[jgrebe]

When I see someone with oar rights, I automatically assume they are a kook that doesn’t know how to row.

When I see someone make a comment like that I automatically assume they are a doucebag who nobody want to raft with anyway. Having said that, I love the Gilman grips. At 66 I'm starting to feel arthritis in my wrists and these help that significantly.

 

[jgrebe]

Hey man. You spelled douchebag wrong.

Yeah you read my posts you'll find a lot of that. Guess I don't spend enough time douching. Notice you got it right though haha! Touchay!

 

[jgrebe]

A little side project for those DIY inclined. I had a old pair of Cataract oars with the steel rod counterbalance. Didn't want to spend the money on Gilman grips or shorten the oars (required on Cataract counterweights if you add Gillmans). I stripped the old handle down to the steel rods for about 5", mixed up a big batch of Bondo auto body putty, put on some latex gloves and put about a cup in my palm. Grabbed the handle and positioned everything to the right orientation and let if set up ( 10 minutes). Next cut off excess, sanded it down and sprayed with truck bed liner. Viola! instant custom fitted grips. The Bondo is bomber and easy to repair if there is any damage

 

[jgrebe]

(Touché)

It was a joke. Took me a long time to figure out to miss spell touche. But maybe you weren't correcting my spelling but acknowledging the barb? Ironic humor is SO hard on the internet

 

[jgrebe]

All that banter and neither of you came up with Douché?

Never thought of that turn of a phrase but might be my new favorite word. Douche: exclamation. Used as an acknowledgment during a discussion of a good or clever point made by a jerk. Wouldn't have applied here because we were just joking but I can think of many times I would have liked to use that exact word. Good one!

 

[jgrebe]

Counterweights have sunk more oars than anything else, in my opinion. I won't get into the whole leash debate (i use them) but a weighted oar is in my opinion more likely to break a leash (and your teeth if you jamb one in downstream) - just more weight and more force. Generally, a counter-weighted oar will float vertically for a little bit until the oar shaft fills with water. Grab it while you can. I lost a counter-weighted oar in a train wreck in Westwater. After that, I filled the oar shaft with spray foam. That solved the sinking problem but the best solution is to adjusted your rig so that you don't need them. Absent counterweights I'd say fairly rare to see someone with leashes loose an oar.