In practice I never found a difference in board handling with rail tape. The RS Pro may even reduce the drag with its texture.

Thick paddle protections, like the ones used for car door guards, definitely are a hindrance while paddling, you can feel the turbulence and less precise catch, but can be worth it for beginners (e.g. on the vario paddle you keep for teaching novices). But one or two layers of helicopter tape around the paddle blade edge does not seem to have significant drag (maybe except for racing at pro level) and seems the best compromise.

Nitto electrical tape was considered the gold standard for taping paddles. The stretch allows it to conform nicely to the shape of the paddle and two layers gives great protection. It lasts forever.

Anybody tried any of the vinyl car wrap products? Google searches for helicopter tape return Teckwrap on ebay.

The ebay blurb says you can put it on and take it off as many times as you like without damage.

vi.vipr.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=263125759300

Vinyl wrap seems to be made for going around strange shapes and there's a variety of products to help get a clean finish (cutting tapes and pin lining stuff). It's made to protect car paint and be removed without damage.

You could wrap the entire rail the whole way round, or even wrap the whole board with some lurid colour.

backbeach said..
Just a newbie to sup surfing but 40+ years a shortboarder and the whole rail tape thing has got me perplexed and pondering. In the shortboard world it would be sacrosanct to disrupt flow over rails with a product like this, given that the rail is the section of the board between the deck and bottom and not just the edge and an integral part of design and board function. I'd reckon this would have to apply to surf sups as well. Geoff McCoy waxes lyrical about the importance of rail throughout board on his site, great synopsis - (and a red herring but a McCoy sup would be fascinating.)
Be also interested to hear what Bert Burger would say re bunging 2/3mm of plastic sticker over an integral part of the boards interface with the wave, flow and function. Used to have one of his shortboards-sweet.
What started me thinking was the total fn hatchet job I did on applying tape to my rails, on par with my supsurf skill atm- pre-school stuff, except uglier. Plenty of newbie paddle strikes so it seemed an obvious need/accesory.
Reading this thread I'm now aware of tape for the paddle, which seems to me a bit of a no brainer, cos now protecting it and your rails. Unless of course someones gunna pipe up and say it diminishes paddle power, but that doesn't seem the case so far.
Cheers

Same as you, about 40 years on a short board and went to SUP a few years back, only I also have a long sea kayaking and canoeing background, which did well in figuring out what to do with the paddle.
What I've found in 2.5 years on the SUP, and surfing them 3-5 times per week...FWIW... If you surf "hard," you're going to hit the board with the paddle. This is especially true when you're stepping down in board size, and getting used to the new, less stability of a shorter, narrower, and less volume board. The rails is where almost all dings happen, from paddle strikes, or whatever. A streak from coming across the deck is not the same as a hard knock to the rail. Paddle strikes don't all happen just from paddling. Eat it in the barrel, and you, the board, and the paddle are going to fight it out. I fix my own boards, but hate it, and hate having a board laid up for a week. I currently own 8 boards, have four new ones on the way, and they all have, or are getting tape. Some have the clear stuff, and some the textured RS Pro. I've surfed them all without rail tape, and there's zero noticeable difference to me. It's a SUP, and a few ounces of extra weight doesn't matter. Neither does the .5-1mm of tape. At the rear, where the rail goes sharp, the tape lower edge should be applied to the edge, and not wrap around it. Even then, I doubt most SUP surfers could tell the difference. I also use electrical tape on my paddle edges. The clear "soft" tape is mush less durable. It can/will nick and tear with a good paddle blade hit. Protects the board, but makes the tape ugly. The textured "hard" tape like the RS Pro is tough. I prefer this kind of tape. However, it has a hard, sharp edge. If the board flips up and gets you in the shin, that edge can remove a little skin. Maybe it can be softened with a little filing, but I've never worried about it. People love to talk about good paddle technique, and while that's important, rail strikes are still going to happen. The tape has saved me from having to repair loads of dings from strikes while surfing or wiping out. That alone has made the price worth the cost.My ?2, FWIW.