Split grips

[fishaholic18]

I'm building a Batson 1088 that I cut 10" off the butt to make it an 8'er. I'm gonna set it up for spin for the boat. I was thinking of using split grips on the butt. Have any of you done this before? Do you have any pics for ideas? Should I use cork,EVA, or what? I want to end up with about a 14" butt lenght(I think).

[Goose]

I like the cork tape, especially on eel rods. You can double up the cork tape for a little beefier grip which also gives lets you go bigger reel seat with a nice finish.

This is what I do. Put on one layer of tape.
Cut the end of an EVA forgrip(1 1/4") Slide it down an old blank wrap with tape use a razor blade for a perfect cut. Slide it over the cork tape to the reel seat. (do the butt first) Last, lay a second layer of tape. yes it will give it a little extra weight but not much.


I'll post a pic later.

[Goose]

The rod on top is production star rod. I did the one on the bottem.
Some foam forgrips have tapered ends, slide it on an old blank, tape for a nice even cut. You can even taper the foam more on your wraper with sand paper or a file.


To get your foam to expand and slide easier over cork tape,,, get a coffe mug with very hot water and let the foam end sit in it for a couple minutes.

[Bawana]

hey fish when you say split grips do you mean like one 4 or 5 inch behind the reel seat and one the same size on the butt by the cap.this doesnt leave a whole lot of open space between grips like on a longer surf rod.I just did a simular set up on the batson 1089 but left blank full lenth and just used solid piece of mooskin grip from reel seat to butt.eva could also be used and once its on if it feels to big it can be sanded to smaller size on lath.cork rings also nice for this style but a pain in the rear to set up with glueing and turning down.but deffinately look the best

[fishaholic18]

Yes Bawana, that's what I mean. Sorry for not being clear on that. My bad.
I am still debating on weather I'm going with split or not. Mike warned me that if I put the rod in the holder on the boat it may rub on the blank between the grips.

[maddog2020]

Use one of those slick butts - only bad thing about them is the added weight. Otherwise I don't think there is anything out there more durable (aluminum butt, but those are way more $$ and look ugly after it gets scratched up from use).

MikeCC - did you order more slick butts? I snagged your last two a couple of weekends ago. U get the cross hatched shrink wrap in either??

[Bawana]

I do belive Mike has an exceptionally valid point especially when putting it in and removing it you will scratch the crap out of iton the bare section.I*ve used a lot of the older slick butts on stand up and boat rods and they were a lot thicker and heavier but the newer ones with the little ring that pops out seem much lighter and this could be the way to go.I dont remember who makes the newer lighter ones but they could also be by Stuart or even pac-bay.Just have to build up the blank with tape to fit them before epoxying them on.I did a couple of cod rods(one as a spiral wrap)on 50 and 80 lb class blanks recently and used this style slick butt.I dont know how small a diameter on these is available but it probably would make for a nice butt on a boat spinning rod. ka-ching now I know I*mn gonna have to try one myself but I like to go around 18 inches on butt for boat spinning rods and dont know if slick butts come this long.I think they are only 12 or 14 so would work good for you.I also read an artcal recently about someone setting up stand up(50/130) spinning rods for school blue-fin tuna using the 9500 penn reels but could not tell from pics what style of guide he was using.Would also consider using a gimbal on end to keep rod from twisting all over and graphite lite ones are available for this from Fuji.good luck on your choosing