Wet Hand Problem Solved

[Newell Nut]

I was fighting a big snapper a few days ago and my wet hands from bloody bait was giving me a little trouble so I decided to modify my fore grip. I had some treated trot line material that was about the right size so I wrapped a diamond pattern. Bought a piece of shrink wrap from Mudhole and heated it with a paint remover gun. Feels great now.

[Keta]

That looks nice.

[Bryan Young]

Way to make it work...and a simple resolution.

[bluefish69]

NN

It looks real nice

Mike

[Mandelstam]

Great idea! Looks nice

Karl

[Newell Nut]

Thanks Guys,
One more tip to save you a phone call to Mudhole. The material is supposed to shrink up to half the ordered diameter. But what about the length? It does not shrink in length and can be cut the length you need. I cut it with 1/8 extra on each end to be safe and sure enough, it worked perfect with 1/8 left over on each end. The part lapped on the reel seat is fine for me. The upper end was trimmed back a 1/16 and then I mixed some flexcoat to seal the top edge. Checked it this morning and it is perfect.

The shrink wrap that Mudhole sells is a very tough material and should last a very long time. Cost was $11 plus shipping.

[floating doc]

very creative solution, and I think it looks very good. I'll definitely remember this one!

[Shark Hunter]

My Rainshadow has the same set up. I wondered how they did that!

[Jeri]

Hi All,

Wet Hand Problem Solved.

Great solution to your problem, we have been using shrink grip for about 8 years now, especially on quite large diameter surf rods – an ideal solution – and light as well.

However, something that we found out early on, was that you need to glue the shrink grip to the base material. Something like a simple contact adhesive, will suffice; as the shrink grip 'eases' with time and will twist under your hands.

We use a spray version of Evostick, works fine for us – sprayed on the blank, then slide the shrink grip into place, and heat gently. The wrapping of cord underneath works fine, but again needs to be locked into place, have also used 80lb nylon line as a 'texture' element to great effect.

The last big issue with shrink grip, is that the ends do need to be sealed permanently – like a coat of 'Flexcoat' or similar – but we have found that this sometimes cracks, and then allows water in, and you are back to the original slippage problem. We now whip the ends down onto the base material, then apply resin, the threads give strength to the resin to avoid the cracking issue.

All in all a good solution to the rod handle problem, and bait covered hands. Another slightly more practical one is to have a hand towel with you – wipe hands after baiting, then you don't get bait all over your rod and reel – getting bait and oil off your favourite reel after it has been sun baked is not nice!!

Cheers from sunny Africa


Jeri

[erikpowell]

Great post Dwight    Thanks for that ! 

[harryk3616]

ya live and learn, fantastic, it's great that on this web site there are so many knowledgeable  people willing to share their experiences. beautiful

[thunnus69]

Been shrink wrapping for a couple of years both with and without butt cord underneath.  I quickly learned too that even with the resins in the shrink wrap, some epoxy under the ends (at least) and to secure the butt cord, goes a long way in preventing slippage.  I really like Jeri's idea about finishing the ends. I have found 64" lengths on ebay for cheap and have noticed no difference between these and mudhole's. Occasionally I will carve out finger holes or groves on the underside of the foregrip then shrink wrap over the handle being careful to heat slowly while pressing the shrink tube into the grooves, really works well.
Good Luck.

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

Occasionally I will carve out finger holes or groves on the underside of the foregrip then shrink wrap over the handle being careful to heat slowly while pressing the shrink tube into the grooves, really works well.

you gave me an idea! in my case, small hands, carve out a diamond pattern on the fore grip and then apply shrink wrap. just an idea though...

[Newell Nut]

I like that idea to cure a foam grip that is too big. Good thinking out of the box. I talked to my rod builder last night and he told me another idea that has been used when a grip is too skinny. Glue some shipping peanuts in various places on the skinny grip and then do a shrink wrap that squeezes them down. Lots of tricks but I sure like the diamond pattern cord wrap that I did. I used it yesterday and it felt great on a grouper and a snapper.

[Newell Nut]

Just to update you on a fishing test. The snapper pictures posted were caught on this rod with the modified grip. It worked perfect and felt nice. I also rested the front part of the grip on the rail and let the fish fight the rod while I winched. I would highly recommend this mod on any small or slick grip. The shrink wrap from Mudhole has a nice feel to it.