# Gaff Gun



## rsmentele (Oct 7, 2014)

Have any of you guys seen this new product? It looks cool at first.

http://www.gaffgun.com/

What are your thoughts? Might be nice if it works well, if not, its a big waste of money...


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## techieman33 (Oct 7, 2014)

rsmentele said:


> Have any of you guys seen this new product? It looks cool at first.
> 
> http://www.gaffgun.com/
> 
> What are your thoughts? Might be nice if it works well, if not, its a big waste of money...



Looks like it could be nice, especially for those with bad backs/bad knees. My big fear with something like this is that is uses proprietary rolls of tape. The price is good right now, but who knows when they might decide to jack up the price of tape. The other problem is that they could go out of business and you won't be able to get the tape at all.


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## AlexDonkle (Oct 7, 2014)

Reddit has a discussion on it currently with a lot of valid points raised: http://www.reddit.com/r/techtheatre/comments/2i8197/what_do_you_guys_think_about_the_gaffgun/

General points are: It uses propriety gaff tape which may not always be available, no one tapes down cables as slowly at the guy in the video, and whether or not it can actually tape down more than 2-3 cables at once.


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## SteveB (Oct 7, 2014)

Proprietary tape requirement is an instant turn-off.

Prop folks and those who lay dance floors a lot, are very, very picky about which tape they use and I think the only reason they made this proprietary is to lock in the sale of tape.

Sorry, not doing that !.


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## theatricalmatt (Oct 8, 2014)

So low tech.

Kickstarter idea: Marley Floor -> Gaff tape -> Roomba. Go.


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## techieman33 (Oct 8, 2014)

theatricalmatt said:


> So low tech.
> 
> Kickstarter idea: Marley Floor -> Gaff tape -> Roomba. Go.



A roomba would be way to slow.


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## SHCP (Oct 8, 2014)

I agree that the proprietary tape issue means I would never purchase it. I have rigged my own tape roller several times for different applications. Now I will consider adding some sort of cord guide, it's a good idea.
Also, stop calling it a "Gun". and lose the "revolution" talk. 
Tone it down a bit fellas. It's a rolling tape dispenser.


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## rsmentele (Oct 8, 2014)

The issue of the proprietary gaff... i was hoping its not the case, but they don't really say on the website if you have to use theirs or not....

I think if that was the case, it would be smart of them to change that!


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## josh88 (Oct 8, 2014)

Given that they have this page, I think its clear. BUT they do have a "coming soon" filler under accessories for a standard tape adapter. May have to pay extra for it, just like you have to pay extra for the various cable guides you might want.

http://www.gaffgun.com/collections/tape


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## venuetech (Oct 8, 2014)

Looks like they have (or will have) a " standard tape adaptor" on the accessory page. 
Apparently the core of their tape has some sort of centering index.

Josh beat me to it.


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## StradivariusBone (Oct 8, 2014)

theatricalmatt said:


> So low tech.
> 
> Kickstarter idea: Marley Floor -> Gaff tape -> Roomba. Go.



Call it the Goomba.



Also, in the hands of my HS tech's they might be able to waste about 5 times as much gaff tape as they do already.


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## Amiers (Oct 8, 2014)

I wonder how much different their tape is. I mean it looks like your standard roll of gaff. I'd say if the standard gaff comes a bit bigger on the roll have some set aside that will fit after being used a bit.


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## AV-Guy (Oct 22, 2014)

They now offer a BYO Tape Adapter ($18)

http://www.gaffgun.com/collections/accessories/products/standard-tape-core-adapter


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## gafftapegreenia (Oct 22, 2014)

So rarely have I ever had to just tape down a single run. Seems like I'm either taping 4-8 DMX/XLR/SOOW cables down, or stuffing lots of multi cable or feeder into cable troughs. It's a pretty cool product but the real world applications feel limited to me. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free


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## Morte615 (Oct 22, 2014)

We do a lot of setups throughout the summer where we are taping down just one or two mic lines, and an extension cord. We have a few setups that are put up on a regular basis that uses just a single (well dual) RCA cable and a power cable.
I can see it as a nice toy to have in the tool box, but not sure how much actual use it would get.


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## AV-Guy (Oct 23, 2014)

We do LOTS of ad-hoc remote sets and this looks like a cool tool that could save our crews loads of time and, in turn, improve our "value proposition". Their adapters apparently accommodate multiple cable groupings and gaff tape widths so perhaps we can avoid hauling around and loading the black rubber multi-cable covers. We'll buy one and see if it's worthwhile. If it is  If it isn't then...


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## JonasA (Nov 2, 2014)

It looks useful for some of the short gigs I do for where we have to lay and tape carpet/tarkett, but the size and cost are a turn-off, not to mention the pain of explaining how to use it to an ASM/mech when I could more easily just throw them a roll of gaff and say "please tape down here, here, and here."

Also, I'm Australian. Shipping this sort of stuff down here usually costs a king's ransom. If they were readily available down here, I'd consider it, but until then, I'm fine without.


