Question: How to wrap oarlocks?

Hi there WBP,
I would like to wrap my Sawyer Cobra Oarlocks in stead of wrapping my oars.  Any hints out there?  Its a little trickier than I thought.  The line used would be an 1/8" polyester braided cord.
Thanks for any insight,
Kelly

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Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on February 1, 2010 at 7:40am
I have never wrapped an oarlock. I have seen wrapped oarlocks and have always wondered why. Maybe it was too big for the oar. When you wrap the oar you do three things to it, 1 increase the diameter so it stays in the horns, 2 protect the wood from dings and abrasion and 3 make it stronger at it's fulcrum. These all sound like good ideas to me. That cobra is a great oarlock and part of it's beauty is the fact that the oars move up in the horns to accommodate different rowing positions. I polish the inside surfaces of my oar locks to reduce friction for feathering and sliding side to side, things I do when I row. Seems that wrapping the oars would do the opposite but perhaps that is the reason for wrapping the locks. I am very curious about wrapping the locks. Must be a good reason to do so and am anxious to learn why.
Permalink Reply by mitchell on February 1, 2010 at 12:16pm
my best guess is to wrap them like you do an oar or a guide on a rod.
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on February 3, 2010 at 9:02pm
Hi AJ,
Yeah, I like the smooth action for feathering too. I've rowed rigs with the different systems -I prefer the wrapped lock because its smoother on the feather and when moving the oar up and down the lock... no wash board effect:)
Permalink Reply by lhedrick on February 1, 2010 at 4:31pm
I have seen photos of wrapped Cobras. IT was done with thin cord like 1/8 as you mentioned. Not sure how they held the cord in place. I really don't think it's worth the time.

Last Nov. I was on the water with a friend who had really sweet large diameter sitka spruce oars with Cobras and instead of a cord wrap on the oar he used nylon seat belt webbing. With the large surface area of the Cobra locks it worked well.

If you do give it a try perhaps you could rough sand the cobras with 60 grit to get some epoxy to grab on to them or notch them.

I for one think the Cobra hardware is over priced and doesn't buy us much. I have never hard of anyone braking and ash oar at the lock. Those heavy smokers are like tree trunks.

When does the new boat hit the water? A first trip down Hells Canyon this spring?

The boat is looking great.
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on February 3, 2010 at 9:11pm
Hey there, ha, yeah there is no way I could ever break an oar at the lock. I've seen someone split one in half from pulling to hard... impressive.-kind of. I probably weigh as much as my oars :)

I like the cobras about equal to the regular. It is nice how they let the oar travel up a little higher in the lock. I know thats saved my oar a couple times in akward situations.

The webbing is a cool idea. I've never seen it but love the idea.

The boat will be christened sometime in march here in the salt water of puget sound, then if the water is high enough... a rogue in mid march. ooh, hells canyon sounds nice. Some friends are getting together on the lower salmon mid july if you're interested.
Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on February 2, 2010 at 7:39am
I love my Cobra locks... I think I might polish them for some bling factor...
Permalink Reply by lhedrick on February 2, 2010 at 9:38am
Just out of curiosity, is there anything which seems different than a regular bronze oar lock from NRS as to the feel of how they row.

I can see they are well made and distribute the contact point load where the oar touches. They are just kind of expansive and when I row I can't feel any difference.

As for the issue of braking an oar shaft with a convectional oar lock I just can't see it happening. I can't imigan 2 250 pound men being able to pull hard enough to brake and oar shaft at the lock. I think the blade would go first every time.

Would be interesting to hear reports where they made a difference. If I could get them at the same price I would get the Cobras.
Permalink Reply by Jeff Peak on February 2, 2010 at 10:46am
Cobras are designed make contact with the shaft of the oar at TWO points (either side of shaft) instead of only one point (bottom of the lock) as w/ standard locks, so the rower has a significantly larger range of vertical motion. I think this becomes more important for a dory, where the rower is sitting lower to the water and thus has more difficulty getting her/his blades out of the water in heavy water situations...unfortunatly, I think this also makes them more difficult to feather...
Permalink Reply by Herb Jacobsen on February 2, 2010 at 12:09pm
I too have never seen a wrapped oar lock. Wrapping the oar is helpful in a lot of ways, those benefits have been mentioned. I have used the stainless steel oar locks I got from Keith Steele and have never had a problem with them and am able to scull and feather them without a problem......

Regarding an oar breaking, I have busted a few over the years pulling on them. The bust has always been between the wraps and the blade. I heard a comment some years ago from Prince Helfrich, "If you break an oar, you are pulling too hard." Interesting enough is that the breaks have always been on my left side. The oars that I have snapped have been the Sawyer solid oak and the Sawyer Lights.

When I wrap my oars, I usually wrap them a foot more than what you get from the factory........
Permalink Reply by Jeff Peak on February 2, 2010 at 12:16pm
dunno about wrapping an oarlock, but i've seen it done...I'm guessing the cord won't stay in one place for you? sliding all around and loostening up on you?
could you use some sort of sinnet style knot to keep cord in place?
could you sew/stitch something over the oarlock instead of wrap?
Permalink Reply by Kelly Neu on February 3, 2010 at 9:19pm
Thanks everyone for the ideas. I've been playing around with it a little and came up w/ this solution below.
-I started the line at the bottom of the lock, criss-crossing over itself. This locked the line in place for the foundation.
-Then I just wrapped 1/3 of the horn like u would an oar.
-Then the next third I just criss-crossed the line again and it seems to hold everything in place. No epoxy or notches.
-Not sure how to wrap the last 1/3. I figure 99% of the time the oar will be low in the lock anyhow.

Permalink Reply by Matt Beach on February 4, 2010 at 5:17am
If it were me, I would use two different ways. First - black shrink tape. Simply wrap your lock and use a torch lighter to melt it to the metal. Last, look at taking it to a dealer that does spray on bedliners and have them dip/spray the material on.

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