Anyone carry self-fusing tape?

[Russian007]

Was wondering if I should get a roll for temp repair of leaking fuel line, coolant, sea cock issue. It's cheap but I don't want another "thing" that lacks utility (I already have Bengal Cat). Was all thinking of a roll of Gorilla Waterproof tape.

[Jamme]

I generally carry it onboard, together with t-Rex waterproof tape and a few other quick-fixes (JB Weld Steelstick and Waterweld). Have rarely used it, but on those occasions I have been happy with it. Other than avoiding cold temperatures (which reduce the tape’s elasticity), it can be used very easily in a variety of occasions.

[s/v Jedi]

Rescuetape is great and doesn’t make a mess. For leaks you can put a hose clamp around the wraps of tape to cope with pressure.

[Group9]

We always have couple of rolls on board. Along with toilet wax and rolls of that stuff they use to make broken bone casts these days (can’t think of the name). You just almost can’t have too much emergency repair stuff on board when a problem occurs away from the dock.

[Nicholson58]

Agree!

We keep several rolls. You can find wide thick tape on line. I used 6” wide black for sealing a mast part err. Keep the tape in a sealed bag in a dark place.

[JBP]

Originally Posted by Russian007

It's cheap but I don't want another "thing" that lacks utility

Emergency and safety equipment are things you should have but hope to never need to use.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by JBP

Emergency and safety equipment are things you should have but hope to never need to use.

Agreed. But in the emergency equipment context, I'd consider lacking utility as items that are unlikely to help in an emergency situation, or items that are too challenging to make use of where you'd be better off dedicating the space (and time in an emergency) to something else.

[Lowcountry]

I do keep a roll of it aboard just in case, but I have never used it.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by Lowcountry

I do keep a roll of it aboard just in case, but I have never used it.

Same here.

[TCL]

I keep several rolls aboard and have used them quite a bit for various applications, both emergency and non-emergency. The best I've found is Tommy Tape Self-Fusing Silicone Wrap:
https://www.tommytape.com/

For what it's worth: Once when having some rigging work done, when replacing the mast and putting on the mast boot, the rigger ran out of the self-fusing tape that they had, and I gave them a roll of mine to use, and the guy said it was the best he'd seen; went and told his boss they needed to start using it.

[geoffr]

Yes we definitely carry it!
We carry and use Rescue tape and it indeed has rescued us!

Other than using it to seal electrical connections onboard we have used it in an emergency:

We had a hydraulic steering line chafe through while motoring. After a scary time anchoring at a remote island we wrapped it with rescue tape and added fluid and were able to get going again. The repair showed no leak after traveling for over a week!

[ArmyDaveNY]

I always carry rescue tape and have used it on one occasion to save my neighbor's boat. It works exceptionally well, is inexpensive, and lasts quite some time both before use and after.

[sailing_gal]

Aside from Rescue Tape, I also carry "self-fusing" tape, which on this side of the pond people refer to as self-amalgamating tape. Very useful to have on board for temporary repairs.

[Symphony]

I always carry a single roll. It saved a hot water leak offshore, and another time it saved our cooking when I used it to patch a leaking Propane fitting. 99.99% of the time I never used it, but those two use cases made it all worthwhile.

[Mike OReilly]

Of course. Very useful stuff. Why wouldn't you carry a roll or two?