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I never used chalk - I don't like it. Adhesive tapes were hard to find, sprays even harder. I was making adhesive myself from pine resin or colophonium (colophony) dissolved in petrol or 70-96% alcohol in approx. 1:5 ratio. When I was in hurry I often used gasoline from father's car. We had lot of pines, so collecting resin was easy and free.
If there are no pines where you live, you can buy colophonium in paint stores or musical stores (musicians are using it for bows on violins). I prefer fresh pine resin because it smells so nice.
Be careful, colophonium and/or petrol may irritate skin, so please test your skin sensitivity before use.

Can't you get cancer from rubbing gasoline on your hands?

I notice alot of vaulters use lighter fluid also. It makes the tape sticky they say.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Can't you get cancer from rubbing gasoline on your hands?

I didn't (yet).
You can get cancer from thousands reasons. Anyway, I recommend to use alcohol as dissolvent.
By the way, do you know what is in that GRIPPP Spray? Certainly not organic and natural components.

Pogo Stick wrote:By the way, do you know what is in that GRIPPP Spray? Certainly not organic and natural components.

Haha yeah but I doubt there are any known carcinogens in it

rainbowgirl28 wrote:

Pogo Stick wrote:By the way, do you know what is in that GRIPPP Spray? Certainly not organic and natural components.

Haha yeah but I doubt there are any known carcinogens in it

You probably drive car with gasoline engine, just like 99.9% of us, right? Cars are using known carcinogen - gasoline. Gasoline - from production to burning in engine is more danger for you, other people and environment than rubbing it once or twice per week on your hands. How can you live with this? What is the cancer risk level you are willing to accept and live with?

Gasoline is bad s*** to get on your skin. You shouldn't touch it any more than absolutely necessary.





Pole vaulting probably doesn't count as absolutely necessary.

I have never used anything but a little chalk and in 20 yrs. of coaching I have never had a vaulter use anything sticky on there hands. I'm curious as to why some vaulters feel a need to glue there hands to the pole?

A little extra confidence/assurance that their hands won't slip... especially on those stiffer 15-16 footers.