Customer Reviews

Gorilla Tape 1.88-Inch by 35-Yard Tape Roll

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As the advertisements suggest, this tape will stick to brick and virtually any other surface. Be careful though, because it might just strip the paint upon removal. This was the painful lesson I learned when trying to temporarily hold some video cables to my wall and ceiling. Even when using a hair dryer to soften the adhesive, I was not able to prevent the paint from getting ripped off, no mater how gentle I was.

Despite my lack of success with the hair dryer, the only area where I have seen Gorilla Tape fail is in moderately-high temperature applications. For example, I wanted to use the tape to patch small leaks around the exhaust hose of a new portable air conditioner. The warm air would simply soften the adhesive over time, causing it to fall off.

It would be nice if a version of Gorilla Tape had nylon filaments, similar to strapping tape. While strong, Gorilla Tape does not have the tensile strength provided by such reinforcing fibers. This feature would then allow Gorilla Tape to be employed in a number of other applications where it could serve as a structural element instead of merely a bonding medium.


Pros
Excellent adhesive qualities
Cross woven fibers

Cons
Doesn't hold up in moderately high temperatures
No nylon filament reinforcement
Stickiness can make some applications difficult

I don't think there is a perfect type of duct tape out there that will do every kind of task for which duct tape was designed for. Gorilla tape is for jobs that require a thicker duct tape; about twice as thick as the regular kind, and for those jobs that require the tape to have very little stretch. This tape is great for outdoor applications, where the tape will be exposed to the elements.

Before I started using it, I read that it has too much adhesive on it, but I disagree. It has the right amount of adhesive...to stick to porous surfaces like brickwork and wood. And when you peel it off, there is hardly any residual adhesive remaining on the surface. I also read that Gorilla tape smells awful, but it does not....it smells like licorice and paint thinner...and you'd literally have to have the tape right against your nose to be able to smell it.

For its double thickness, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily this tape can be torn to size by hand. No knife or scissors are needed to cut it.

Because this is a use-specific product, this and other brands of duct tape are NOT made for packing carboard boxes...use packing tape instead! Packing tape is made to stretch before it tears. Packing tape is made to be cut by a knife or scissors; and packing tape is made to stick to cardboard. If you use Gorilla tape or another brand for packaging, the tape will eventually tear at the edges of the cardboard box (where there is motion), so don't use any duct tape for packaging...duct tape is not designed to perform like packing tape. Also, duct tape is not designed to be used as painters' masking tape....with Gorilla tape's extra adhesive, it would be a disaster when you peel it off and find out you took pieces of drywall or plaster with it! Duct tape is not masking tape, so don't expect it to perform like masking tape.


If I had to pick one brand of duct tape to keep in the car for emergencies or in my tool box, Gorilla tape would be my choice.

I used this stuff to tape down carpets, and on unpainted, porous wood. It is amazing how well it sticks. It is quite thick and strong also, but you can tear it like duct tape. Only thing I couldn't stick it to was a dusty metal surface, and I didn't expect to anyway: it just picks up the dust. Once clean, that metal surface gave ultimate adhesion. I just bought 2 more rolls.

I did use the Gorilla glue for some home products, and was satisfied. So, when I needed a good strong tape, based upon the product claims, I bought a large roll of this tape.

This tape is overpriced for what it does, and 3M exterior tape is much better for less cost. The Gorilla tape is a strong tape, if only used for interior projects, but the sun's rays negates any holding power of the adhesive if it is used outdoors. The adhesive just doesn't stand up to any heat at all. If used outside, it loses its grip and leaves a thick sticky residue on the object that it was supposed to wrap or hold together.

I wrapped the wooden handles of my wife's garden tools, and within a couple of hours in direct sunlight the tape "let go" because of the sunlight, leaving a sticky residue that took me quite some time to remove. Cheap silver duct tape holds up much, much better, at less than a 1/3 of the cost, but the fabric falls apart after a while with constant exposure to the sun.

If someone would come up with a tape that stood up to the sun, plus didn't rot, I'd buy it. But I wouldn't buy a roll of this tape again for any exterior use.

I bought Gorilla Tape to seal up a tear in my convertible top. 5 minutes later - my top was sealed (I taped it on the inside so the tear is almost unnoticeable). Still dry as a bone months later. Moreover, the black color blended perfectly with my top interior.

No idea how long it will last - but at this rate - I'll just retape and save myself the $1000 for a new top.

