Making a polespear grip with self amalgamating tape

I thought that this was a pretty commonly known trick but I thought I would share it for anyone looking to make a grippy surface, especially on a polespear.

I use self amalgamating tape wrapped over a copper wire..the tape is amazing as it bonds with itself to form a solid rubber grip..it is friction and adhesive based so it never will come off unless it is pulled or scraped off.

I will add some pics later tonight to help explain the process.

Okay, so "tonight" was clearly a lie, but hey! gimme a break! at least I came back

Here is the grip

this was wrapped about three years ago and you can see the wear

the great thing about the tape is that it doesn't unravel...as this pic shows it is still holding in the tattered area
also shows my floatline rig.

this is just the benefit of a large wire in the wrap, I am not squeezing the spear at all, just keeping my fingers hooked to hold the grip...this makes for much less hand fatigue

and the obligatiory wrapped sling on a FG spear

Quote from Dan

Why does it need to be copper wire?

it does not need to be, at all, I chose copper for two reasons 1) i have a lot of it from car audio installing and it is readily available in thicker gauges than most materials 2) it wont rust or degrade it should only patina

any wire or even thick cord will work, but the copper stays in place while you wrap it which is a plus.

Mike, post a pic of your wrap and I'll see if I can give you any pointers

sure thing Dan, go ahead and change it up

Quote from joelpepper

good idea

i went old school hockey stick style with athletic tape and sharpie'd it black. have yet to get it wet, but it feels good in hand.

interested in the self amalgamating tape. where did you get it?

jp

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Mike, that looks great, did you follow the stretch to 1/2 with 1/3 overlap instructions?* looks like you did with the ridges but I can't tell. I like the wire underneath because with large knurls you are able to use you hand in a more efficient manner. by which i mean, you have the most effective use of your hand and arm muscles when you are making a fist with your wrist straight and squeezing in to you hand uniformly...when you break your wrist to the side it reduces the effectiveness of your forearms muscles to assist in the gripping process and it is all hand(think about grappling moves and joint locks and escape moves)....when you hook you finger around a big enough notch, you can rely on those larger muscles by not having to be squeezing the spear as much as holding the wire with your finger(think rock climbing)

*self amalgamating tape fuses with itself and becomes a solid piece....to properly apply it you must stretch the tape until it is reduced in width to 1/2 it's size and wrap it so that at least 1/3 of each pass over laps the previous one. I do 1/2 and 1/2 for a thicker grip, that is what it looks like Mike did as well. it is a little tough to do

to clarify, I think that mike's grip will be great, and a massive improvement over nothing, i was just further explaining why i use the wire.

I believe that almost everyone uses a polespear a little differently and it is intensely personal because of flexibility and strength and dexterity. so what works for me might be super uncomfortable for someone else

that is the better way to to go...good thinking...I did mine backwards...if you allow the tape to set properly it doesnt matter, but you will roll a poorly applied wrap if you wrap it from front to back..there is a lot of pull against the grip, I know i am stretching my band to 4-5 x it's relaxed length so i am probably pulling a good amount and that is being transferred right to the grip

i just checked it with my digital scale and it is 26.22 lbs of force at my grip. crushed my thumb in the process:frustrated2:

the thinnish standard polespear sisze, maybe 3/8

if i had 5/8 on my spear it would blast fish into pieces

and I think the spear would wobble way to much, even wrapped unless in it was quite long.