Cork Or Eva Foam Grips

[papajoe222]

I'm old school when it comes to a lot of things;  'Till death do you part', manual transmissisons,  fixing stuff rather than throwing it away, wood gun stocks and cork grips on my fishing rods are on a long list.  To me, cork is a lot classier than black foam and for me, it holds up to hard use and my sweaty, greasy hands better too.  I know it takes a little TLC to keep it looking good, but that is also one of the reasons why I choose it.  I wanted to do a poll on this topic, but I'm not computer savy.

So which do you prefer and why?

[22hertz]

I like cork.

 

I like the smooth solid feel in my hand.

It also looks better to me and I think it gets beter with age/use.

[Ozark_Basser]

EVA can look cheap if its not done right it seems. It can also look really nice. I prefer cork, but I'm trying out a woven carbon fiber grip for my build.

[Poolshark]

I prefer traditional cork grips. I prefer the looks of round reels as well. But I'll fish with the best performance I have available.

[Jrob78]

I prefer cork but it isn't a deal breaker either way.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Just eva vs foam not a factor in my choice. Though the feel type of each can be. Like a rougher feeling eva like I noticed on the full grip Tatula is a bummer to me. Or the rubberized cork handle of the Elite Tech not my preference.

[gulfcaptain]

Well most of my rods are EVA Foam(at least the small back grip).  The ***'s are cork and some of my BPS rods are as well.  I am not a big fan of fore grips on rods though.  Only rods I have that have these are my 2 swimbait rods and one cranking rod.  All are cork though.  But to me it doesn't matter much as long as it's done nicely.

[Bluebasser86]

I'm starting to prefer the EVA because it's more comfortable in my hands after several hours of fishing. 

[SirSnookalot]

My bass and inshore rods are all cork,  most offshore rods are EVA and they are fine for that.

All my rods have foregrips wouldn't consider anything else.  Several reasons, I like my hand in front of my spinning reels, gives me better a hookset with the additional leverage.  Fighting fish from 5 to 30 minutes my wrist and forearm doesn't get nearly as fatigued or sore with my hand on the grip.

[LunkerFisher]

I have both. I do prefer the look and feel of cork, but the blank is more important to me than the grip.

[WIGuide]

I've got a mix of both, but if I had to choose I'd rather have cork. I think it looks nice even once aged. 

[MickD]

I prefer cork because I like its looks and in the old days, EVA or whatever the black foam was would disintegrate from sun after a few years.  Maybe better now, but since I prefer the look of cork, no reason to go EVA.  For spinning rods I use very little cork.  

 

http://clients.criticalimpact.com/newsletter/newslettercontentshow1.cfm?contentid=9599&id=1069

[SNK]

I prefer cork overall, but at times a little EVA/Cork combination has a nice look to it. 

[Primus]

I prefer cork . 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Cork is a great grip material. That's why it's been so popular for so long. Good EVA done well, is equally attractive and functional IMO. Alternative grip materials like foam core carbon fiber sleeved grips and Kevlar tube grips are other good options as good cork become harder to get and more expensive. 

[robster80]

i like the winn grips that u see on some rods now - cabelas tourn zx, castaway invicta,hammer rods. if only more rods would use them! btwn cork and eva it doesnt matter so much as long as it feels good in hands.

[Preytorien]

With so many rods having minimal or exposed reel seats your hands don't actually sit much on the grip, if at all when I'm palming my casting reels. I know on my rods only the back inch or so of my hand actually even touches the cork or EVA. So I don't really consider that of big importance to me.

 

That said, I have both, and really don't have a preference. Both are easy to clean, feel good in my hand, and offer a good grip when my hands are wet.

[Penguino]

Lol neither. I love to use carboncone grips. The only rod that I know of that has these grips is the Okuma C3-40x. The grip only gets better when they are wet. 

[fishballer06]

wood gun stocks and cork grips on my fishing rods

 

Amen!

[.ghoti.]

I don't have a marked preference. Cork or EVA, full or split; I don't really care. As long as the rod is comfortable to use. And, I don't care what they look like.

 

Function over form every day of the week.

[matuka]

I love old school cork. Unfortunately, durability is a big issue to me. I have a few older high end rods with pitted cork. I haven't found an adequate method of restoring these corks. For many, a few soaking rains and filler started coming apart. They are subject to rod rack rash in the boat. Alas, I buy them and baby them.

[A-Jay]

With so many rods having minimal or exposed reel seats your hands don't actually sit much on the grip, if at all when I'm palming my casting reels. I know on my rods only the back inch or so of my hand actually even touches the cork or EVA. So I don't really consider that of big importance to me.

 

That said, I have both, and really don't have a preference. Both are easy to clean, feel good in my hand, and offer a good grip when my hands are wet.

 

X2 ~

 

This covers it for me as well.

 

Though not part of this "poll" - I do also like the Xtreme-Skin handle St Croix puts on the LegendXtreme line.

 

A-Jay

[Bigsig]

About 5 minutes and a magic eraser will make your cork look near new.

[Crutch]

I like using cork, I think it just looks nice and classy.

[Thornback]

Cork for me. From time to time I might clean it up with sandpaper.