Hey Hitch-Hicker: I think you make a good point ( how did the covering get ripped?) It has been my experiance with covered blades to keep the covering tight, check the covering every now and then and make shure they havn't stretched out at all and if they have then hit them with the heat gun and retighten them.

Also I think that the opinion that Steve makes is the cause of the rip in the covering. If the covering has slack or has stretched and is lifting from the surface of the blade it will rip and just putting some tape on it as a fix doesn't cure the problem. The cure is keeping the covering tight all the time or using a good set of CF's.

Heli on,
Shannon