Gotta have side handle!

Just chatted with Oscar Chalupsky.

The new handles are made from carbon/epoxy.  Of course he can't comment on the robustness of other skis!  But it does mean they should attach solidly.

I have a 550 with recessed side handles and I found them to be great. Now that I have a non-Nelo ski without handles I bought some transparent shower non-slip tape (3M Safety 7641 Shower Tread, 2-Inch to be specific) and taped a long strip to the top-inside of the cockpit on each side. I use it to pick the ski up from the ground and to hold it under the outdoor showers at the harbor to rinse the ski, and it works great. Especially when the ski and fingers are wet it eliminates slippage.
The advantages of the tape over the recessed handles are that it's much longer so you can lift the ski in more places, that it's removable, cheaper, and more readily available. The cons are that the handle is at the center of gravity so provides a reference for where you should probably lift from and the handles are a bit more secure. I have not found either the handles or the tape to bother in any way. The tape, being clear on white bucket background, is visually pretty well integrated (arguably less obtrusive than the brown handles).

That can be a good option for my SES. The walls are so skinny, there's absolutely no way that it can have any sort of a handle.

tve wrote: I have a 550 with recessed side handles and I found them to be great. Now that I have a non-Nelo ski without handles I bought some transparent shower non-slip tape (3M Safety 7641 Shower Tread, 2-Inch to be specific) and taped a long strip to the top-inside of the cockpit on each side. I use it to pick the ski up from the ground and to hold it under the outdoor showers at the harbor to rinse the ski, and it works great. Especially when the ski and fingers are wet it eliminates slippage.
The advantages of the tape over the recessed handles are that it's much longer so you can lift the ski in more places, that it's removable, cheaper, and more readily available. The cons are that the handle is at the center of gravity so provides a reference for where you should probably lift from and the handles are a bit more secure. I have not found either the handles or the tape to bother in any way. The tape, being clear on white bucket background, is visually pretty well integrated (arguably less obtrusive than the brown handles).

On a related note I have a transport sleeve on mine. Mainly due to difficult loading/unloading situation at home which is high impact risk. This means i can't hold by the footstrap, the sock slides and so makes manhandling  the ski in its sock slippery as sock will slide under your grip. To get around this I use a a short cam strap, sometimes two, which I attach around girth of  hull. This gives a firm strap to grab hold of where it crosses the foot well or seat bucket. If I anticipate a tricky cart to water and back I can attach this to bare hull then just pop the strap in my PFD pocket whist on the water. Just a thought if you are thinking of detachable strap arrangement

Great idea Waverider. I have those stretchy sock covers to fit all of my skis (except the double) but I virtually never use them because they make the ski an absolute bastard of a thing to carry.