so you can take it off and dump it if needed.
Electric tape on the edge is the cheapest and so far has worked ok for me. I think with a hard whack it's not enough to prevent a ding or chip but it is not noticeable on the blade during my stroke.
I just put on mastic tape on one of my paddles. The stuff is pretty darn thick. I'm not sure how much it affect the blade stroke because I haven't used that paddle yet and probably won't because it's a shorter one for others to use. I tested it a bit by banging it on my wall and ground and it seems to be a pretty good shock absorber.
http://www.standuppaddlesurf.net/2007/10/23/mastic-tape-stand-up-paddle-protector/
http://www.standuppaddlesurf.net/2007/10/09/standup-surf-tip-cheap-paddle-protector/
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I put the mastik. I stretched it to half it's size when I applied it and it works great. No drag that I can feel.
Aloha
Byron
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I'll try stretching the mastik tape on my son's paddle.
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Set tape at shaft and pull it towards blade. As tape is stretching set on blade and continue stretching. I Had the blade between my legs to get best effect. Hopefully this makes sense.
Aloha
Byron
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Thanks Byron. I think the trick is to stretch it out really well. I didn't stretch it on the first paddle and got a lot of bunching around the bottom corners and base of the blade. The second one has no bunching and is less thick. I saw online that normal electric tape is 7 mil thick and mastic tape is 65 mil thick...big difference. I wonder if it comes off easily or if it's permanently stuck. The glue seems really sticky.
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Mine has been on for a month with no probs. Sometimes I use the paddle to check how shallow the water is.
Aloha
Byron
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Stretching is definitely the key. I stretched the 1st layer almost to the breaking point. I started on the shaft and did the whole blade and then 1" of the shaft on the other side. The second layer I didn't stretch as tight. It completely overlapped the 1st. I then put a couple of wraps around the shaft. It's almost bullet proof. No dings since doing it and I can't feel it.
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Stone how does 2 layers feel? I did one layer.
Aloha
Byron
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Electrical tape is good enough for me.
$400 paddle? You got to be kidding me... what is it, gold with a diamond as a handle?
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Electrical tape is good enough for me.
$400 paddle? You got to be kidding me... what is it, gold with a diamond as a handle?
Nope its not gold but if everyone keeps using carbon fiber for everything then maybe it could cost that much in the future. On a serious note the mastik seems to have a better deflection then electrical tape imo. The electrical tape tends to unravel faster if you hit the side of the board or the ground. I would rather do the taping once with mastik then have to apply electrical tape all the time.
Aloha
Byron
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2 layers feels fine to me. You can feel the difference from a bare paddle but I don't think it's a bad change. Seems like it may grab water slightly more on the stroke.
I'm thinking of shaping the edges of the paddles I'm making to account for the mastic. If you do a careful job of putting it on it doesn't look bad either.