What's the best Duct tape and Electrical tape?

I usually EDC several feet of grey tape and electrical tape wrapped around an old gift card.
I recently got to use some of the duct tape i was carrying, and found its adhesive strength lacking. I doubt it was due to age, as i'd just wrapped it the day before.
So i'm looking for recommendations.
In your experience, what is the best(strongest, stickiest, longest in-pocket lifespan.) duct-type tape available to civilians.
Same question for electrical tape.

Price is not an issue.

I agree with Izzy.
The 3M brand electrial tape and Gorilla tape, but I also carry the BEST duct tape I can find.(it comes in several different levels of cost. I buy the most expencive,only a cople of bucks more, and I buy it in several differnt colors.

I found the Gorilla Glue tape in Black. I carry it in the same way - wrapped around an old card of the plastic variety. It's some seriously sticky stuff. It's easily the stickiest I've found. I have used it to tape parts back on my truck and it keeps them there. I used it the other day to tape a coworker's belt prep holder back together. He was a little taken aback that I carry duct tape in my pocket. Heh. If he only knew what all I carry.

I have no recommendation for electrical tape.

Scotch makes several different electrical tapes, use the 33+. 33+ is the pro grade tape, the scotch tartan labled tape is the cheap line.

Haven't used the gorilla tape, will have to try some. Like the nashua 357 duct tape, but most of the $10+ a roll tapes work well and are much heavier and stickier than the cheaper duct tapes.

+1 on gorilla tape, and I too have found it in black. I have removed it from items only to have it pull the paint off :))

-Bill Liptak

Got stuck on the nashua tapes a few years back. Was using it to tape very oily smooth round steel bar stock together for gang cutting. The nashua tape was sticky enough to keep the bars from spinning while being cut with the portaband and was also difficult to pull off. And if I left the tape on overnight it would leave the adhesive on the steel bar through the layer of oil. The generic grades of duct tape would not stick to the oily surface at all. Will have to get a roll of gorilla tape and stick it.

Never tried the gorilla brand . But I have to agree with RayW. The nashua brand is out standing stuff. I ran across it a long time ago in the navy. It is the only duct tape that I found that if sealed the edges carefully with a bubble of air inside. With about 6 inches of tape you could form a bubble about 2 x 3 x about 1/2 inch thick. If left around an hour to really let the glue set. I could put my heel on it and balance my entire weight on it without popping the bubble. And believe me I'm not a featherweight.

x10 on the gorilla tape. It's one of the stickiest ones I've ever used. Sometimes a little too sticky. Gaffers tape is a cloth backed tape very similar to duct tape, and it won't leave the sticky residue all over the place. The only problem is it's pretty pricey at $20 a roll for the good stuff. There's also 100mph tape, which is similar to gorilla tape but a little thinner and stronger, the only issue I had with it is you can't rip off a piece, you had to cut it because it wouldn't tear easily.

For electrical tape, I actually started using this new self sealing silicone tape intended for plumbing repairs.

http://www.rescuetape.com/

It's not even a tape, there's really no adhesive because it will only stick to itself. It handles similar to electrical tape, only stretchier, and when you wrap it around something, it will eventually fuse itself into a solid piece, and the only way to take it off is by cutting it off. The best thing is, it won't leave ANY residue at all. It's better than standard electrical tape in almost every way, you can even use it to repair a leaky pipe or heater hose on a car.

Be very careful with Gorilla tape around arm hair...

Likewise for their duct tape line. I use the "Outdoor Tough" version which is more of a charcoal color than the traditional silver.

The packaging has a couple of little bar charts indicating "strength" and one for "weatherability". 3M rates this tape as #5 out of 6 for both.

I originally bought several rolls at Lowes, although now I don't see it listed on their website (or even on 3M's website) so perhaps it has been discountinued. It wasn't too pricey (around $8.00 for a 55 yard roll) and seems very well made.

Jim

A few notes just to put things into context.

Duct tape:
No matter the brand all duct tape adhesives degrade with age. Almost all are rubber based adhesives. Higher temperatures, excess ventilation, and petroleum vapors and ozone all take their toll. The tape will store longest if wax paper, or other non-stick material is applied to the sides of the roll and the whole thing is tightly sealed in an air tight bag that is kept in a cool location and well away from chemicals or ozone producing machinery.

Most duct tape failures come from poor application, cheap tape or good tape stored too long and/or under less than ideal circumstances.

Every time you unstick the tape, including when you take it off the roll, you lose some stickiness and bonding ability. If your fingers touch the adhesive the oils on your skin will make the adhesive in that location less effective. Your best bet for eliminating the problem is to keep the tape on the roll until final use.

To get maximum adhesion the surfaces where the tape goes have to be clean, dry, and completely free of oils or wax.

When you apply the tape, if possible, round the corners off. The square corners always lift first and once the tape starts to lift it goes quickly. Just cutting the corners off to create a forty-five degree angle can make a big difference.

When applying tape spend your time getting the first layer to stick as well as possible. A 50% overlap is usually as good as it gets. Adding more layers doesn't usually increase the strength of the job.

