It’s an often overlooked accessory that is very useful. It can be used to secure loose straps, quiet gear, and to provide a sort of cushion in some situations, not to mention countless of other applications.
Now I’m mainly looking for a flat tape, that won’t leave a adhesive residue, but will hold up to cold, heat, and abrasion. I’ve looked locally to no avail. I’ve found a couple tapes online that could be described as “tactical tape”, but I’m unsure of how they’ll hold up. Then, the prices of some of the tapes makes experimenting potentially an expensive venture.
That’s why I’m going to ask: What tape do you use? What are your likes and dislikes?
It depends on how long I want the tape to hold honestly. I don’t need to have “tacticool colored” tape or anything so I use whatever is handy depending on how long I want it to last. Athletic tape works decent for some aspects I’ve found but it doesn’t last exceptionally long. Electrical tape works pretty good also. Duct tape/Gorilla tape works really well of course. The problem is they leave residue, with the exception of athletic tape.
I keep several rolls around all the time. Taped a split hose on my intake air filter two years ago. Never bothered to replace the hose. The repair is like a reinforcement to the end of the hose.
Works great for solder repairs when you can’t use heat shrink tube.
I’d go with electrical tape for this then honestly. Its what I use on certain backpacks where I don’t want waist straps getting in the way all the time. It works perfect and it isn’t terrible to remove. As mentioned the OD duct Tape works well too.
To be honest a graffers tape is more of what I’m after.
I’ve already had a little experience with duct tape and electrical tape. Either if which will leave a residue, especially when it’s hot out.
The main reason I don’t want to mess cutting the loose ends, especially on my sling, is I have not used my padded VCAS extensively yet. Therefore I may want to readjust them aftera while.
Either if which will leave a residue, especially when it’s hot out.
There is no residue to Rescue Tape. There is nothing sticky. It has no sticky backing. It is rolled on a thin plastic seperator. When the tape touches itself it forms a chemical bond.
It’s like a strip of bondable shapable electrical insulation. Unless it get’s cut it stays where you put it.
When you cut it off, there is zero residue. It simply looks like a big piece of insulation jacket cut off a strip of wire.
It’s no more durable to abrasion though than say electrical tape.
I have three rifle/slings combos where the excess ends are gaffer’s taped down. They’ve stayed in place - no drama - for years, including lengthy field carry and carbine courses.
Gaffer’s cloth-based tape rarely leaves any residue; I’ve seen some minor residue in high heat, long-term situations. The residue is considerly less than you’d see from duct tape, 90mph tape or gasp electrical tape. I used electrical and 90mph tape 15-20 years ago on my LBE, I wish I’d have known about gaffer’s tape then because it a more optimal solution.
It also makes excellent field expedient camo, especially with some reflective dulling from light spray paint. It doesn’t/won’t hold on for weeks of hard use, but has been used for hours and days of continous carry. I can’t get the courage up to rattle can a beautiful rifle, but I can remove gaffer’s tape and tailor to the environment. I use a medium brown, OD green and flat black rolls.
I’ve placed several orders for gaffer’s tape through an AV supply house, Markertek. After running a few training lanes with a female co-worker, she ordered some god-awful hot pink rolls. The point is there a huge amount of colors.
if you get gaffers there is Permacel and Nashua all the others are cheap imitation. I think Permacel got bought up and has a new name:confused:, but the cheap stuff will leave a residue and is really poor in temp extremes.
All gaffers tape was meant to be temporary and not used for long periods. It does break down and if periodically replaced before breakdown will leave little to no residue. All gaffers tape work not so great in wet humid conditions and the cheap stuff is useless in wet humid conditions.
Order from a cinematographer’s shop and they can get you the width and roll size you want. I use grey and black in different widths and different roll sizes. I prefer grey as black is affected more by direct sun. My 0.2 pesos:)
If you want it pretty darn permanent I will say that high quality “waterproof” surgical tape beats all for tuffness, abrasion resistance, waterproof stickability, etc. but it is “white”, but will dirty up pretty quick and might be colorable. I keep this stuff around for when I really need to tape something. When I worked in SE Asia I wore an earpiece for my comm at sea and in the jungle and the only thing that kept it in our ears was waterproof surgical tape. Might be overkill for your needs.
Gaff is tits. Permacel, ProGaff, etc. Real stuff, not the crappy knock-off stuff.
I saw a roll at Ace for $39 and I laughed my ass off. I get mine at approx. 10 bucks a roll but it usually depends on the color, width, and quantity. I never order less than 100 rolls at a time though so YMMV.
I use gaff tape constantly at work (I’m in video production). It is exactly what you want. It won’t last forever, but it’s fairly amazing while it lasts. It comes in a few different matte colors (and tons of bright neon colors), but not “tactical” colors. It comes in many different widths, with 2" being the most popular. You should be able to find it at local theatrical supply stores or from online retailers. Definitely order the good stuff - permacel is the best I’ve found. Should be $10-20 a roll depending on options.