need advice on how to grip a slick paddle shaft

[feet]

Hockey tape is what I use and I just build calluses on my hands. Early in the season Ill get blisters from the tape, but that is common and I just work through it. 

I played and coached baseball for a number of year and this is about as second nature as it gets for me.  I'll have to try the surf wax. Maybe itll be a little less sticky than pine tar. 

[stvandev]

If the shaft has a gloss finish, use a scotch brite pad and take the gloss finish off.  Removing the gloss finish in the grip area has all but solved any hand slipping issues even when really sweating.  Take it slow with the pad, it's surprising how quick you can get the gloss finish off.  No messy tape or wax to maintain and replace.

[michaelkelleydesign]

I had the same issue and started using surf board wax. It worked OK but it also gummed up and got all over the deck of my board (I tend to fall off a lot). The solution I found was
to spray a 12" section of the shaft with a light coat of Monster Paint. Tape off the section to be sprayed and wrap newspaper around the rest of the shaft. Then use 220 or finer sandpaper to rough up the section. Then spray 1 or 2 coats of Monster Paint on the area and let dry. Take off the tape and newspaper and your'e good to go. This might be too rough for some people but I like it. This technique was recommended to me by someone from Quick Blade.

[PonoBill]

I have never tried it as i have never had the problem but wondered about it many times, you could try masking a area up and wiping a very small amount of surf epoxy on the shaft and then wrapping a pice of peel ply around it and pulling it off when its dry, it will leave a nice textured surface that could be sanded to obtain the desired grip. You could probably use any sort of nylon fabric and get a good result, if you find the right fabric you should be able to basically obtain a star touch finnish so worth experimenting. It would all so be clear and not look quite so bad as sports tape and last for a log time.

Instead of peel ply, find an old VHS tape and break the cassette open. Spread on a little epoxy and then wrap on the mylar tape, pulling fairly hard. Overlap each wrap about 3/4 of the tape. Presto--instant Ke Nalu texture.

[pdxmike]

I use hockey tape, and it gets fine (non-sticky) after a while. 


Once there was a thread where people were making immature comments about gripping shafts, and it got me thinking--I was wondering (seriously) if you cut the end off a condom, couldn't you slip it over the handle and place it wherever you wanted on the shaft?  Use ribbed for more grip.  Not lubricated.  If you didn't like it, you could move it or take it off with no glue residue to worry about.  I tried it with a spare one I had but of course with my size it just slid down the shaft and fell off the blade end, but I bet it would work with a medium or large. 

[southwesterly]

 I went this entire thread without any type of "shaft" joke. Too easy I figured. I really thought we were all above that.
That was until pdxmike was given a perfect softball post about wrapping your shaft. I know how he feels. Couldn't help himself.

That's good, because all this time I thought he didn't know jack.

[PonoBill]

I forgot to mention that you pull the VHS tape off after the epoxy hardens. I wouldn't want people out in the surf with Ishtar wrapped on their shaft.

[pdxmike]

I went this entire thread without any type of "shaft" joke. Too easy I figured. I really thought we were all above that.
That was until pdxmike was given a perfect softball post about wrapping your shaft. I know how he feels. Couldn't help himself.

That's good, because all this time I thought he didn't know jack.

Hey, I was serious!  I still think it could work well.  It could also work for covering up the holes in an adjustable paddle so you don't get the whistling noise in wind.


And I don't know Jack, but I do know his Russian cousin, Jackov. 

[blueplanetsurf]

I don't like to use wax, it does not stay where you need it and becomes useless after about an hour of paddling.  It also gets all over your gear and car.  Light wet sanding with fine grit sandpaper works well to take the slippery polished finish off, just don't sand too much.  If you want more grip, we offer this micro grip tape that is very grippy without being tacky or causing blisters.  There is a video on how to apply it on this page as well:
http://blueplanetsurf.com/products/blue-planet-paddle-micro-grip