RAT grip custom handle material

LunkerBuster · 05-05-2010, 07:37 PM

I received a very generous tester kit from RAT grips. it included one of their carbine kits and a whole bunch of other stuff including two extra grips and some pads. Right off the bat, my first impression was very positive, not only do I love free stuff, but this was a nicely packaged and nicely put together product and the instructional pics looked quite cool.

I was going to try to replace the handle on my tito gun as it is all torn up....as you can see from these pics, once I removed the existing handle grip the remaining skeleton really didn't leave me enough substance to grip so I opted to put the RAT grip over the existing one, not sure if that is recommended of not.

The instructions are very simple, heat the inside of the grip, wrap it onto the handle, grip it, reheat the exterior and then grip it again with the glove or texture rag.
I had a little trouble figuring out the optimal temperature, I found that having the heat gun set to 550 worked the best even though it is a lot higher than the recommended 2-300 degree range..maybe my heat gun is not giving me the true heat ratings too

LunkerBuster · 05-05-2010, 07:44 PM

As you can see in the last pic above and the ones below, it is not a perfect fit right away... Ihad a few spots i wanted to cover and i wanted the rear seam to blend..

i found this to be very easy to do once the heat issue was resolved...I was able to get the material to move easily using the included glove (wet, they stress working the material with wet hands to prevent burns and keep the heat even)

Then I textured it up with the glove and shaped the front to my finger grooves

I also used to pieces from the RAT pad to make a nice padded tip for my loading tab.

I used one piece and melted it down onto the loader, then added a second piece and melted that one into the first, it can be loaded without even a shirt now (although I tore out a lot of chest hair trying and will never repeat that

LunkerBuster · 05-05-2010, 07:47 PM

all in all i am very pleased with this product, first of all they clearly like it enough and have enough faith in it to give it away and I see why, it is awesome!!

very easy to use and a great result....I'll update in a few weeks to see how it handles the ocean

do I think this is going to replace shapelock? no, but it fits a different niche. this i great for guys like me, or shooters, who have a gun and want to make it more custom...the shapelock handles I have seen have all been built up from a frame and seemed to require a little more effort. i like it

Adrian · 05-05-2010, 08:12 PM

thank you for the review.

John Hanson · 05-05-2010, 10:29 PM

Thanks for the review LB. The site was very interesting and the idea is definitely good.

My only critiques of what I saw on the website, are that you can only slightly modify an existing handle and the product is very expensive as compared to shapelock; which is relatively cheap and offers a much broader range of possibilities.

Like you said, it has it's niche.

LunkerBuster · 05-05-2010, 11:10 PM

i should add that the whole process including taking the pictures took about 15 minutes...that was fast to me.

Marco · 05-06-2010, 08:03 AM

Yeah, for me the price is the main disadvantage. But if money is not a problem, it for sure has its niche.

papaa · 05-06-2010, 09:26 AM

Thanks L B,thanks for your time.

rfoggyone · 05-13-2010, 09:12 AM

Thanks for the feedback- i am hoping a few more who we sent out material to will pop up. I have already learned several things. you folks are early adapter personalities, recoil/anti shock properties are not as important in spearfishing as in firearms. I thought LB did a nice job for a first grip installed. As to the shape lock perspective, we admire shapelock for initially breaking into the market, Rat grip however allows for far greater detail and ease of use. I will be getting my speargun back soon/will install a pommel-sniper grip, and will try in the meantime to figure out how to post pictures.
I would suggest while you folks sort out and work with the ratgrips, consider the merits of military snipers who have for 40 years used bondo, two part epoxy, glues, tape and cardboard, shapelock and many other products to improve their shooting ergonomics. They have overwhelmingly choose Ratgrips.(granted the exception of recoil/shock management that isnt as applicable in spear fishing.)

Wood Guy · 05-13-2010, 10:35 AM

Nice job, Lunker. Thanks for sharing.