1) What is Boron? Seeker uses it in some of there blanks. Graphite (high or low modulus), Fiberglass ( E-glass, S-glass), Steel, Tree bark. I was just curious. 2) How durable is the cork tape handles on surf poles and live bait poles. The poles will most likely be placed in some type of rod holder. I don't want to use hypolon. Will it last for 1, 2, 5 years. Iwant to let them know. Ilike it because of the light wieght.

Boron is a metal. It is not particularly well suited for use in fishing rods and was long ago been passed in fishing rod performance terms by various types of graphite fibers.

Cork tape is tougher than you think. However, you can certainly tear and cut it by sliding it in and out of rod holders. The nice thing about it is, you can just replace it when you need to. No removing of seat or components. Just take off the old (can be a pain though) and wrap on the new and bind down the ends.

........................

a friend of mine had a spinning rod with a cork handle that rode around in the rod holder of his boat for a while, a short while, after about a month of fishing 3 or 4 nights a week, he pulled the rod out, and the butt fell right off, where it was rubbing on the rod holder had worn right through, and there was only a small tear in the tape. I guess you would probably want to make sure you had a little more cushion where the rod exits the holder if you want it to last any amount of time.

I always use cork tape on my surf rods. It fits much better in my hand and makes a big difference when the rod is already long and the lures relatively large. I have found that you must wind the cork tape very tightly and make sure there is no gap between the winds (make sure to use a roughly 45-degree angle on the winds, and I always burnish it to make sure the wraps are tight). I have rods that I have used heavily, for at least 3 years, with no problems with the cork tape lacking durability or unwinding. If the tape is loose or there are gaps, then it tends to unwind after some use. Also, make sure the butt cap is glued over the end of the tape. I also try to glue the reel seat to overlap the cork tape just a bit, however I usually pick out reel seats that just barely fit over the blank, and they don't always fit over the cork tape. Regardless, I always wrap some D-size black thread over the top of the cork tape, right in front of the reel seat, to ensure it stays put. After a lot of hard use, the tape will tend to flatten out and wear right where your hand goes, near the reel seat. I don't use rod holders much, but I suppose if there is a wear point it could spread the cork thin. And as Tom mentions, it can be cut, in which case I guess it could unwind.