Gorilla Tape is good but very expensive. Mostly because they use a double-thick layer of good quality adhesive. Old Guerrilla Tape poorly stored is not much better than the discount store brand. High-quality commercial duct tape is almost as good as new Guerrilla tape if you buy it from a supply house which goes through a lot of it so it is fresh. It is about half the price and will store for years in good conditions. Also watch the lengths on the rolls. Guerrilla tape has a much thicker adhesive which means there is less of it on a typical commercial roll.

Electrical tape:
This stuff is also time and storage sensitive. Good tape become bad tape as it gets old. Pretty fast if you store it where it is hot and exposed to petroleum vapors.

The key to a good job is the start and finish. Getting the first wrap on smooth and tight on a clean and dry surface is a good start. Winding evenly with an even stretch, a 50% overlap and working center to side to center pads the splice. Finish by cutting, not tearing, the end off about three inches long. Once cut allow the tape to contract for a bit. Then stick it down. Rounding the tips or just cutting them off at forty-fives, along with allowing the last wraps to relax, eliminates most of the tendency to lift and snag.

3M Super 33+ is pretty much the gold standard. It's ability to stay flexible when it is cold, firm when hot, strong elasticity, tough body and durable adhesive keep it easy to work with and popular for high-quality work.

3Ms Scotch 700 is a good quality general-use electrical tape. Good for pull-heads, wire control, binding and less important work. 3M 88 is thicker so it makes padding out wear points and strain reliefs faster.

Buy quality but know when and where it is worth the extra expense. Store what you buy well so it doesn't degrade. Use proper technique when you use it so you get the most from what you have. A single short piece of tape well applied is usually better than a whole roll applied haphazardly.

I have to ask, were did you learn all of that??

I've done a lot of work with both materials working on jobs and spent time thinking about why some applications and techniques failed and others didn't. There is a lot of lore and various tricks shared among tradesmen.

Over the years I have gone to the trouble of asking for advice from several major manufacturers and otherwise look into what the manufacturers say. One of the best, but least used, resources out there for any material or device are the manufacturers. Every reputable manufacturer wants their product to work well so they can sell you more. Only crooks want to sell junk that doesn't work. Every major manufacturer I have asked has a customer service department, many have pamphlets or informational booklets they will send you, often for free, that have tips to get the most out of their products and many have web sites which offer good advice.

I have also had the mixed joy of spending hours training people to do jobs that often involve both materials. If you want to learn something try teaching it.

As with all things on the internet, and forums in particular, if what anyone write makes sense consider using it. Seek other sources. Give it a try and draw your own conclusions. If what anyone writes doesn't make sense, don't use it. But consider posting something telling me others some detail what you disagree with. That way all of us will be better informed.

Based on the recommendations of so many here, I broke down and bought a roll of Gorilla Tape today. Now I just need something (other than my arm hair) to tape up...

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!! KELLY CLARKSON!!

Duct-Style Tapes (really cloth-backed water resistant high-adhesion high tack tape):
Hands down, Gorrilla brand for the heavy duty stuff.
As an alternative, thinner product, 3M makes - in general - the best flexible adhesive products around.

Electrical: Scotch 33, 35 and/or 66. But Scotch for sure, high flex, high strength, good low tem performance.

I think I'm a certified Scotch addict.

Electrical Tape: Scotch 33 at a minimum. Super 88 is my preference though. Advantage is that 33 comes in different colors, 88 is black only as far as I can tell. Readily available at Home Depot.

Duct Tape: Black Gorilla, decently priced at Cheaper than Dirt, Though I have to look into the Nashua Tape as sometimes Gorilla is TOO sticky.

Packing Tape: Scotch Extreme reinforced packing tape: found this stuff at Staples. Heavy duty stuff yet cuts, sticks and lays well.

Masking Tape: When I want a light duty tape, I have a roll of 2" 3M Masking Tape. Cheap versatile, and leaves little residue (important when tacking temporary cables on a customers floor). 2" is handier IMHO than the more common 1".

Man, I must be the only person who wasn't impressed by gorrilla tape. It's strong but wasn't very flexible which sometimes caused it to come off. Also it just wouldn't stick very well if the surface I was applying it to wasn't completely free of any dust or dirt. I know that tape and dirt never get along, but it seemed like gorrilla tape had a harder time dealing with dirt than regular duct tape. The tape I reallly liked was some military duct tape my dad got out of sportsmanguide years ago. He taped up an atv seat and it held pretty good for quite a while, unitl we tried replacing it with gorrilla tape, which is still holding, but isn't holding up as well. I guess until I can get some more of that good military stuff, I'll just stick to 3M brand tape.

Spam removed.


chaosmagnet

I used Gorilla Tape on my bricks for GORUCK events. They've been carried in my ruck for an ungodly amount of miles already and are still wrapped just like the did I put them together.

The person who posted directly above you replied to a 6 year old thread... I think the OP from 6 years ago has long since found a suitable type of tape for his use!

Also judging by a Google search, Jenfore6 seems to be a spammer...

Agreed. Banninated.


chaosmagnet