Installing Hypalon Grips

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One of the most common questions is "How can I get my grip which has such a small hole onto such a large blank? Every time that I try, I get it halfway down then it locks up on me and I have to cut it off." This is a very common problem and question .

The first thing you must do is pick the proper size hypalon. The type that we sell comes in three basic inside diameters, 1/2", 11/16", and the recently added 7/8". Mark or locate the top edge of each grip location on the blank. What I mean by this is that if you are using a 10 inch rear grip and a 1 1/2 inch butt cap, you would mark the rod at a point 11 1/2 inches up from the butt. Then using a grip of the chosen length, drop it down from the tip and choose the one that will come the closest to that mark without going past it. Do the same for the fore grip using its dimension plus the length of the reel seat to determine that point. Now if you find a grip that goes a few inches past the mark, you can still use it, the only secret is that once you get it into position, you spiral masking tape from where it is fitting snugly towards the tip and back down to where you started. It may be necessary to do this a couple of times, but this usually takes care of loose fitting grips.

The next step in the installation is to mix up your epoxy. For this you need a slow setting epoxy with about a one hour or more cure time. Note!!! Never use 5 minute epoxy!!! At this point I will recommend two choices of glue. My first choice is a product that goes by the name of "KARDOL" , formerly called "RESCO". This is what I and many professional rod builders use. My next choice would be a product called "U-40 Rod Bond" . This is a more readily available product. The Kardol mixes into a greasy mixture that resembles a heavy "Vaseline", the U-40 is slightly less greasy and thicker.

After mixing your epoxy to the manufacturers directions, drop the rear grip down the blank until it stops. Visually mark the location of the top and bottom of the grip. In this area you need to apply your glue solidly, then from this point down to the point where the bottom of the grip will stop apply (smear) glue on all sides of the blank in a spotty pattern. (The grip will be pushing glue down ahead of it, so coverage does not need to be 100%)

Drop the grip down over the area with solid coverage, moving the grip around so that glue fills the inside of the grip. Raise the grip up a couple of inches and using your thumb and forefinger encircle the very top edge of the grip and squeeze tightly so that the top of the grip is tight against the blank, then pull or shove the grip down to its final location. Do not release your grip and never pull from the middle of the grip, doing either of these will defeat the process. As the grip slides down the rod, by keeping the top of the grip closed, you have created a cushion of air and glue that the grip will almost literally float down the blank on. You may add another hand above the one on the grip, or the hands of the helper if you need it, but never grab the middle of the grip.

When you get the grip in the desired location you may clean up any of the glue that pushed out ahead of the grip. We work on folded newspapers or corrugated paper to collect the excess. We then reuse this material for the reelseat and fore grip. Once in position, you can pull the top of the grip up, since it has foreshortened some. It will never come back to its original length, unless it did not expand very much. At this point we clean off the residue residue on the blank with acetone, although there will not be as much as you may think. you may also clean any glue off of the grip if needed, the acetone will not hurt them, we wash them quite thoroughly, with clean acetone and paper towels. You can now tape up and glue your reelseat, then continue on with the fore grip as you did the butt grip. Clean all the excess epoxy from these, check that the reelseat is aligned properly, double check that everything looks good, than stand in the corner overnight to cure.

This whole process is not as dragged out as this article is. Anyway that's the way we do it and it works.