As somebody whose handyman skills range from are limited (on my best days) to completely suspect (on most days): tape, --and especially abundant quantities of duct tape (or "duck tape" depending on where you first learned to use it)-- is a *major* part of a tool kit.

While I once actually used duct tape on air conditioning duct in my house (how that came to be is a long story) this category of tape mostly gets used as a multi-purpose-temporary-to-permanent-fix-it measure for many kinds of repairs and holding jobs.

Consider Gorilla Tape duct tape (or "duck" tape if you prefer) on steroids...or at least on a hardcore workout regime. In my opinion it holds tighter and lasts longer than other similar heavy duty tapes in most situations.

Among the the things I've used this for in recent months:
-reinforcing the hinge and lip areas of a wheeled storage trunk (which the manufacturer's website ironically calls a "gorilla on wheels...go figure) prior to shipping it to a southern Asia military base. The tape held up for the trip over, stayed in place while being stored there, and then got re-used when the trunk was repacked for return to the states. 7 months later of garage storage later, it's still sticking strongly.

-When a battery retaining clip on my netbook computer snapped (trust me: *no* replacements for this are available), it was Gorilla Tape to the rescue to hold in the aftermarket 9-cell battery that probably overstressed the retainer in the first place. Gorilla Tape now overlaps the battery-netbook seam...and it's not going anyplace.

-When my desktop telephone decided it needed to perpetually flash its "message waiting" LED (even when there were no more messages): a discretely placed piece of Gorilla Tape permanently and opaquely covered the annoying light.

-When the plastic clips securing the rear panels of *both* front seats failed in our 1998 Nissan Maxima (exposing the interior springs and other parts of the seats), Gorilla tape successfully re-secured them. While it's hardly fine auto upholstery, we prefer the look of this repair to viewing the springs and other innards of the seats.


Other reviewers have noted problems with this tape removing paint and other finishes from the surface it was stuck to. In my opinion, you have a choice here: protect the finish or hold something in place. If you want to protect the finish, use masking tape. By the time you escalate to this kind of tape, you've decided "holding" is more important than preserving the finish, and you can proceed accordingly.

Buy with confidence and give it your toughest taping jobs.

Killer strong tape, black. Easy to rip. Yes, there is nothing like duct tape in looks and function, but this tape is great.

While Gorilla Tape works well, cannot see that it works any better that other quality duct tape brands and you only get about 1/2 the amount on a standard roll as compared to other brands and it is 25% more expensive per roll. Seems to me it is a case of paying for name on the packaging.

Please check out competing items here on Amazon.
3M Company 2X60yd Pro Duct Tape 1260-A Duct Tape
Intertape 5038-3 PK Fix-It DUCTape 1.87-Inches x 60-Yards, 7-Mil, 3-Pack
and
3M 1260 Scotch Pro Strength Duct Tape, 1.88-Inch x 60-Yard, 1-Pack

You will probably find one of these fits your needs at a substantial savings, and ALL are Prime eligible.

IN A NUTSHELL:

If "Duck Tape" is not sticky enough and "Gorilla Tape" is not durable enough perhaps it is time to try something different?

The solution for us was a glue gun and there are different types of glue that are available to be loaded in the gun depending on your needs.

JUST WHAT'S WHAT WITH GORILLA GLUE?

Essentially all the virtues and shortcomings of this product have been well articulated by other reviewers except perhaps for the sheer frustration that using the wrong sticky product can fill one's day with.

Gorilla Glue's virtue, it is very sticky, is made into a fatal weakness due to the tape's lack of strength, compared to the bond it provides compounded by its lack of durability when exposed to the elements. In practice, the surfaces that you want to keep joined eventually come apart because the tape fails. The bond stays strong but the structure of the tape is niether strong enough nor weather resistant enough to provide a long lasting bond.

BOTTOM LINE: WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT IF THE TAPE WERE STRONGER AND MORE WEATHER RESISTANT

[I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY PRODUCT OR COMPANY]

I hate weak duct tape. I hate when you cannot secure thick cords and cables to the ceiling, catch pesky insects with makeshift adhesive traps, or even remove clothing fuzz due to an inadequate stickiness. I had suffered through at least 3 different rolls of comparable-to-scotch duct tape in my lifetime before college, and one of my first acts of independence was getting some hardcore tape that would go the distance. This is that tape. I look back at all of the things I have taped with fondness now that I have moved to Gorilla tape. Thank you, Gorilla tape!