# wrapping cracked polyethylene sheaths on Carlisle oars



## tomt36 (Feb 6, 2005)

My Carlisle oar shafts have seen many, many days and now the polyethylene sheaths are cracked and about to fall off in pieces. The Aluminum shafts are still in great shape though. Does anyone out there know what will work to wrap around the plastic sheaths to keep them from continuing to fall off? I'm thinking that a product like heat wrap would work well but I doubt that it comes in diameters that large.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

You could rough up the finish with ScotchBrite, sheath 'em in a spiral wrap of fiberglass tape and then lay on a few coats of marine epoxy. (Followed by a UV resistant varnish.) 

Or get some new ones. 

I sorta doubt they do factory re-con on something like that.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Or, on second thought, you could get some nice colored duct tape and do a spiral wrap, like they do on road bike bars. I don't think the poly sheath adds much strength. The glass tape and epoxy would make 'em stronger, but the job would be a pain.


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## DesertBoater (Feb 12, 2007)

I'd bet that for a small price, you could get them coated with Rhinoliner...in almost any color of your choice. we do it as keel strips for sea kayaks...


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## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

Do you think rhinoliner would rub off onto the oarlocks?


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

Not if you use sleeves or rope wrap. But then you might have some sizing issues with the added thickness. Maybe really thin rope, following chip's instructions.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

On super-used Carlisles, I'd go with plastic sleeves. If you spray on the Rhino stuff (is it bedliner for pickups?), you could keep the sleeves in place and mask them— no re-fitting issues.


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## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

I was thinking more like when sliding them in and out of the oarlocks, I've never had a rhinolined truck so I'm not sure how the Rhinoliner sets up.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

I think the stuff is pretty bombproof, probably more so that the OEM carlisle plastic. but if you rhino around the sleeves, you couldn't ever move your sleeves again!


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## DesertBoater (Feb 12, 2007)

It's the same stuff that they spray in truck beds...super durable. in terms of finish quality, it all depends on how _you_ want it to look. you can ask the sprayer to make it spackled and very textured, or smooth and semi-glossed...I'd probably go with the masking off of the sleeves and just rhinolining the shaft. they could probably also do different thicknesses depending on how thick you want it. 

Cheers,
West


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## tomt36 (Feb 6, 2005)

I bought some Gorrilla Tape (from the Gorrilla glue people) and wrapped the shafts. I then heated the tape with a heat gun (industrial stregth hair dryer) to make it adher to the aluminum. It seems like its on there for good, however I need to submerge a oar for a few days to see if it holds. I really like the stuff, I once made a major emergency snow sled repair and attached poles to the contraption using Gorrilla tape and it lasted for an entire 5 day backcountry trip. Anyway, back to the oars, it looks pretty good but now I want to water proof it. I like the idea of the Rhinoliner on top of the wrapping or would marine epoxy work better?


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## randomnature (Jun 10, 2007)

How about garage floor epoxy paint. Truck bed liner is pretty tough stuff. Just try to get it without the grit mixed in.


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## DesertBoater (Feb 12, 2007)

the trouble with epoxy is that it doesn't flex that well...i don't know how much your oars flex when you pull/push, but it might be enough for the epoxy to just spider-crack and chip off...maybe if you fiberglassed it might work a bit better, but epoxy doesn't really like to stick to aluminum anyway...don't know about adhesion to gorilla tape though.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

Why soak an oar for days? Sounds like you're good to go—

Just take it on a trip, with a roll of Gorilla tape in the fix-box. 

What's that saying? _Perfect_ is the enemy of _good_?


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## mttodd (Jan 29, 2009)

If you go to your local electrical supply house they can get you shrink sleeves for large electrical cable, it is usually designated in mm. The stuff is incredibly durable/UV resistant and has hot glue on the inside that sets when you shrink it down. It's available in 4' sections and is most commonly made by RAYCHEM. It will cover a wide range of sizes, but it thickens as it shrinks so you might end up too fat for your locks. 4/0 tray cable would be the closest size to carlisle shafts. Maybe you could get rid of the poly altogether and just use the shrink tube?


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## punqroqclimber (Dec 29, 2012)

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this is the closest one I've found to my current issue. 

I recently came across a set of carlisle oars that have the sheathing COMPLETELY removed. It actually took me a while to figure out that is what they were until I noticed remnants of the sheathing left under the sleeves/

They came with a used frame I bought and the guy I got it all from didn't seem to know any different either. 

I guess my question is... what do I need the sheath for? 

These are obviously way lighter than my sheathed carlisles, but I am assuming they're less rigid... I just don't know if I need to do anything with them, or if they're suitable for use as-is. There are a lot of good ideas on this thread on how to fix or re-sheath... but I am not sure of the purpose. (<-clearly totally new to oar work) 

Thanks in advance.


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## climbdenali (Apr 2, 2006)

I'd say the biggest thing is keeping aluminum oxidation off of everything that touches them and just generally for looks. I don't believe the sheaths give any real strength to the oars.


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

As long as your oar sleeves aren't too loose, go for it.

If you're concerned about black marks, get some vinyl wraps made or use that big shrink wrap.


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## punqroqclimber (Dec 29, 2012)

Thanks fellas, that's just what I was looking for.


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