C-Forum

The grip is super tight in the shaft, but the joint in the T itself is starting to have some play. Anyone seen this before? Do they eventually pull right off?

I'd yank it off and epoxy it, but I'm not sure how they're made and don't want to wreck it!

DG

DG,

I had the same problem with my Werner paddle, the T- grip came apart at the same place as you describe it, while I was running McKoy's rapid on the Ottawa . Resulted in a thrashing and a lengthy swim , very entertaining for my paddling buddies, a little less so for myself...
fixed it by reglueing it with epoxy and additionally secureing it with a screwdown through the grip into the part that's glued into the shaft. This repair failed as well, I think the problem with the werned grip is that the diameter of the shaft part where the actual grip is attached to it is too thin.
I ended up cutting the T-grip off and drilling tha part in the shaft out to accept the top section of the shaft and T-grip of a Grey Owl paddle with a broken blade and epoxied that one in. Haven't had a problem with the T-grip since, however the blade is still delaminating like cazy ...

martin

McCoy's likes T-grips then! A prolonged (read: unintentional) surf in Phil's torqued my Waterstick grip at the shaft about 30 degrees... took until the eddy behind horseshoe that I figured out why my boat was so unresponsive!

I was able to twist it back with a bit of muscle, but yes, the joint at the "t" is loose as well (I think waterstick's grips are garbage anyway). A friend has put a small finishing nail through the joint of his t-grip to eliminate the wiggle. This doesn't inspire me with confidence, though he's never managed to cut himself on it, and it's worked for a while now.

Best of luck!

-pete