A few days ago I tried wrapping the handle on my 261 with about 12ft of silicone tape and it made a small difference but I would really like to fatten up the handlebar for a more comfortable grip. I don't have giant hands but neither do I have midget hands. The silicone tape seems to work well and I managed to find a shade of orange that almost looks factory, but it did very little to fatten the grip. I was thinking of first wrapping with some cushy bike handlebar tape and then going over it with silicone tape for durability. Any slick solutions out there I might have missed?
Damn tough to find something that's durable, color fast, etc., so don't have too lofty expectations, but they're chainsaws....meant to get dirty and beat up. Funny that you just posted this, as I've been busy upgrading the handles on most of my saws for improved comfort and grip. I even posted a video showing the stages and end result. Check it out at
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Here's my process and choice of materials: Remove handle from saw, and degrease the handle with rubbing alcohol. Then wrap paracord (with innards removed) to create flattened grip ridges that will underlay the wrapping materials. Then use tennis racket over grips (which aren't durable by themselves, and usually requires 2-3 to fully cover a std handle, twice that for a wrap handle), and if you want extra cushion, then double, or even triple-up the over grips. Since I have so many saws, I ended up buying a pack of 30 over grips. Then top the over grips with 1-2 passes of hockey tape, which you can find in a bunch of colors to your liking (don't use athletic tape or anything with a crazy amount of adhesive). With the over grip and hockey tape wraps, make sure you apply enough tension to keep the material from creating creases.
I find the foregoing provides good grip and more comfort from the stock handles, slightly reduces vibration if I put enough over grip material on, and best yet, the adhesive isn't crazy so if the wrap gets damaged etc. beyond your liking, very easy to remove and reapply a new wrap. All told I can have a full wrap handle upgraded as described with 30 minutes. I wrapped a bunch of saws, and cost worked out to about $16.60 per handle.....not bad IMO. I'm hoping each wrap will last many years before I have to replace.
