Anyone use Yakgrips on their paddle?

Advice
#1

I was leafing through a magazine today and came across the advertisement for Yakgrips. From their ad:



“These soft cushy grips are the ultimate in comfort for paddling. Prevent rubs and blisters. Get a more efficient grip and better hand placement. Great for beginners and experts.”



I wonder how these would feel on one of my long multi-day trips…just wondering if anyone has used them and has any comments/comparisons?



Here is their web-site link:



http://www.cascadecreek.com/



Thanks!



BeachAV8R

#2

Checked them out.
Occasionally I get a guest on one of my trips that has either small hand size or grip strength issues. Enlarging the grip of the paddle often helps remedy these. The Yakgrips come in a slip on and velcro over style.



See you on the water,

Marshall

http://www.the-river-connection.com

#3

What about the indexing on the shaft?
Seems to me that you would lose the indexing on the shaft.

#4

Poor ad…
…doesn’t show a closeup. I presume they actually attach to the paddle? I’ve found comfort and grip improved wearing the fabric work gloves which are

rubber (or something)-coated on the palms and fingers, and which have fingerprint-like texture. Cost $3-5 at a hardware store, last forever, good for working in the garden & around the house.

#5

Now you tell me !!!
After I ended up with a big blister on the side of my thumb after going back to yaking after so much canoeing.

I’ll use some electrical tape today when I paddle, and until the freaking thing heals.

Cheers,

JackL

#6

Bike tape
had surgery on my hands last fall for trigger fingers. using Bike tape on my shaft. On my wing and WW paddle works good and lasts for a long time. just put on and seal edges with electrical tape. very easy to do and effective. Cheers Dan

#7

Yak-Grips
I bought a pair and ended up giving them away. I found they made the shaft too thick and less comfortable to hold. Instead I learned to lighten my grip and get callouses where the blisters used to be.

#8

Slip and slide
I’ve found that if they get wet (not like that would ever happen while kayaking) they tend to slip around a lot and need to be repositioned.

#9

Thanks…
For all the input…it was one of those things where I flipped the page, saw the ad, and wondered if it was something I HAD to have! Lol…you just never can tell.



For 32 years I hiked without treking poles until I bought some for my girlfriend and I last year…I can’t imagine how I hiked without them now! They save the knees, increase endurance and comfort…so I was just wondering if I was missing something with the paddle-pads…hehe…



BeachAV8R

#10

grips
i purchased a new bending branches paddle with the spongy grips and i like them. my hands fall asleep when gripping my mountain bike bars and other paddles and this seems to help.

#11

Grips
A good pair of NRS river gloves work great wet or dry.

Earl

#12

Foam grips, and even very cushy
neoprene gloves, can cause one to tend to grip into the foam, rather than keeping the hand relaxed. For some people, especially those with hands big enough to accomodate the extra grip diameter caused by Yakgrips, they might work pretty well, but others may find them tiring because of over-gripping.



I think the key is that the grip area should be not overly large in diameter, and that the grip surface have good traction without causing blisters. On the newest of my WW kayak paddles, which is a crank shaft, I wrapped the control hand with bicycle inner tube. It is not spongy, so it does not cause over-gripping, but it is quite tacky even when dirt and wet. I can control the paddle with a nice, light grip. The non-control grip is just wrapped with plastic tape. I chose a tape with a satin rather than a shiny surface, so that the tape can be gripped confidently.

#13

YakGrips Revival
OK, the orginal post is from 2004, and I did a search using the Kayak Search tool from a PNET member, and it is the newest on PNET.



I purchased YakGrips and have used them for about 40 miles now. I swapped my gloves and the YakGrips during one recent trip and I like the YakGrips except that they probably are a mm or 2 mm too thick and they do slip when wet (see above). I’m thinking some surfers wax will alleviate the slipping.



I prefer the YakGrips to gloves because the gloves slip on my paddle shaft (never noticed it until I was swapping with the YakGrips) and the slipping is wasted energy.



I hope the was works.