I love the smell of duct tape in the morning!
Ah duct tape. There are so many brands on the market it is hard to know what to get. The general rule of thumb is: You get what you pay for. Generally, the higher the price the better the duct tape. The higher priced stuff tends to be thicker, stronger, and more consistent. Consistency is very important if you want your projects to come out looking professional.
This means stay away from the utility/home & shop grade of duct tape. It is ok for wrapping parcels, but this stuff is cheap and nasty. Your project will come out flimsy.
When you are first starting to use duct tape, stay away from the very high end stuff. The thicker stuff is much harder to work with.
You will see duct tape thickness measured in either mil (1/1000") or milimeters (mm). Here is a handy conversion table. Very roughly 1 mil = 0.025 mm. The original duct tape was 13 mil.
| mil | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mm | 0.20 | 0.23 | 0.25 | 0.28 | 0.31 | 0.33 |
I would roughly categorize the duct tape as follows.
My current favorite is the Manco All-Purpose Duck Tape. It is readily available at Canadian Tire. It looks like the Manco Pro, but is easier to work with. It still tends to bubble, but not as bad as the Pro and the bubbles are easier to work out.
For prototyping, you cannot beat Nashua 300 tape. This tape is available at Home Depot as their "Contractor" grade. It is much thicker than utility tape but still very easy to work with. It also is a full 2" wide. The price is right too. I paid about $9 CDN for two 60 yard rolls. The problem with this tape is that the glue is close to the sides and the final product really picks up dirt.
If you need coloured tape, I have had very good luck with the Duck Tape brand coloured tape. This is the most readily available of the coloured tapes. Just be careful, the white edge of the tape shows up in the finished project.
For high end tapes, I like the Duck Tape brand Professional series. This is much thicker than the medium grades and has a very shiny, smooth finish. However, you tend to get bubbles in the finished project. This is about $7 CDN for 45 yards.
For the ultimate high end duct tape, go to Lee Valley. They have the original duct tape, although in 1 7/8" width only. It is much thicker than regular duct tape with a smooth finish that crinkles. This is about $12 CDN for 60 yards.
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