The best tape you can use is called nylon strapping tape. It can be found at any hardware store and is really good to use. personally i dont see much of a reason for taping them before they get weak and fray because if you do then your just trying to make a solid mass even denser. anyway "you will know that you've taped your sticks the right way, when your forearm starts to hurt" (my instuctor K.I. Chris. so really wrap it tight!
I've seen electrical tape used, but I always use hockey tape personally. It's dirt cheap at the sporting goods store. Why do I tape? A couple of reasons. First, we tended to tape simply to personalize our sticks. In a school of a hundred or so eskrimadors, you want some way to distinguish your sticks from those of the bloke next to you. Especially when they start flying across the room in disarm practice. (Actually, that might be the best time not to have your sticks easily traced back to you.) The other reason, as other people have mentioned, is the fraying. Holds them together longer. I don't even want to guess at what some of my sticks look like under the tape. My taping was always pretty minimalistic. Just enough to pick 'em out of a crowd. And then wherever they frayed, as necessary. Other people got pretty elaborate about the whole thing. Your call really. Stuart
I find that elecrical tape will fray less than any oter kind ( not opposed to that ugly clear hockey tape stuff either), my biggest prob with duct and hockey tape is that after a few hours of practice, the glue starts to melt. the tape either come right off or makes your hand all sticky. I never tape the end I hold, as mentioned before, blisters suck. One more thing you may want to look into for your region. Since I carry mine in a small eskrima case on my shoulder (everywhere as I am usually on my way to practice somewhere, or on my way back from practicing somewhere i will not take them out oof the gym ons taped. I was confronted by one of her majesty's royal cowboys, and he did point out that i was "carrying a concealed weapon" where if they didn't have the tape, they were just twigs. without some form of handle it couldn't be considered a weapon, thank goodness i knew him, or i coulda bee in some real trouble. (he asked me to teach him a bit a few weeks later)
I tape the handle on my bokken (Japanese name for a wooden practice sword) or mok gum (Korean name for the same thing). I use hockey tape for the same reasons stated by others. It does make your weapon easier to recognize in the sea of swords and sticks at class, and it helps a lot with the grip. Comment about the stickiness: I found that each time I retape my wooden sword, it is sticky for about two classes. The goo on the outside wears off quickly with use, and by the third or fourth class, it feels 'right'. Question about the grip: There seems to be some disagreement on whether or not taping the grip of your stick is a good idea. Without tape, do weapons in your art slip out of your hand easily or often? In the sword arts, I've had my palms get very sweaty in class......and there's nothing worse than standing next to a sweaty-palmed swordsman practicing horizontal cross cuts. Those swords have lousy aerodynamics when they fly!! How 'bout it, guys...anyone ever been hit by a sailing stick? And does taping the grip help?
Oh you would be surprised just how many times, especially when beginers are in the room I don't think so, I think it actually makes it more slippery, unless you use leather binding that is. regards Pat
Its very true, hockey tape is the best thing I know of for taping sticks. Its got just the right grip. You can probably find it at any sports store that carries hockey equipment. It really is good stuff. Maybe because it's tape that was designed for taping wooden sticks?
I agree with Mr. 'The Cat' . in regards to the tape making the grip slipperier. (?) But why would u want to waste 2 or 3 classes to make the stick feel right? souldn't it feel right from the day u start to use it to the day u break it? If u use it to stop the fraying on the business end i think thats okay. But by the time mine usually go out of commission, i have squeezed finger grooves into the side i hold on to. Capt Ann. When u use a stick enough (as far as i have found), ur palms stop resembling that of a nervous teenager, and more like a saddle bag made of fine leather . eeeeeew
i found hockey tape real good for grip but soon was frayed to bits at the business end! back to duct tape it is (at least at that end). plus the hockey tape soon began to cause supersize blisters! i now have skin like old boots. nice.
The only reason people tape up their sticks before they become damaged is because they are tight fisted and don't want to by sticks too often There is nothing better than the feel of rattan in hand and the sound on rattan of bare flesh and bone, know what I mean
And with darn good reason too!!!! You know how much a good pair of sticks cost down here? 50 to 100 pesos, that's almost 1 pound for our friends in the U.K. !!!!
Hey you sure you don't have Scottish blood in you and before you fellow Scot's pounce on me , I was born in Govan in Glasgow:Angel: regards Pat
