Nelo Handles

Hey All.
I paddle a current gen Nelo 520L. As you may know they come without side carry handles and Nelo sells handles you can epoxy on. I have those but they look kinda questionable.
Have anybody used those? They work well for you? I am thinking I could design/print my own if needs be.
Also, would you risk attaching using heavy duty silicone tape? For example Scotch tape I have is outdoor use and rated at 30lb (the ski is 27lb). I use it for my weed deflector and it stays put just fine, but this is not a load bearing application.
(In theory I could design handles with a large surface pad for the tape to grab on to)
Thank you.

I had a nelo 550 g2. It was a great all around ski. I did like the carry handles. Nelo has an instructional video on how to sand and epoxy them on with some little tricks to keep in neat and aligned. As far as that double side foam mounting tape, it is incredibly strong stuff. Though I would worry about adhesive loosening as the boat sits in the sun with the black carbon handle getting hot. Maybe it would not be an issue but the thought occurred to me.

I also have a Nelo 550L - Gne2 and love the handles. Makes lowering the ski from my shoulder with wet hands more secure. I didn't realize how much I missed them on my gen1 550 previously.

I was initially worried that they would chafe my legs, since they stick out (or in) in the bucket, but that s not the case.

On the other hand, 3D printing similar handles should not be a difficult. I pondered it myself, but since they were only 10EURO from an online shop, I just bought and glued them.
I also think double-sided tape would be strong enough to attach them as the load on the handles when carrying is mostly shear and not traction.

zachhandler wrote:

I had a nelo 550 g2. It was a great all around ski. I did like the carry handles. Nelo has an instructional video on how to sand and epoxy them on with some little tricks to keep in neat and aligned. As far as that double side foam mounting tape, it is incredibly strong stuff. Though I would worry about adhesive loosening as the boat sits in the sun with the black carbon handle getting hot. Maybe it would not be an issue but the thought occurred to me.

Yeah, I watched the video and kinda leery of doing that - the epoxies surface seems rather small. And I'd prefer a non-permanent solution so I can fine tune the position to offset it for the weight of a water bottle under the bungee or something like that .

If I print my own I can do them in a light color so they don't get as hot, although heat is not that big an issue around here.

I would be concerned with tape 'cause my experience is that it often fails abruptly.

If you would like a non-permanent solution, consider placing a 2"/5cm wide clear shower anti-slip tape (3M has that) below the edge of the bucket (on the inside of the bucket). I have a 1m length on both my V10 and V12, about 2cm down from the top. I can carry the ski one-handed with barely a grip as the tape provides pretty secure hold onto just my fingers. I've never even noticed the tape when surfskiing, incl remounts. Overall it provides a very secure grip onto a long portion of the bucket edge. It's removable, you can grab anywhere, it's barely noticeable on a white bucket, it's cheap, it has held up for several years now.

Personally I would never use any form of tape, most are not UV stable and will let go at some time.

But the main issue I have is, you have a great big hole in the cockpit and if it comes off you ARE sinking. I repair skis with very small holes in the cockpit and you won't believe how much water they let in.

Also, doing it yourself and you are not 100% in composite ability? Recipe for disaster! Many things can go wrong. Like cutting the hole too big or in wrong position, not sanding ski and handle enough for good bond, contaminating surfaces with dodgy solvents, using wrong epoxy, not mixing epoxy properly......List goes on.

Ranga you must be thinking of a different sort of handle such as a recessed handle. The nelo product that the OP is asking about is simply glued on to the inside of the bucket. No holes are made in the ski. It is not as nice in the hand as a recessed handle but it does make a ski easier to carry.

Yes, clearly something different to what I have seen before.

I would NEVER make any holes in a 1 yo ski

For those who have installed Nelo handles. Looking at a pair I have sitting around I am confused. It's really not protruding all that much. How do you do you grab it? Wrapping hand over the top of the wall and hooking fingers under? The walls on 520 are thick and I have short fingers so that wouldn't work.

I doubt any holing is involved. My 2019 520 S came with the “handles” installed, a very good thing. How the *#$@! do you carry one without the shallow indents known as the handles???


Even with the handles installed, I carried the ski with great difficulty. Had to hold it diagonally across my body at the hip (bucket facing away from me), with one hand grasping into the topside handle from above, and the other hand supporting the ski by curving around below the bottomside gunnel. The fingers grasping that shallow indent would not have adequate grip without the hand supporting the gunnel on the other ski side from below. The lower hand’s thumb went into the lower-side indent.


These handles are more like grippy surfaces than actual handles, IMO. The ski is light enough to easily shoulder-carry...but there’s no place to secure the ski from slipping off the shoulder. With real handles on the sides, it could have been done safely.


I wrote that I carried (past tense) the 520 because I just got a different ski that has real handles. And wow, carrying it on the shoulder is a breeze now. Such a small detail that makes a huge difference to those of us who can’t side-tuck an elite-width ski under broad shoulders with long male arms. The 520 would have to be much narrower and shallower for me to do that.


Don’t overthink installing the Nelo grip aids. I can’t fathom trying to carry the 520 with fingers on bare gelcoat. Put the grips on and go paddle.

Zachhandler,

If that is the Nelo grip, it is different from what came with mine.