I'm looking to use heat shrink on an upcoming build. My question is about how long heat shrink tends to last? Am I safe to integrate it into the build or should I be expecting to replace it down the road and thus should use it in a way that won't be a headache to remove the old and put a fresh shrink on?

Heat shrink does age and get brittle - might take a few years, but eventually it's going to start 'chipping'.

 

This is from years of electronics experience.

I use it on the cork handles of most all of my rods spinning and bait casting.  I have had some on for close to 10 years.  Every year or so I clean them with Totally Awesome which seems to bring back a tacky feel for better grip.  Lately I have been buying it from The Mud Hole.

40 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Heat shrink does age and get brittle - might take a few years, but eventually it's going to start 'chipping'.

 

This is from years of electronics experience.

Never used it for rods so I was unsure whether it was the same exact thing as electrical heat shrink.

5 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I use it on the cork handles of most all of my rods spinning and bait casting.  I have had some on for close to 10 years.  Every year or so I clean them with Totally Awesome which seems to bring back a tacky feel for better grip.  Lately I have been buying it from The Mud Hole.

Ok, I can deal with ten years of service life! Great tip for cleaning!

I love the stuff over EVA grips - even made indexed-position kayak paddle grips using it over closed-cell foam.  

 

The best way to shrink it is boil water in a tea kettle.  

Initially shrink it with hot air, then go back, start at the middle and pour boiling water from the middle to one end, go back to the middle and pour to the other end.  

16 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

I love the stuff over EVA grips - even made indexed-position kayak paddle grips with it over closed-cell foam.  

 

The best way to shrink it is boil water in a tea kettle.  

Initially shrink it with hot air, then go back, start at the middle and pour boiling water from the middle to one end, go back to the middle and pour to the other end.  

That's a cool upgrade to the paddles!  How do they hold up on the paddles?

thanks guys, I've used them 2 years now, probably in triple-digit miles.  

I Really Like them.  

I began with 1/8-inch closed-cell foam and rolled it onto the paddle with 3M 77 spray contact cement.  

The trick is getting the position correct, but I also have a bent shaft touring paddle the same length for reference.  

 

 

The closed-cell foam grip was splitting on my 12-y-o stake-out pole - put X-shrink over it and still using it