I want some......sometimes i see people saying "i bought some at Bunnings"
Got a starboard 10'3 that has been a quality disaster ever since i purchased it second hand.
Have had it repaired by the experts and is now watertight.
Want lots of plastic to put on the rails.....as is a light board and quite fun to ride
Was marketed as the starboard gun.
Any one got cheapo rail tape suggestions?

Look for automotive protection tape as that is basically the same stuff. Probably try the auto parts retailers.

'Bear' clear outdoor tape from Bunnings. Thicker than generic helicopter tape & about $10 a roll.

Stevo..would you recommend that for the Sunova..at the very back where the ion tape doesn't reach

3M Helicopter tape. Works great on paddle edges, too.

Plenty can be found on amazon, sold also for bikes & cars.

damo666, is your "Bear" tape some kind of flexible PVC tape? It is thicker than helicopter tape, but I dunno if it absorbs the impacts as well: maybe too soft to spread the impact force...

there is some tape at Bunnings called all Bear All Weather tape, it's clear and much thicker than normal tape but about 1/2-2/3 of the thickness of most rail tapes @ ~0.2mm. have used it on a few boards and works great (also disappears almost completely once installed). Costs about $15 for ~48mm x 25m roll (from memory). Its not as soft as most rail tapes so won't absorb big hits but protects against most incidental paddle hits and from placing board on bitumen etc.

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Supmaori said..
Stevo..would you recommend that for the Sunova..at the very back where the ion tape doesn't reach

I haven't bothered with rail tape on the Sunova as it doesn't seem to scratch easily and the rail paint hides marks.

No rail tape for me these days as I find 2 layers of electrical tape around the paddle blade edge is sufficient board protection.

Yes, I'm with warwickl. I use three layers of Nitto electrical tape (idea from this website years ago, maybe it was DJ?) Then I tape around shaft about 30cm up from blade. You just have to check your mates paddles if you are swapping boards. If you want to get fancy, the last layer can be yellow, so easier to see if lost. I keep a roll in the car now.

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warwickl said...
No rail tape for me these days as I find 2 layers of electrical tape around the paddle blade edge is sufficient board protection.

+1

i wonder wether glueing a old bike tire tube to the rails would work.
works with boats .

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Tardy said..
i wonder wether glueing a old bike tire tube to the rails would work.
works with boats .

good thinking (i think)......maybe gluing bike tyre to paddle blade would be a more cautious approach
but with this board i have little faith in the structural integrity of the rails......and was thinking the more plastic holding everything together the better
will go and poke around at bunnings

The whopper man didn't really help when he ran over the front of the board and nearly chopped the nose off when his fins hacked into my board

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GizzieNZ said..
The whopper man didn't really help when he ran over the front of the board and nearly chopped the nose off when his fins hacked into my board

Maybe go steel .
aluminium tape
he'll never get through that .
i was joking about the gluing you know ...just thought I'd make that clear .

Note that you do not want too soft a material, the tape should be rigid enough to spread the impact force of on a large surface.

The ideal material could be a soft lower layer protected by a more rigid "shell".

PS: I also never use rail tapes, but protect my blades: One layer of red electrical tape for visibility + 3 layers of helicopter tape.

i use authentic railsaver pro and love it

never get a ding where the rsp is

massive storm swell here in NE us past week--punched a paddle ding in my starby blue carbon--of course, not in a place protected by railsaver pro

have got rail saver pro on my sunova speed......I like it a lot. Meanwhile have been to bunnings.....got 24 metres of 50mm wide Bear tape for 18 bucks.
that is quite cheap.......planning on putting the whole roll on my dodgy starboard gun rails
a bit worried about creases and wrinkles

I got a roll of 3M rail tape from PPC..for very rear end of my Speeed where RSPro doesn't reach.. mainly to protect it from getting chipped on paddle / turn transitions..looks mint and almost invisible

do like the RS Pro.......very easy to apply and shift around while doing so.
Would like to put my Bear tape on my starboard on a very hot day.......maybe warm the tape up a little firstly
but big southerly storm has taken us back to winter......so that is not a happening thing

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Supmaori said..
I got a roll of 3M rail tape from PPC..for very rear end of my Speeed where RSPro doesn't reach.. mainly to protect it from getting chipped on paddle / turn transitions..looks mint and almost invisible

I think the sunova is one of the tuffest constructions i have owned but a bit of rs pro can't hurt.
Towball would probly say Jimmy Lewis pretty good too

did seek other advice as to how to put the shiny shiny tape on

only managed to get 3 layers of tape on each side of the board......but that is okay i suppose. Cleaned board rail with isopropyl alcohol before putting tape on. Went for paddle on river.......am weighing 100 kg at moment......the 10'3 SB pro is pretty tippy but quite pleasant to paddle on flat water. Gotta love the pintail. And have caught lots of waves on it prior to its whopper man injury......its very forgiving and floaty in big wave takeoffs.......quite fat rails up the front.
Went without booties to see what the river temperature is like.......will definitely be a booty person next time :)