LeMark recently launched a new product in their Gaffer tape range called Gaff-Stax. LeMark are a big name in the industrial tape sector and if you work in theatre you’ve almost certainly used one of their roles of legendary Gaffer tape. There are many other manufacturers of Duct tape and cloth Gaffer. However, nothing else comes close to the adhesive power or durability of the tapes that LeMark supply.
The Gaff-Stax dispenser
When I heard about this new product I was very interested to get my hands on one to see just how good it is. I had high expectations but unfortunately it didn’t measure up to them.
The Gaff-Stax is essentially a piece of heavy duty plastic attached to which are a stack of 50 strips of Gaffer tape. The device itself is well made and can be used clipped on a pair of trousers, threaded onto a belt or strapped to your arm. You can even clip it to a lanyard, though its rather too heavy and large to make this practical. The main problems stem from the fact that it solves a problem which doesn’t really exist and its cost.
The Gaff-Stax is designed to be easy to use up ladders or in other situations where you have only one hand free. You remove a strip from the stack and then use it as required. Each strip has a tab at the top which isn’t sticky, this makes it easy to remove the top strip even when wearing rigging gloves. Unfortunately this also means if you don’t want a loose end you’ll have to use both hands to tear it off. You are also stuck with using a whole strip even if you only need a much shorter length.
I found in practise that the length of the strip was nearly always longer than I needed for most common tasks such a taping down cables. However the amount left over would be too short to use for something else. This results in quite a bit of waste and when you only get 50 strips to a stack it’s surprising how quickly you’ll use them up.
For years I’ve simply placed a roll of Gaffer tape on my wrist if I’m up a ladder. It’s worked fine for me and never caused an issue. I can take off as much as I need easily and it only requires me to use one hand. I also can’t drop it because it won’t fit over my hand without effort.
The next big stumbling block is the price. To actually buy one of these the RRP is £11.95. Though they are on a special introductory offer at the moment for £4.99 from GafferTape.com. So if you really want to try it out, get one now!
The Gaff-Stax will come supplied with 50 strips, but refills will set you back £3.22 excluding VAT. Considering a roll of Gaffer is 50 meters and costs approximately £3 that makes the Gaffa-Stax an expensive way to buy tape! If you purchase in bulk then you can normally get Gaffer tape even cheaper than that as well.
If you’re the sort of person who has to be prepared for every eventuality and always walk around wearing a tool-belt, with this attached as well you will have Gaffer tape on demand in an emergency. For most people though, this is just a gimmick with no lasting appeal which is far too expensive.
