Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/09/the-best-brand-of-duct-tape.html
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Roll tape.
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Experiments like this are always really interesting. T-Rex just beats Gorilla in terms of price, too, but 3M comes in much cheaper than both per yard (at least according to Amazon prices).
I’ve used 3M tape for a lot of different uses and it has never led me astray. I’ve also found it is pretty abrasion resistant which is actually the most important factor for me
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Project Farm is great. I suggest all his comparison vids - nothing sponsored and he devises some great tests for the many products he tries out. Paints, glues, etc. love this guy! (No affiliation other than being a fan)
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There are times you don’t want the stickiest, such as making costumes. Being able to reposition a piece you’re assembling can be a big help.
And don’t think of using any of these directly on skin. Bad idea (not from personal experience). Make stuff face-to-face, or woven strips, etc. Even a little bit of adhesive on an edge can be very annoying. There are much better tapes for directly on skin (google “Black Tape Project” but perhaps not at work)
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The best duct tape is gaffer tape.
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It used to be called “gun tape” IIRC because, in the Pacific theater in WWII, when fighter machine guns were serviced the barrels would be covered with it. Not only did this stop contamination but it also was easy to see in flight if one wasn’t firing.
I wonder what the brand names would be had that name stuck… 
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I was just about to say, I switched from duct tape to gaffer tape years ago, and have never looked back!
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Did he test any UL-listed duct tape?
Canadians have taken a different research approach, although I’m not sure our main testing lab guy ever actually endorsed a particular brand, eh? Probably just used whatever was on special at Canadian Tire.
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He should buy an Instron testing machine.
Stay tuned for my Kickstarter for Honey Badger Tape.
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Thank you, that was the next thing I was going to look up. I’d also be interested in ease of tearing off pieces, as I often find myself needing to.
That’s one of the things I liked so much about the video. He’s not making recommendations, just providing info that most of us wouldn’t make the time to find out on our own.
When I worked on a farm in Kentucky it was called “Kentucky silver” 
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Gaffer’s tape is so much better than duct tape. However I’ve had Gorilla Tape, and its nothing but rebranded Gaffer’s Tape.
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I suppose the next chapter would be to simulate aging using heat. I had some cheap dollar-store tape once that couldn’t even survive being left on the shelf.
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My personal fave:
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Friend of ours used to work at Terminix. After a catastrophic tire blowout on my old 96 Taurus, the back bumper was left drooping. Friend brought a roll of ‘fume tape’, what they use to seal edges on those giant tents of insecticide death. It held the bumper on for 2 weeks until I had time to get out the Fiberglas for a real repair.
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fun fact: he starts out the video by talking about MacGyver… i live in Latvia and in the mid-to-late 90’s MacGyver was in syndication here and immensely popular, and as a result of this duct tape is colloquially known here as “magaiverene” (pronounced mɒgaɪvərənə). the “ene” suffix is the feminine noun suffix because the Latvian words for ‘tape’ are feminine nouns.
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Gorilla tape is strong, but annoying to use, because it sticks fiercely to itself on the roll then comes loose suddenly, pulling off way too much. This is a problem when trying to evenly wrap the work.
Last winter I patched some holes and worn spots on the old poly tarp I use to cover my boat, to make it last another year. I used Gorilla tape on some patches and duct tape (Scotch, I think) on others.
After the first cold snap, all the Gorilla tape patches had fallen off, while the duct tape lasted the season. This may have been due to the cold, or because the Gorilla tape wasn’t flexible enough to handle the movement of the tarp. The patches were on the inside of the tarp, so UV was not the problem.
Moral: use the right tape for the job. Second moral: the right tape may not be immediately obvious.
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