Blisters - And An Idea For An Improved Erg Handle

[[old] busterG]

i've got the upgraded erg handle, which is great but i think it could be better. I find that when rowing on an erg with a fixed handle, I get bad blisters... maybe because of my natural tendancy to feather the handle slightly during each stroke. Obviously as the handle is fixed, my fingers just tend to slip to and fro around the handle - and the friction there is probably the cause of the blisters.<br /><br />when you're sculling of course, you are constantly rolling your fingers around the grips to feather the blades... the grips move accordingly - they don't fight the rotation like a fixed erg handle does...<br /><br />how about this... i wonder if it would work.... modify the handle by cutting off the ends into grip-sized lengths and re-attaching them to the handle using a spindle and a few ballbearings and voila you have rotating handles.<br />(maybe a couple of locking positions so that they don't rotate 360 but just through the small range needed for feathering....)<br /><br />have the folks at concept2 every prototyped anything like this?<br />

[[old] John Rupp]

That's a good idea. <br /><br />Actually it only needs to rotate from the middle, where the chain is attached.<br /><br />Would this make it more difficult to hold though?<br /><br />I wrap the handle with nylon socks and this works very well.

[[old] busterG]

yes well thats the 60,000 dollar question i suppose... <br /><br />when you're at the catch you have the blade in the water and hence there is natural resistance to rotation.. so you can do a solid pull ... so maybe some sort of spring-loaded grips would be needed... ie they naturally spring back to the catch position, but *can* be twisted at the finish...<br /><br />meanwhile i'll try the socks <br /><br /><br /><br /><!--QuoteBegin-John Rupp+Apr 8 2005, 09:11 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John Rupp @ Apr 8 2005, 09:11 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->That's a good idea. <br /><br />Actually it only needs to rotate from the middle, where the chain is attached.<br /><br />Would this make it more difficult to hold though?<br /><br />I wrap the handle with nylon socks and this works very well. <br /> </td></tr></table><br />

[[old] PaulS]

<!--QuoteBegin-busterG+Apr 8 2005, 08:56 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(busterG @ Apr 8 2005, 08:56 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->i've got the upgraded erg handle, which is great but i think it could be better. I find that when rowing on an erg with a fixed handle, I get bad blisters... maybe because of my natural tendancy to feather the handle slightly during each stroke. Obviously as the handle is fixed, my fingers just tend to slip to and fro around the handle - and the friction there is probably the cause of the blisters.<br /><br />when you're sculling of course, you are constantly rolling your fingers around the grips to feather the blades... the grips move accordingly - they don't fight the rotation like a fixed erg handle does...<br /> <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />When I'm sculling, the handle is completely rotation free on the drive (the time when blisters might be created), it only rotates freely to be feathered after teh release and the grip is quite light at that point (or should be). It would seem that if you are causing blisters with the Erg handle due to your manipulations at the finish, that you are holding on a bit too tight. Anyway, the rotation of the handle while sculling is accomplished with the thumb in a far different location than it can be on the Erg Handle and this should be enough to discourage such an aggressive attempt to twist the handle at the finish while Erging. (Or the blisters will be punishment enough, possibly) <br /><br />So, stop with the gorilla grip, and lighten up...

[[old] busterG]

yeah that sounds about right - i'm just not very good at describing it in words..<br />maybe it's not really the cause of blisters but i still think the idea of 'spring-loaded' grips is an interesting one.... <br /><br /><br /><br />When I'm sculling, the handle is completely rotation free on the drive (the time when blisters might be created), it only rotates freely to be feathered after teh release and the grip is quite light at that point (or should be). It would seem that if you are causing blisters with the Erg handle due to your manipulations at the finish, that you are holding on a bit too tight. Anyway, the rotation of the handle while sculling is accomplished with the thumb in a far different location than it can be on the Erg Handle and this should be enough to discourage such an aggressive attempt to twist the handle at the finish while Erging. (Or the blisters will be punishment enough, possibly) <br /><br />So, stop with the gorilla grip, and lighten up... <br />[/quote]<br />

[[old] Roland Baltutis]

I also use the model D handle and have a problem with it. I don't like the rubber coating on it. It wears out too fast, just like the rubber grips on my C2 sculling oars. Must be the same rubber, hence I hate them both.<br /><br />On my erg handle the rubber, where the middle fingers join on the hands sit, has worn out to the hard black plastic underneath. This is probably caused by the rock hard calluses from all the on water rowing I do. The greatest wear on your hands should occur in the first part of the stroke (on water and on the erg, doesn't matter) where there is max pressure on the handle/oars.<br /><br />I'll need a new erg handle soon. Never had a problem with the old straight timber handle with black grips. It could handle my calluses. As for my C2 smoothie vortex edge sculling oars go, your fired. No not because of the grips or their overall performance. It's just that I tried something better that everyone raves about and loved them. I'm talking about Australian "Croker " oars. They are absolutely superb and must be world leaders at the moment, as far as oars go. Everyone use to use C2 oars over here until Croker came up with something better. Now their taking away their market.<br /><br />To fix your blisters just rub some "Methylated Spirits" (96% Ethanol) into them to dry them out. Don't bother covering them. It might sting a bit but you'll be back in action a lot sooner.<br /><br />Keep it smooth, keep it relaxed<br />Roland Baltutis<br /><br /><br />

[[old] mcb0sse]

i actually like my blisters, they seem more of a battle scar than anything else. but yeah, they do get annoying every now and then, but what doesnt? the idea is a great one, but ive always rowed through mine. as my coach always said, "when you bleed, you row harder."<br /><br />alex