Here in a pre-joust photo are, at the bottom, two cards of X-treme tape. The black and red X-treme samples are 1" wide (the only width available); black was used in the test. Across the top are one card surrounded by six rolls of Tommy Tape, which comes in widths from 1/2" to 2", thickness running from 10 mils to 50 mils and a lot of colors, including clear and glow-in-the-dark. If you use the 50-mil tape, you'd better have forearms like Gordie Howe to stretch it properly.

Self-bonding tape is very handy, and in the past couple of years we have become mildly addicted to the stuff. Known more formally as elastomeric, self-amalgamating tape, it's usually just silicone containing tiny bubbles of a chemical plasticizer. When you stretch this non-sticky tape (and it really likes stretching), the bubbles break and the gas contained therein permeates the silicone and morphs it into a ductile solid. Out of the sun, it lasts for years; in sunlight, it tends to dry, harden and tear. …