Latest modification...

[Richard B]

...shamelessly stolen from Timboli and Rogue Wave! It's sort of dual purpose, firstly to avoid any painful bumps to the face for young passengers, and secondly to avoid the huge heat-loss through the hands now that it's getting a bit colder

[Searider]

What you really want is a heated handrail - "Storm" had one on his Ribtec - but I think that his diesel had plenty of spare heat - might be a bit tricky to rig with an outboard.

Duncan

[jwalker]

might be a bit tricky to rig with an outboard.

Nah. Get a pile of lilliput size bulbs and wire them across a piece of cable, kinda like xmas lights. Put a rubber bung onto the cable, shove the string of lights down the stainless hand hold and seal it with the bung. A string of 10 or 12 wee bulbs will give a nice warm grip and it'll consume very little current. Recommended.

[swginn]

Or you could just try a good pair of gloves maybe?? less hassle anyway

[Richard B]

The trouble with gloves is that they seem like a good idea when you put them on, but a long passage with rain or even just moderate spray will soon soak through even the most expensive gloves, and won't respect a label claiming "waterproof". Wet stainless steel rails become extremely slippery even when wearing neoprene diving gloves, and conducts heat away to leave you feeling as if you're gripping an icicle.

I've found that thick padded gloves can also be tiring on the hands when gripping a stainless rail, so the next set of gloves I'll try will be a pair of washin' up gloves!

[Rogue Wave]

Get some self amalgamating tape around the tie wraps or melt the snipped ends a bit with a soldering iron. Onee of my passengers cut their hands on the Tie wrap.

It's a good size should help cushion most impacts

[Richard B]

That self-amalgamating tape's a good idea Stu... I pulled the tie-wraps tight and cut the ends down very neatly so there are no sharp ends at the moment, but I'm sure that if someone grips tightly, then the plastic ratchet mechanism could tighten and expose the sharp end. Hmmm, or just "weld" them up with a soldering iron... did you ever sell that consignement?

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by swginn

Or you could just try a good pair of gloves maybe?? less hassle anyway

Nope, a heated rail is a hassle once and then a delight ever after. Gloves are a hassle every time.