Combat Handle

Here are the bits you need: some PVC tubing, piano wire, racquet hand-grip tape, strong cord, and fuel tubing.

Choose a PVC tubing diameter to suit your fingers or hand (24mm ID shown here). You might want to experiment. Mark and cut the tubing handle length. For strength, you need a minimum of about 5mm between a wire hook and the end of the tubing.

Put the tubing in a wooden work-bench vice, and heat the tubing with a hair dryer on its highest heat and flow settings. The work-bench must be wooden so that it doesn't drain away too much heat. When the PVC softens, gradually wind the vice in until it has the right "flatness" for your hand. Its best to let the heat soak in for a while first (say 2 minutes), then gradually squash it - this seems to give a good oval shape rather than a wobbly shape due to some parts being softer than others.

Here are the squashed tubes with a nice oval shape. Drill the squashed tubes at the marked locations with a hole to suit the piano wire size.

Choose a piano wire thickness that is a good compromise between strength and workability. These handles are using only 1.2mm wire for ease of bending. This is right on the limit of minimum strength for these particular handles. Because the wire loops only protrude by 15mm, the bending moment is quite low. You might choose 1.5mm wire if you have good bending equipment. The wire passes right through the handle at the two sets of holes, and runs up the back of the handle in between. These handles are for F2D, so the loops are left open to allow the pre-built line loops to slip over them. A single drop of CA glue on the back of the handle where the wire passes through each of the holes helps hold the wire in place until the grip tape is applied and helps with rigidity during use.

All that is left is to finish off the handles. Wrap with a nice flouro racquet hand-grip tape so you can see it in the grass; The tape holds the wire up against the back of the PVC handle. Like a racquet, you may want to regularly replace the grip-tape to keep the "feel" of the handle right. Tie a wrist-tether onto the bottom wire loop where it passes through the tube. The fuel-tubing is used to stop commercial F2D lines from sliding off the loops while flying. To connect the lines, thread the lines through the fuel-tubing, hook the loops of the lines over the loops/hooks on the handle, slide the fuel-tubing back over the loop/hook connection to secure it.