Just ordered an Eddyline Swift Mid, which has fiberglass blades. On their page, they say that some paddlers tape the edges of the blades of the paddles to give a bit of protection to them, which sounds like a good idea. My only question is: what kind of tape would one use for that purpose?
High quality duct tape, or the toughest
clear tape you can find. However, I’m not sure the taping is worth it. You’ll quickly learn not to whack the edges. Also, some outfit, possibly Salamander, used to offer a special edging kit, a tough plastic extrusion which could be glued to the rim. Remember, it increases the weight and may look stupid.
taping
I tape mine with duct tape but am not sure it does much good as the tape scraps off quickly if you brush against rocks - which seems to bee the concern with a composite blade.
It is salamander and it comes in
clear for those who care about such things.
I have never used it.
Why not…
put a coat of two part epoxy over the tips of each blade.
With that said, we have on several occasions put duct tape along the bottom of our kevlar canoe prior to racing it in shallow rocky rivers.
It has saved us epoxy work a couple of times.
Cheers,
JackL