Got some X-Shrink tube from Janns and there are no specific directions that came with it. Should I put epoxy under it before I shrink it down or will it stay in place well enough just from the compression of being shrunk? I am going to put it over some EVA mostly to toughen up the surface for use in a rod holder.

Spray something like 3M contact adhesive on area to be covered before shrinking.
There are other brands that work but that one works well enough for me that i have not gone looking for another.

I've never applied any sort of adhesive to the core material prior to shrinking the tube. Generally the compression of the shrunk tubing will prevent it from every moving, particularly when shrunk onto something like EVA, which will itself compress a bit, creating even more friction between the two materials.

On a bare blank or over a more rigid core, perhaps an adhesive is well advised, but I don't think you need it on the EVA.

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Hello David.

Tom is right, no need on EVA and if you get a cut or rip in the shrink tube if it is not glued down you can replace it easily by cutting it off and adding a new one, if you glue it it will tear the EVA up removing it and if you think you can just put a new one over the damaged one you are wrong it will show like crazy.

Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

I have had trouble sliding the shrink tube onto the EVA after spraying with adhesive if the fit is too tight. Has anyone else run into this problem or is there a trick to getting it to slide in place?

If you're going to use adhesive, then you'll have to use tubing that is large enough in OD to easily slide over the EVA without touching it.

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I've found that glue is required for my EVA/Shrink builds. My guys are quite hard on their rods and actually twisted / slid the tubing around on the grips before I started gluing them.

I use an extremely thin coat of Rod Bond. It actually is slick enough to allow you to push slightly undersize tubing over the larger portion of tapered grips if required, which can help a lot in some situations.