To start, we’ll answer the obvious question. Yes, there is a difference between good duct tape and bad duct tape. Quite a big difference, as it turns out. Our favorite is Gorilla Tape (available at Amazon) , an easy-to-use, heavy-duty duct tape that gets the job done head and shoulders above the competition. That humble, ubiquitous little roll of grey (or black) tape can be found in everyone’s toolbox, garage, or junk drawer for good reason. For nearly a century it’s helped bind together and patch over pretty much every repair job you can think of, transcending its original wartime purpose to become something of almost cult-like reverence: If you can’t fix it with duct tape, well sir, it just can’t be fixed.
We looked at seven top-pick brands (plus two intriguing plastic tapes) to determine which was the strongest duct tape, most durable, most waterproof, and easiest to work with. We got wet and dirty while we were doing it, but we got some answers, too.
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar
Best Overall
Gorilla Tape easily topped our list of duct tapes thanks to its incredible holding power and durability. While it’s certainly not the cheapest option in this roundup, it’s also not the most expensive. And because it’s so strong, you’ll need to use less of it for each task.
At 17 mils thickness, with a reinforced backing and extra-thick coating of adhesive, it takes the “gorilla” idea pretty seriously. It aced the water test, holding back a serious leak for more than five minutes while cheaper tapes failed in seconds. The Gorilla Tape was also among the strongest tapes in our adhesion strength test, second only to Gaffer Power. (In truth, both took a backseat to the astonishing holding power of FiberFix, but that’s not really a duct tape.)
And yet despite all that power, the Gorilla Tape also proved to be easy to tear and handle. Its sheer weight kept it from flopping around and sticking to itself—truly the bane of the cheaper tapes.
If you need it taped and you need it to hold, get the Gorilla.
Strong adhesive
Durable
Easy to work with
Expensive
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar
Best Value
Sometimes a classic can be improved upon. While Duck Tape-brand Classic duct tape fell short in our testing, the heavier-gauge Duck Tape MAX proved to be a powerful yet affordable alternative to Gorilla Tape.
Its good tensile strength makes it ideal for light-to-moderate tasks (the adhesion strength was only average compared to other tapes in this roundup) but it's considerably weather-resistant, making it a good choice for small outdoor jobs. We also really liked how it handled. You can rip a piece off easily, but it's not flimsy and doesn't leave loose edges.
Adequate adhesive
Weather resistant
Easy to work with
Not strong enough for heavy jobs
T-Rex’s Brute Force Tape is as tough as it gets. Seriously: a single piece of this tape was enough to hold over 200lbs of weight, much more than any other tape that we tested. T-Rex claims that, because of the very thick fabric backing and the double thickness of adhesive, it can hold up to 700lbs of weight. We didn’t test that far, but we don’t doubt that it is very, very tough.
This strength comes at a cost: it isn’t as easy to use. Forget about tearing it with your teeth or hands because it isn’t going to happen: you’ll need a razor or sharp knife to cut it. Additionally, it's incredibly sticky, double-thick adhesive makes it quite difficult to remove the tape when you no longer need it.
During testing, we found that the T-Rex’s extra adhesive and tough fabric made it very weatherproof: our test strip survived several weeks of rain, sun, and a bit of snow without peeling or lifting, and was still sticky afterward. It isn’t completely waterproof, though: in our test patching a leaky hose, it started to leak after eight minutes. So, despite how tough this stuff is, don’t plan on making any long-term plumbing repairs with it.
While some users may have a need for the incredible strength and adhesion that T-Rex duct tape provides, for most people, it’s overkill. The winner of our Best Overall award for this guide will do you just fine.
Incredibly strong
Incredibly sticky
Requires a sharp blade to tear
Overkill for most people
IPG's tape proved to be average in most respects, which is of course, perfectly suitable for most uses. But it's not the strongest, the easiest to work with, or the most weather resistant. And it failed the leaky garden hose test in less than a minute. It's a fine product, but you don't have to spend much more to get something substantially better.
Adequate strength
Hard to work with
Doesn't hold water
We expected a bit more from the classic Duck Tape-brand duct tape.
In all fairness, it handles well and is good for light-duty, around-the-house jobs. But it's just not up to rigorous or outdoor tasks. Classic Duck Tape is not nearly as adhesive as our top-ranked tapes and it fared poorly in our weather resistance tests—just about ready to fall off the wood after four weeks outside. Surprisingly, it did very well patching up a leaky garden hose, but we suspect that the patch would last hours rather than days.
