at closely spaced locations along the length of the strip preferably the pockets are elongated in the direction across the strip and narrow in width the pockets are substantially deeper than the thickness of the strip 14 and hence extend from the opposite side 18 to form projections 19 which in the preferred embodiment shown are in the form of ribs as shown the pockets end short of the edges 20 21 that form the longitudinally spaced circular ends of the tubular shell 12 as shown in fig7 the pockets are recessed slightly relative to the plane of the edges 20 21 so the surfaces between pockets will be spaced slightly from the pole surface when the strip is in place in the preferred embodiment the strip 14 is of a thermoformable plastic material initially flat and the pockets 24 are thermoformed using a suitable molding surface a foamed adhesive 30 covers the piling 10 beneath the shell 12 the adhesive forms a layer between the shell and piling that extends into the surface crevices of the piling and seals the piling surface beneath the shell the foamed adhesive also firmly adheres the shell to the piling and forms a cushion between the shell and piling the layer of adhesive is foamed in place after the strip 14 is wrapped around the piling to assure entry of the adhesive under pressure into all crevices.