Defensive protectors for oars and sculls to prevent the paint wearing off and the spoon degrading.

Things you can do to preserve the spoons and handles.

Timestamps

00:45 Oars get wear and tear

You paint the spoons in the club colours and the paint wears in the middle of the back of the oar and the tips of the blades get worn off at the corners (so you no longer have a sharp corner).

Defensive protectors for oars

Our dock is wood and the surface gets greasy and is a slip hazard. We put non-slip matting onto the dock - water drains through the holes. The brand is Ako Matting and is recommended for ice, snow and water uses. The downside is the surface is abrasive on oars because of the non-slip elements.

03:00 Rules for oars

We have a rule that when you land and leave the dock we always put our oars tip side down on the dock. This helps to preserve the paint and stop the wear patterns on the back of the oars.

Tips down meant we got wear on the tip of the blade.

Croker Oars have tip protectors - little triangles which fit over the corners and you superglue in place.

https://www.crokeroars.com/product-page/row-tip-protectors-pair-4-tips

The plastic takes the wear rather than the carbon oar.

Concept2 oar users can use the vortex edge - it's a strip which goes along the length of the oar tip.

https://www.concept2.com/oars/sculls/blades#vortexedge

The wear on the tip of the oars reduces the surface area of the spoon. And the wear is always in the same direction - my sculls ended up thinner than 3mm. This is the legal minimum for World Rowing rules - I had to sand down the tips of the blade to restore the minimum 3mm.

05:30 Protective decals

A scuff pack kit made to protect the back of the oar from rubbing when your oars are on the bank.

Defensive protectors for oars https://crayfishrowing.com/shop/ols/products/scuffpatch-kit-for-two-oars and the Croker oar corners

Lastly - blade wraps - vinyl that is pre-printed with your club colours and they are cut to the oar spoon shape. Use a heat gun to apply them and it also gives some protection to the oar spoon.

https://regattaprint.com/blade-wraps-team-sweep-oars/

How to wrap oars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxcaeTeOz_g&t=10s

Take care of your oars to make them last longer.

If you paint your oars the old fashioned way is to sand them and use marine-grade gloss paint with undercoat and topcoat paint layers. Others have used spray can car paint too.

We had stickers (decals) of the club logo made to put on the shaft of the oars so that they can be identified - helpful if you don't paint your oars and they look the same as every other club. Easy for them to get lost at a regatta.

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