Any ideas on what to use?

I've seen people use road bicycle handle bar tape..

3mm EVA insulation foam tape works well. I've also wrapped my Armstrong carbon Power Link bar in it and it has lasted well.

Thanks for the advice. My criteria is not to be heavy, attract sand, or be sticky and can be taken off for resale. Might try some wetsuit or foam with cable ties...

I have already damaged a e3 kalama rail by the handles. The wing hits the board often, so do both handles, it can happen easily with missed tacks, learning new tricks, crashing etc, you can't help it and obviously the board is not that strong.

I would've thought Duotone would've fixed the handles for the v3 unit, but no.

I've sacrificed a stubby holder for its thick neoprene. I cut a rectangular piece which I've stitched the long ends together to make a tube. Unscrewed one end of the handle and slipped it around to the corner of the handle which is the bit most likely to damage the board. There's a gap in the handle moulding where I put a hand stitch through to hold it in place. I only did this to the front corner of the front handle as that's the spot I was worried about.

my solution was to sell both my Units and got the Slick SLS with platinum boom, which I have to say is a nicer ride and a more well behaved wing. It is a more premium wing than the 2022/23 unit due to the penta tx material and smaller windows, so light, I got the 5.5m and 6.5m

It is not as grunty as the unit but to be able to go one hand with the boom is so nice, tacks and gybes so easy, takes a couple of hours to adjust from unit to SLS and I can use a harness now without fear of the handles ripping out!

The boom is padded so very low chance of board damage, no regrets changing at all.

warwickl said..

burchas said..

north_kiter said..
Any ideas on what to use?

Yes, different wing.
Sorry I could not resist. This wing is just bad Karma. I have the D-Lab 4M and I'm practically giving it away but no takers.

What's the issue?
I have 4m dlab and used many times in 30kn wind and love it.

Without Hijacking the thread I'll stay on these handles. Bad execution start to finish. How many times I've read about folks damaging their equipment or their heads with those. It's a real issue yet remains unchanged. My list of grievances is not relevant to this thread. I've flown
it into 30+knots wind as well but one would ask why?

Ive had to put 3M clear tape over the whole nose of my board as the unit handles where damaging the gel coat when doing the stink bug start. Has worked really well with no further damage. Gel coat on Cabrinha boards are crap....

mikey100 said..

mikey100 said..
Am about to try this- waterproof, easy to use, moulds to shape, light, inexpensive, variety of colours and comes off easily if it gets damaged. Will just put it on the handle end corners.

Tried it. Works great imp. No downside to it yet.