If your needs are light and your budget is minimal, Classic Duck Tape will do you fine. Just don't cry "fowl" (see what we did there?) if the tape fails more quickly than you expected.
Effective seal
Not long-lasting
Not weather resistant
“Military Grade” is a phrase that sounds good, but doesn’t really mean that much, where most products are concerned. Polyken’s 231 Military Grade Duct Tape falls into this category.
During testing, we found that a strip of 231 could hold up to 40 pounds of weight. It also proved fairly weatherproof: after several weeks outside during a New England fall, it didn’t peel or lift and was still fairly sticky at the end of our test. However, it failed to seal a leaking hosepipe: during testing, the water forced its way under the tape within a few seconds.
In addition to this, we found that the tape tended to tear along the length of its roll, much like celluloid packing tape can. And, when we ripped a strip off of the roll, it would drag pieces from the rest of the roll along with it, leaving strings of its fabric in its wake.
Comes in large rolls
Decent strength
Tendency to tear along the strip length
Adhesion Duct tape’s primary function is to hold fast to whatever you’re taping together, so we put grip strength to the test and weighted it heavily in our scores. An eight-inch piece of tape was applied evenly across two pieces of one-inch-thick pine board. A person stood on top of one board while the other board was pulled—horizontal to the tape’s surface— slowly and evenly using a hand winch. The force was measured using a crane scale.
Water resistance While duct tapes aren’t necessarily billed as waterproof, most people expect that they can be used for temporarily patching a leak.
We took a garden hose and drilled nine 1/16th-inch, evenly spaced holes down the length. A six-inch length of tape was wrapped around each hole, which allowed for about three layers of tape. We then put a spray head on the end of the hose and turned on the faucet. Performance was measured in how long the tape could hold back the water without leaking.
We expected the test to last for hours, but actually called it after five minutes when all but two tapes had failed.
Credit: Reviewed / David Kender
The water resistance of the tapes were measured by how long they could contain a small leak in a pressurized garden hose.
Weather resistance A three-foot length of each tape was put on a sheet of plywood and left outside to endure high heat, humidity, and torrential downpours for four weeks. If it wasn't already falling off after that time, we tested how much adhesion strength remained.
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar
A length of each tape was placed on a sheet of plywood and left out to the elements for four weeks.
Ease of use Handling tape has to count for something, so we scored how easy and cleanly the tape was to rip. Points were lost for ragged bits of string or excessive difficulty in pulling a piece off the roll. We also scored how easily a three-foot length of tape twisted and stuck to itself when waved around.
Originally designed for World War II shipping purposes, both the material design and the name itself changed many times over the twentieth century. In the 1980’s, the “Duck Tape” brand finally took off and a genericized “duct tape” was applied to anything off-brand.
True duct tape has a woven fabric or scrim, with colored polyurethane on one side (typically grey or black) and adhesive on the other. It should be easy to rip by hand and is usually expected to have high adhesion (“stickiness”) strength. The fabric imbues the tape with a good deal of flexibility, while the rubber-based adhesive will stick to a variety of surfaces, including wood, masonry, and irregular surfaces.
The thread count and thickness of the tape can, at a glance, indicate the quality. However, our tests found that the thickest tapes were not necessarily the strongest.
Duct tape is great for small jobs like securing your bumper to your car until you can get it into the shop for repair or holding pieces of wood together until you sort out a more permanent solution with glue or nails. Musicians use it on stage to keep cables from becoming a trip hazard. If you need a quick, temporary fix, in most situations, reaching for a roll of duct tape is the way to go.
The operative word here is temporary: all of the tapes that we tested for this guide will stretch and tear over time. None are waterproof or heat resistant. So, it’s best to properly correct the issue you’re using duct tape as a stopgap for, as soon as possible.
What is duct tape not good for? While water-resistant to a degree, most brands are not truly waterproof (boy, did we find that out the hard way!). They’re also not great for actual duct repair, due to the extreme temperature variance. (Try foil tape for HVAC repairs instead.)
Duct tape is sticky stuff, and that means it can damage surfaces when you remove it. So, it’s to avoid using it on painted, stained, waxed, and fragile surfaces, as it could tear part of the surface off or leave behind a sticky residue. So, keep it off the furniture and finished wood floors.
Ironically enough, you should not use it in air ducts, as the adhesive on these tapes doesn’t deal well with extreme temperature variances. Instead, you should use foil tape, designed for HVAC repairs, instead.
You should never use duct tape on your own skin or clothing: it is stronger than both, so you might end up tearing your skin or your clothes when you remove it. And that, believe me, is even less fun than it sounds.
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