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Metolius Climbing Tape Review

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metolius climbing tape
Metolius Climbing Tape
Credit: metoliusclimbing.com
Price:  $4 List
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Manufacturer:   Metolius Climbing
By Robert Beno ⋅ Review Editor  ⋅  Nov 2, 2010

Our Verdict

The Metolius Climbing Tape is the most popular climbing tape on the market. It will serve you well as your go to for a jagged hand crack, or for taping up those cracked and split finger tips, as well as taping up a sprained ankle or finger. In our tests we found Metolius' tape to be durable, and easily re-used once a good crack glove was made (we were able to get several days of hard hand jamming out of a single pair of gloves). The only kicker with Metolius' tape is that we had difficulty finding any significant advantage to their climbing specific tape over a basic cloth athletic tape, and Metolius' tape is much more expensive. All in all, Metolius' tape is an awesome option when you're taping up, and could be great choice for the "seldom use" tape type. But if you're a frequent, heavy taper, we recommend sticking to a more affordable tape such as Johnson & Johnson Athletic Tape.
REASONS TO BUY
Durable
Stays put
Taping Instructions
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive

Our Analysis and Test Results

Likes


Metolius Climbing tape is the top selling climbing tape on the market. We found the tape to be durable enough to re-use those finely crafted crack gloves several times over. We used a pair of crack gloves from this tape for 3 days of hard hand jamming before they needed to be replaced. We also liked the fact that Metolius' tape is sticky enough to stay put and not slide around on the back of your hand, or roll up on the edges when you slot that bomber jam. Obviously, some of the stick is lost as the gloves are reused, but the 3-day old gloves still performed well. The stickiness of the tape also helps to keep finger-tip tape jobs in place through those desperate crimps.

Although not related to the performance of the tape, we found it interesting (and kinda cool) that on the inside of the Metolius tape package there are instructions for making a crack glove and for how to tape a split finger. Useful information.

Dislikes


While Metolius' Climbing tape performed well in our tests, it was difficult for us to really distinguish between its performance and regular old cloth athletic tape. We did, however, find a difference in the prices. Similarly priced rolls of regular athletic tape are generally 15 yards, whereas Metolius' tape is only 10 meters; a difference of about 12 feet.

Best Application


Metolius tape will work equally well for making crack gloves and taping over finger splits, as well as traditional taping such as stabilizing sprained ankles or fingers.

Robert Beno