Review on XFasten Red Gaffers Tape: Heavy Duty, No-Residue Matte Finish Tape For Cables And Cords - 2 Inch X 30 Yards by Marc Farrell

In the field, for video and audio equipment as well as around the house, this is the fifth or sixth brand of gaffer tape I've used over the years, and it's different from the others. With this one the cotton cloth is not impregnated with a binder/filler material like all the others. That binder makes the other tapes stiffer, and those stiffer edges make it easier for the fingers and thumbs of your two hands to act like scissors to start a tear at the desired length. Precisely because it is more flexible, this tape requires a much stronger pinch between the index fingers and thumbs of each hand, with the two grips very close to each other, to start a tear. While the other tapes had matte finishes and weren't very reflective, they did have some shine. This tape is perfectly non-reflective, which can be important for professional applications in a darkened theater. The binder in the other tapes also makes it opaque, while this tape is has some transparency since it is just strong cotton cloth with the adhesive. You would only care about that if you were trying to block light with it. This tape is very strong, as strong as the others, with virtually no stretch to it. But its adhesion to surfaces is not as strong. For example, I have on hand a roll of ProGaf tape, also available on revain. This XFasten tape is easier to pull off the roll, and when I stick a piece of this and an similar piece of ProGaf to my file cabinet, the XFasten tape seems to need only about half as much force to peel it off. This may have more to do with the flexibility than the adhesive itself. With less flexibility the radius of curvature at the line where the tape is being pulled off is greater, so there is more surface area of adhesive stretching to resist removal. So, compared to the ProGaff tape, which is like the other I've used, here's the bottom line. This tape:1. Is much harder to tear by hand2. Has less adhesion to surfaces, but still enough, in my opinion, for most jobs.3. Would probably have even less adhesive transfer, when removing after a long time, than the others.4. Is much more flexible for following contours and corners5. Will be more invisible in a dark room.6. Would not good for blocking light.