Does anyone have experience with the colored EVA and it's durablity, appearance over time? Will does it fade badly?
I am considering using red on a St. Croix 5S70, but I don't want it to look like crap after a while of use.

Larry,
What happens to handles when they get used? They get dirty. Yes, they can be washed, but the advantage of using black eva for grips is that it is the same color as the dirt that gets on them and thus shows little dirt.
Virtually colors are going to fade as well. It is a matter of degrees. If grips are kept out of the sun and weather, the fading will be minimal and will look great after many years.

Conversely, if colored grips are left out in the sun and weather for years at a time - fading and weather related wear will occur. It is really up to the user to decide if the amount of fading - is a problem or not. Many folks keep rods out of the sun and weather when not being used and thus colored grips should look excellent for years. Conversely, some rods are built - put in the sun and never taken out of the sun or weather. Obviously these rods are going to show weather related aging effects sooner than those rods which are stored out of the sun and especially if they are not used.

Take care
Roger

In other words, under normal use and care the colored EVA will not fade. That's been my experience anyway.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY

I have been using colored grips for many years and most of my rods are made with color grips and many with a multiple of different colors. It all depends on the source of the grips because I have found that some will fade more then others over a period of time. Also some colors are more likely to fade in time because of exposure to the sun. A good washing after fishing is important and a mild soap such as Joy is what I use and I find it keeps the grips looking like new. Old custom grip 2 which was a favorite of mine did show a problem with the color red after a few years in the sun but the some newer sorces of colored grips seem to be holding up better.

My advise to you is don't let the worry of a little fading deter you from using colors, just go for it.

In my limitted experience, only the orange color is faded after awhile. The yellow, red, purple, green, blue are very stable.

I've found that even when they fade, that the true color is still a few mm below and simply sanding the grip will restore the color.