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## TDjohn (Nov 5, 2014)

Hi all,

I just saw an add for Gaffgun. Anyone use this product? Reviews? It is about $300 to get into it. It looks interesting, though. For those of us who no longer crawl on the floor, it might be really useful.

John


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## afreeradical (Nov 6, 2014)

As an electrician, I agree with most of the comments above...
I doubt I would use it that often for taping down cables
Many good points why it may take longer or 
just not work for what we are taping...

But I work in a repertory theatre with 3 show's running in rep
2 show's per day and depending on season and show's
we could have 3 - 40'X40' floor cloths that need taped down twice a day.

This could be handy for something like that


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## derekleffew (Nov 6, 2014)

afreeradical said:


> ... we could have 3 - 40'X40' floor cloths that need taped down twice a day.
> This could be handy for something like that


There are better and less expensive devices on the market. Google "floor tape dispenser." Dance companies have been building their own for at least thirty years (or since the invention of Marley vinyl dance floor).

How many stagehands use their c-wrench as an axle with another person to pull out long runs of tape? Sure saves the hands from being cut by the spool.


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## goodguy (Dec 8, 2014)

TDjohn said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I just saw an add for Gaffgun. Anyone use this product? Reviews? It is about $300 to get into it. It looks interesting, though. For those of us who no longer crawl on the floor, it might be really useful.
> 
> John


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## goodguy (Dec 8, 2014)

original ship date was in December

web site now says that orders placed now will ship sometime in January

is this thing for real?


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## rsmentele (Jan 12, 2015)

I saw one at LDI.... thats it...

Anyone here order one? Any updates?


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## StradivariusBone (Feb 4, 2015)

http://shop.bmisupply.com/gaffgun


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## JLicklider (Feb 16, 2015)

My GaffGunn arrived on Friday! It's very well packaged and designed. The product feels very sturdy and made from quality materials and design. I think its a great idea. I ordered the whole kit, with the various sizes of cable guides and tape adapter core sleeves. They sell their own tape with a snap-in core already in place. There's a small notch in the center of the core to keep the tape under tension while rolling it out. You can use any tape with the adapter sleeves. 1, 2, or 3 inch tape. I popped on a roll of 2" gaff of my own. Initial use was a bit tricky. It feels very different than you would think. It takes quite a bit of downward force and forward force to make it pull the tape off the roll and apply to the stage and cables. There were two cables I was trying to tape tape down, a power cable and a mic cable. The tape did not even stick to the stage floor at all, it became mostly wrapped around the two cables. I'm not certain thats a fault of the product, still new to using it so I'll call it newbie user error. Over time I know I can get used to it. I also feel like 3" tape is going to work much better with the way the rubber wheels in the cable guide push the tape to the stage. Over all I think it's going to be great to have around.


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## Dionysus (Feb 22, 2015)

JLicklider said:


> My GaffGunn arrived on Friday! It's very well packaged and designed. The product feels very sturdy and made from quality materials and design. I think its a great idea. I ordered the whole kit, with the various sizes of cable guides and tape adapter core sleeves. They sell their own tape with a snap-in core already in place. There's a small notch in the center of the core to keep the tape under tension while rolling it out. You can use any tape with the adapter sleeves. 1, 2, or 3 inch tape. I popped on a roll of 2" gaff of my own. Initial use was a bit tricky. It feels very different than you would think. It takes quite a bit of downward force and forward force to make it pull the tape off the roll and apply to the stage and cables. There were two cables I was trying to tape tape down, a power cable and a mic cable. The tape did not even stick to the stage floor at all, it became mostly wrapped around the two cables. I'm not certain thats a fault of the product, still new to using it so I'll call it newbie user error. Over time I know I can get used to it. I also feel like 3" tape is going to work much better with the way the rubber wheels in the cable guide push the tape to the stage. Over all I think it's going to be great to have around.



Well let us know how your experiences of the Gaff Gun go. Honestly its a bit pricy to me, however I can see it as feasible for some. Looks neat, but of course I always have that "it may be too good to be true" thing in my head. I know others may like to know some peoples experiences before laying out the cash for this extremely new product (yes I know of home-made versions from ages past).


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## greatpopcorn (May 29, 2015)

We bought the gaff gun from gaffgun.com along with the three piece adapter set and the cable guides and floor guide. When we went to put the 3 inch gaff tape on the standard adapter, however, we thought beforehand and were wondering how you switch to a different size gaff tape before the roll runs out. The way the adapters click in it makes it so that you have to use something to push the plastic button down and pull the adapter off. Easily done with 1 and 2" tape because you can move it to the side to push the button down, but with three inch you can't move the tape far enough to see the button, making it impossible to pull off once put on without running out the whole roll of tape and cutting the cardboard center to get rid of it.

Can someone that has used this before guide us in this confusing endeavor?

Cheers,

Sir Charles


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## venuetech (May 30, 2015)

I might suggest a 16 ounce solution, ether claw or rip.


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