Paddle Wrap

Something I have struggled with from time to time is what to do with my hands on my paddle.  Specifically what, if anything, to do about modifying the grip.

The paddle that I have used for a long time is the AT2.  I love this paddle and have no real complaints about it, but sometimes my hands would slip at inopportune times.  I have tried the paddle wax, but never really liked how it felt on my hands.  Also, I was never keen on having to re-apply.  Earlier this summer I wrapped the grips of one of my paddles with medical tape.  This I found to be a huge improvement.  The texture really addressed the grip problem, but in the end I wasn't as happy as I knew I could be.  For one, the medical tape hasn't proving to be as resilient as I had hoped; and for another, the cloth tape absorbed water and actually made my hands colder in the wind.

So I went all in and conducted  a $16 experiment: bike handlebar wrap.  I walked down to Subculture Cyclery, one of the local bike shops here in Salida.  They have a really neat new building by the way, and they are all super nice and helpful.  After some minutes fondling every variety of wrap they had on offer, I finally went with the Deda Elementi brand tape.  I like it because it' is nonabsorbent and has a nice high grip rubbery like texture.  At home that night I spent not quite an hour wrapping my grips.  Starting on the blade end, I affixed the wrap with red Duct Tape and coiled it around so the tape overlapped about a third of it's width.  After I wrapped passed the bend in the paddle, I finished it off with another stopper of tape.  If you are wondering, I picked this direction so it would have slightly more texture coming in from the blade as that is how my hands would usually slip.



Consensus so far is that I really dig it!  What I hadn't expected was how much fatter it would make the hold on the paddle.  This threw me off right at first, but very soon I wasn't even noticing the change.  The very next day I took my improved paddle to Gore Canyon to really try it out, I figured I could always take it off if I didn't like it, but on it stayed.  It had been pointed out to me that the bike wrap might get a slippery or slimy texture when wet, but this turns out not to be the case, at least not with this brand.  Also, I took great care to wrap it tightly and evenly and it has so far been rock solid and shows no sign of slippage.

If you want to customize the feel of your paddle, I highly recommend giving this a try.  If, however, you have smaller hands or the paddle feels large in your hands already, I might advise against this alteration.  There probably are some skinnier tapes out there that I would love to learn about.  After a couple weeks of paddling almost every day, I still feel like I have greatly improved my dexterity and control over my paddle.