Regrip often? Learn to do it yourself and save a few bucks

So, in the interests of keeping more of my hard-earned loot out of Golf Town’s grubby hands, I’ve decided to build a gripping station in my basement.

I expect I’m one of the few people in the world who have taken to heart the grip-manufacturer mantra of regularly regripping my clubs, and after a while, it starts to get expensive.

For starters, off-the-rack equipment typically comes with generally crappy rubber grips that are too small for my meaty paws. Plus, I’ve grown rather fond of the feeling of a brand-new, properly sized grip, and I’m tired of the disinterested golf-shop club techs ignoring my requests for midsized grips and multiple tape wraps.

So, I’m going to try to do it myself.

Step one: Golfsmith. Not only does this U.S.-based superstore stock just about every piece of OEM equipment this side of Tiger’s irons, but they sell clubmaking equipment and components as well. Plus, there’s a store in Toronto which, being more of a warehouse, makes ordering from north of the border a snap.

A complete regrip kit comes with 13 grips, multiple strips of double-sided grip tape, grip solvent and a rubber shaft clamp – a vital piece of equipment that will ensure you don’t overtighten your vise and crush the club shaft.

Originally, I wanted to go back to the multi-coloured Golf Pride MultiCompound grips, hopefully with an unconventional colour like green or orange. Oddly, only the red ones _ which I already have on an earlier set of irons _ come in midsize.

So, in the interests of consumer journalism, I opted for a set of the new Lamkin “sting-free” Crossline Tour grips, which _ despite the fact they don’t come in a cord version _ look and feel pretty darn good, I have to say.

Assuming I would bugger the whole thing up at least once, I also ordered an extra roll of grip tape.

I made the mistake of going to a certain prominent Canadian retailer with the word “Tire” in its name to buy a hobby-sized workshop vise – the kind that clamps to a countertop rather than being bolted down. Problem was, when I got it home, half the vise was missing.

So, back to Crappy Tire I go for a refund and yet another promise to never darken their door again, after which I hope to have a fully functional gripping station _ and newly regripped clubs after that.

I’ll keep you posted.