Carbon fiber rod handles

[GetReel]

Do you leave the carbon fiber material as is or finish with an epoxy?

[VanderLaan]

A lot of options available. They are usually finished, so you can leave them as is. If you want to make the fiber pop, you can coat them with lumiseal, epoxy, permagloss or Bullard's CPXtra.

[Huckleberry]

I leave mine as is for better grip. If you epoxy them, they are slick .... slick looking but slick gripping

[Bassbme]

I've done them both ways, and I will tell you that it is much easier to keep the "slick" ones clean. The slick ones are also more comfortable to grip. And yes they are "slick", but they are not slippery. At least not if your hands are just wet. If you have fish slime on your hands, then yes, they are slippery. But if I get fish slime on my hands I wipe it off with a towel, so that's really a moot point.

As far as cleaning the non top coated ones go, soapy water and an old tooth brush cleans them up fine. For looks, I like the non top coated look on a rod I build to look stealthy. (the newest flipping rod I built) if I want the rod to look more fancy (the newest drop shot rod I built) I like the top coated with epoxy look much better.

A couple of coats of epoxy, let it dry thoroughly (at least a couple of days) wet sand with 220 grit sand paper (unless you're good enough to not have a little unevenness to the grip's surface) to knock off the high spots, then hit it with some 320 or 400 to smooth it nicely, and finally, a coat of Perma Gloss, or similar product, and you're good to go.

[GetReel]

Thanks guys

[thedude]

spar urethane