Thank you, fella's. I ended up putting athletic tape over it, and then covered that in this stuff my dad had, that he used to make grips on our barbeque. (rubber paint style stuff... worked great) Will try to take a pic if i can borrow a digicam
An alternate idea would to be to take pvc with an ID approximately the width of the pump handle, cut to appropriate lengths, and just epoxy it onto the original pump handle. Then coat with whatever material you feel to posess the most grip, and you're good to go. I have not done it personally, but I'd bet it work.
~ompa
Doing this, but with wide vinyl tubing... going to go look for something for a grip, suggestions welcome.