Scotch 2120-A 3M Transparent Duct Tape, 2120-C, 1.88 Inches by 20 Yards

At last- a chance to use a quote from a favorite book in a review :) In this case, Andy Weir’s “The Martian”. Like Mark Watney, I always seem to find new (if not life saving :)) uses for this wonderful product. It may not always be a permanent solution and the original version may be ugly as sin, but it hasn’t let me down yet. So as I was preparing to fly back to the Midwest for a major event and to help my Mom settle in a new apartment, I knew I had to have a roll handy. I didn’t have time to shop for a lot when I got there so thank heavens for Amazon. I was able to find a lot of what I needed and have it shipped free- including this transparent duct tape. Boy, did it come in handy.Some of the uses I found for it:Flower arranging. When I arrange flowers in a vase, I use transparent scotch tape to form a grid across the top to keep the flowers straight. For this event I had two large buckets (actually pretty trash cans that looked like giant vases) on either side of the door to hold over a dozen gladiolus each. Because the flowers are so large and heavy, I used this duct tape instead of scotch tape to form the grid. Worked perfectly.When the cheap little portable speakers I had wouldn’t stay together- duct tape.When I messed up the snap on back of a photo frame- duct tape (I was in a hurry and it was a one time use thing)And when the narrow little cart I got for my Mom’s tiny laundry room was rickety (hey, it was a snap together thing- I didn’t think even I could mess it up)- duct tape. It may not look that great but the transparent isn’t too noticeable and it is a laundry room after all. And I have absolutely no worries about the tape failing- it's there for the long haul.This isn’t transparent like scotch transparent tape- it has the threads running through it that give duct tape its phenomenal strength. So if you are expecting something that will disappear completely, you will be disappointed. And this didn’t seem quite as strong as the original but I didn’t put it to a major test so that is a completely subjective opinion. Other than that it was exactly like other duct tape. In spite of it's strength I was able to tear off strips without using scissors.I may not worship duct tape but it is definitely something I keep handy. You just never know….

I've tried a number of different duct tapes, including ones billing themselves as 'the original duct tape'. This clear 3M Scotch tape is the best - very strong, comes off easier than most of the others, and was water-resistant enough that it didn't come off after weeks of raining when I used it to tape a wood 'door' over the open hole in my RV (weather people suck - I waited weeks to start the project, had a 3 day weekend of no rain forecast... and it rained the first evening, and every weekend for weeks). Two other duct tapes I tried first started peeling after an evening of drizzle or light rain.

Anyone with kids must have some duck tape in the house! This stuff is awesome. You know those annoying LOUD toys your kid gets for Christmas? Just put a piece over the speaker holes. Viola! Volume WAYYYY softer! Plus, it fixes broken toys, shelves that your kids mess up, chairs that your kids break, library books that your kids rip pages out of (only this one.....the clear...is good for books).You know those back packs holes that appear in the bottom of your kid's back packs cuz they're too lazy to actually LIFT the backpack off the pavement? Yup. Fixes that too! Slap a piece on the outside and another on the inside...and tell them "NO!" when they ask for another backpack for the last 3 months of school. This would make a great baby shower gift.....or baby's first birthday gift. Or better yet, keep your stuff looking nice and new and just dont have kids! :) Totally kidding about that last sentence.....kind of.

It is not transparent - it has a lot of white threads in it. The threads are arranged lengthwise and cross wise but otherwise not at an angle to the side of the tape. The backing material is clear, but it tape itself is not. Frankly, you won't be happy with this if you want completely clear tape.Other than that - it is duct tape. It feels like duct tape, it flexes like duct tape, it tears and cuts like duct tape, it sticks like duct tape. I'd call it duct tape.My intended use was to tape down some circuit boards having surface mounted LEDs. I need to see those LEDs. This tape is almost perfect except for all the strings. Oh well. It's not like I have no other use for duct tape.

This stuff worked like a charm on a ginormous flower pot. The flower pot is from Home Depot and looks like ceramic but is made out of some lightweight poly-something or other. It was not cheap, either. But it was full of blooming plants and flowers when I noticed it had a big split half way down the side to the bottom of the pot. It was just too big a pain to take all my hard gardening work out of that pot to return it and have to replant all the stuff, etc. And the pot was leaking. So, I cleaned it off as best I could with a paper towel and some rubbing alcohol. Then I stuck this stuff on it using a couple of staggered layers. It held up all summer and is still holding. It's not really clear, especially in layers, but it's not too noticeable especially with all the eye candy in the pot. I still want my 50 bucks back from Home Depot, but that's another story. Thanks 3M

This seems to be just mediocre regular duct tape. I was looking for something specifically for poly tarps, because duct tape is thick and always has adhesive on the edges that attracts dirt, etc. I found another type of tape at a big box store (Amazon probably carries it too) that was much thinner and more see-though, and that tape really worked well to join two parts of a poly tarp without the extra stickiness.