I LOVED that old show, Gilligan's Island. The whacky cast, the indefatigable Gilligan, and the whole fantasy setting--who would need to get OFF that isle? Well, as it turned out, they ALL needed to. I really enjoyed the antics and quirky inventions, and the many attempts to get off that isle. Now, if they'd only had ONE tool in their arsenal...
It's only fitting, if not entirely ironic, that a product called "Gorilla Tape" would've literally patched every leak, bridge, and every other erstwhile overlooked flaw that ultimately kept that crew "at bay." This roll-available in widths from 1 inch to nearly 2 inches, and up to 35 yards-is made to do what duct tape canNOT. It adheres to smooth AND rough (even uneven) surfaces alike-brick, wood, rubber, stucco, and plaster, even, although it isn't electrically insulated-and it is available in a double-sided version; it's also weather-resistant. It is slightly shiny-but more refractive than reflective-with a luster that dissipates light and doesn't draw attention to it. On very close examination, you can see an array of dots, which appears to let the product breathe and adhere to uneven surfaces, and likely extend the life of the product. In addition, this very sensitive adhesive surface lets the texture of the surface transfer through it--for instance, the pattern of the soles of flip-flops I'd fixed could be seen on the surface of the tape! What more could you ask for in a tape?
My Story... _____________________________________________________
In this searing, post-Global Warming Southern California scorcher of a summer, things seem to be breaking at a much faster rate! In my case, this happened to be the earhook on my Jabra BT-135 bluetooth earpiece, an arm on my Bolle sunglasses, my beloved Skechers flippers, and the remote transmitter for the alarm on our 2002 Buick Regal (a particularly difficult case). The gorilla tape provided a prospective solution in each case, and QUICKLY proved its worth!!!
The earhook and glasses were notoriously problematic. After being SHOCKED that I couldn't simply purchase a replacement hook at the local 99-cent store, I procured some of this tape, and managed to wrap it around the severed pieces successfully. The only problem was, there was still some unwelcome motility, and it effectively created enough of a joint that the earhook wasn't usable. It DID, however, secure the pieces together, and I'm sure I could wrap the gorilla tape around my head, in a pinch, hehe..! I'm certain the fix would've worked for the glasses, but sadly, I never found the piece that broke off.
The Skechers sandals were a "no-brainer," and very quick fix! I was in a hurry out the door, and figured I might as well give it a go, instead of trying to scurry into some socks and sneakers. I simply wrapped the tape around the already black-covered, completely severed pieces, and onto the soles of the sandals (both left and right). The sandals were already black-covered, and you can't even SEE the tape--I imagine that the charcoal-gray colored tape would even look "decorative" if the sneakers were a slightly different color. These sandals have a velcro closure which wrap around the top of the foot, and they can still be adjusted with full functionality, and the sandals feel just as good as they always have!
The Buick's remote transmitter doesn't have enough empty space inside to drill a hole, as I have with other remotes. After the jerry-rigged electrical tape fell off (and wrapping fishing line around the ridge of the unit failed), I soon decided to employ this tape. I wrapped a few millimeters-wide swath of gorilla tape around the circumference of the oblate shape, overlapping the starting point by a few centimeters. For better measure, I also wrapped a similarly thin strip around the belly of the unit. This recreated the hole, and I was able to thread the key ring around the tape. This has been working GREAT, and can be repeated as often as needed, should it ever fail. In addition, it looks GREAT, and no buttons are even partially blocked (as was the prior case)--much better than any other solution I've tried , and you can't even tell it had ever been broken, as the color matches the plastic almost exactly.
During the course of this review, I decided to give the earhook another go. I'd already tried to tape a piece of straightened-out paper clip to the 2 pieces (or maybe I dreamed I had!), but I did it again, but using 2 separate pieces of tape, with the width trimmed down, and the metal section more carefully bent into the shape of the juncture. It ain't pretty, but it works (and we didn't sign up for "pretty," did we?)!!! It is a bit thick, but it now stays on my ear, no longer articulates like a joint, and NOTHING else would work--the narrower version of this tape would've been better for this application, however. Wish I'd tried this before ordering a $30 bluetooth, but some lessons are just learned harder!
I had to redo the tape on my slippers, as it started to come off after a few days. However, the first one was a rush job that got me out the door. Now, I put some tape around the inside, as well as the outside, and without removing the leftover adhesive/glue; it's holding really well, and I know I could just wrap tape around the entire slippers and make it permanent, if I needed to.
I finally got around to an automotive application. As mentioned below, I have some cracks in the front fender of my aging Nissan 200SX. So one day, I decided to just break out the "primal roll" and secure the cracked/cracking pieces to the more rooted ones. This consisted of me just wrapping the pieces together, and overlapping a few times. One crack was on a corner, and it was almost all the way across the fender. I was able to apply some tape and keep it together. It's been a few weeks now, and it looks like it's holding tight, although it hasn't rained. I drive the car daily, including freeway use. It has even improved the look, as you no longer see any cracks or hanging parts, and I might even explore painting it white to match my car's finish. The cool part is, I can always reapply more tape to reinforce what I've already done, and I probably could even cover the entire fender as a styling touch!
The Future... _____________________________________________________
I see myself using this product in a great variety of ways! For instance, part of the front fender on my car is just about precariously hanging on, and I firmly believe that this tape will give me-even if it takes periodic applications-a greatly-increased lifespan on that. It's also easy to see it being used in a lot of automotive and home plumbing applications. And being weatherproof, there are an abundance of possible uses! Gorilla tape is the best thing since sliced bread!
WHAT ELSE? _____________________________________________________
This stuff is seriously versatile! When I took the old tape off of the earhook, it left a gooey residue that seemed to help the new tape to adhere to the surface, yet was only moderately difficult to remove. I can see this stuff attaching virtually anything to a wall, and you could probably lash 2X4's together to make a raft, wall, or just about ANYTHING!!! It's kind of reminiscent of Lincoln Logs--that beloved childhood toy. And according to the website, this product was selected as Popular Mechanic'sBest of What's New-2006 list. According to the gorilla tape website, their exact quote was, "Oh what MacGyver could have done with Gorilla Tape in place of his beloved gray stuff!” They also make several types of acclaimed Gorilla glues.
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