The best way to protect a sup paddle
This is a regular question, so here’s the cheapest and, in my opinion, the best way tp protect a sup paddle.
Materials needed: Scissors, Electrical tape as used by electricians.
This whole job should take about 5 minutes.
You need to make sure the paddle blade is clean and grease free.
The end goal is to wrap tape a few times along the edge of the blade.
The picture here shows the position and extent to which you wrap tape around the blade. It is marked as the red line.
You can see that the top, or bottom of the blade is covered as are the sides, but we don’t go all the way up.
I have heard people say, that you don’t need it on inflatable sup boards, but that’s not true, as most damage is caused by things in the water or on land.
You can use multiple layers of electrical tape as the layers are thin, so they don’t cause any performance problems when paddling, as you often get with the ticker edge savers.
The tip of the blade is a point which many people dig it into rocks or the ground so that definitely needs covering, and the edges can also get knocked against things in the water or on land.
We tend to use 3 layers, one on top of the other, when taping our paddles. This gives a good protective layer.
If the tape starts getting tattered, you can simply peel it off and re-tape it and a very, very low cost and even better, there is no messy residue or glues left on the blade.
Watch my video on how to protect a sup paddle blade
If you want to watch me wrap protective tape around a paddle blade, then check out this video.
It is so easy, just don’t forget to clean the paddle first. And another great tip is to put the electrical tape roll in a warm place for a couple of hours, as it makes the tape more mouldable.
Once you’ve watched this video, go and checkout How to Rail Tape A SUP
