A couple years ago I picked up a Steel Series Rival 650 wireless mouse. Before I got it, I used a mouse that was basic and not very comfortable. Not comfortable, as in causing pain and numbness after a day’s worth of use. After switching to the 650, the pain and numbness went away. I’ve enjoyed the 650, it’s been a good mouse. However, after daily use, the grips on each side of the mouse started to lose adhesion. I began my search for a mouse grip replacement.
For the Rival 650, the grips are replaceable, but one has to replace the entirety of the side panels. As these rubber grips have always felt a little too slick for me, since I hold my mouse solely by the thumb and pinky fingers, I wanted to look into other options. There are a number of vendors and mouse manufacturers that sell grip kits at varying degrees of price and quality. After looking into these custom mice grip replacements, I wasn’t satisfied with the results.
Looking into what I could do, custom-wise, myself, I ended up getting this grip tape from Amazon.
I removed the grips from the mouse then stuck them on top of the grip tape. Using an Xacto knife, I then cut out replacements. Not exactly the best-looking mouse grip replacement, but I was going for function.
So far, I’ve been thrilled by the increased grip with the tape after replacing the old grips. It’s retained its comfort and feels more secure in my grasp.