Threaded rod padding

[Stormin Mormon]

One place where I go, now and again. There is a vertical, metal ladder. At the top, there is a threaded rod, for a hand hold. The threads cut into my fingers, when I grab on. Someone had wrapped this in duct tape, but the threads are cutting through the duct tape. Is there some other way to pad this, so it would be a more comfortable grip handle?

Can't slide a tube over it, and wouldn't want to. The tube would rotate, and a climber could lose grip. Foam padding (like for pipe wrap) might not hold up for very long.

The duct tape isn't all that ideal, it's a bit slippery. What else comes to mind?

[salty]

wrap it with a bicycle innertube under tension, and the ends secured with Gorilla Tape and plastic ties.

[dpb]

Replace it w/ a rod threaded only on the ends...

Paint it w/ a few layers of the tool-grip paint...

Wear gloves...

[George]

Wrap it with self fusing rubber tape.

[gfretwell]

The tape they sell to wrap tennis racket handles.

[Stormin Mormon]

That has all the advantages. Simple, cheap, and great grip. I like it!

[Eric in North TX]

Take it out cut a length of plumbing pipe or conduit to fit over the threaded rod, replace.

[aemeijers]

Wrap it in a strip of wet leather, and cinch the end off tightly. Once it dries, it won't go anywhere.

Proper solution, although probably a PITA, is to take the damn thing apart and put a proper grab handle there. Or take the old part to a machine/welding shop, and tell them 'make me one that looks like this, but I want this part hand-friendly'. If that means going from a single threaded rod to a multi-piece fitting, make sure it is strong enough for the application. (NB the Kansas City balcony collapse, which was due to a changed threaded-rod design.) Or maybe just add a handle off to the side of the threaded rod, held in place with jam nuts so it doesn't move around when people grab it.

Hard to say without seeing the installation in question- I can imagine lots of things.

-- aem sends...

[Nate Nagel]

Handlebar tape for a bicycle?

Length of fuel hose, just a little undersize, slit lengthwise and wrapped with electrical tape?

nate

[Stormin Mormon]

You miss the part about "can't slide a tube over it"?

[Stormin Mormon]

The grip handle is bent threaded rod, and sunk into the concrete. I can't remove it. The wet leather sounds good. That, or the tennis handle grip wrap.

[Stormin Mormon]

Now you are on to something -- with the fuel hose. I'll have to check sometime, see what the thread diameter is. I guess it's not an issue if the rod is a bit big, you only pull on the back and top of the threads.

[aemeijers]

What? Field-created handles and loops are supposed to be made from bent rebar, not threaded rod! Send your concrete guy back to school!

-- aem sends...