A recent post was talking about my love of Spike Sticks so that you can carry around a whole bunch of colors of spike tape on one handy organizer. In a similar vein, I’m sharing a recent hack I think I learned from Cherie B. Tay, though I can’t find the exact post at the moment. (I did just catch another spike stick hack that I will add back to my post.)
Wrap some gaff tape around a plastic card or other item, similar to the spike stick being wrapped around. I chose to use a couple old hotel key cards I had in my car.
A Google search tells me the average credit card (or hotel key like this) is 3.375 inches by 2.125 inches. Standard two inch wide gaff tape fits great the one direction as a result. I did the math and my ten wraps (20 sides) of gaff tape equals a little over 5 1/2 feet of gaff.
This can fit easily in a pocket or kit. I’ll likely want the full roll if I’m onstage, but right now I’m thinking about the little amounts of gaff tape I like to have handy when taping out the set. As I freelance, I’m often only given colored spike tape for the rehearsal hall, and gaff tape is more thought of for the theatre. I like to use small pieces to point out heights of platforms or notes like “DOOR” on the floor. This will come in very handy for those moments.
If you are adding more gaff tape to your pre-made holder, I like a tip from Cherie B. Tay in this video about overlapping by pulling up the end of the previous layer. (Also, too bad Instagram and WordPress are fighting with each other, so I can’t just embed the video here.)