Sportstape Athletic Products Inc.

Description

When considering the role of tape as part of your equipment, one should keep in mind that it is of no less importance to you, as far as safety and performance is concerned, as is any other part of your outfit. Just as you would choose the best protective equipment for yourself or your child, you should consider how you want the tape to perform and what does it offer you. As early as 1920, the use of tape on hockey sticks made it's appearance. Several hockey players including Harry Watson and George Vezina began using this new strange looking material on their sticks to strengthen the blade and protect it during the game. Tape as we know it today is quite different from those early times. . Tapes were mostly a gum-like sticky coating applied to cloth. In Scandinavian field hockey a similar material was used on the "bandy-sticks". Very little white cloth tape was used then; it was virtually all black. In 1939 when "Babe" Slideborg and several other N.H.L. ® players began using tape on the blade shaft and upper part of the stick, the practice started becoming widely acceptable. Hockey tape was here to stay! Today, hockey tape is available in many sizes and colors. It has become a sophisticated product and employs many different coating techniques and types of adhesive. Protection and Safety Athletic tape was developed to provide many uses including protection and safety for the athlete. It is strong, supportive, lightweight and allows for conformity to the body contours and its' movement. Also, it can be quickly removed in the event of injury because of the web-like construction which tears or breaks easily when pressure is applied at the edge. Today, we find many people using all kinds of other pressure sensitive tapes as leg and ankle wraps. Some of these materials, like heavy plastic packaging tapes or marking tapes make it almost impossible to remove quickly. It is fundamental that injuries be attended to as quickly as possible. Our cloth tapes provide this safety. How often have the paramedics been delayed in rendering aid by heavy plastic wraps? To the average individual, the quality of tape is usually judged by its' appearance and performance. Generally, if it looks good, and performs adequately, the consumer will buy it. To the manufacturer, quality means much more. Tape First, the product must look good to the consumer which means uniformity and choosing the right cloth. Secondly, rigorous laboratory testing to determine the coating weight of the adhesive is undertaken. Inconjuction with the previous tests the tensile strength of the final product is continually checked. All these tests, and many others, are aimed at producing and maintaining the best possible product, while maximising the raw materials efficiency for the manufacturer. Generally, athletic tape should have an even, fairly stiff unwind from the roll. Particularly in trainer's tape, the unwind must be constant for the entire roll. The coating should be evenly spread on the cotton and when held up to the light, one should see very few "pin-holes" in the adhesive.

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