Why can't I package something for mailing with out a lot of stress?

We have wonderful types and styles of tape.  Most of it works very well.  Why then do we cuss our way through sealing a package for shipping?  What's wrong with package tape that's sold to the consumer?  One of these days I'm going to seal a package with Duct tape.

We were together at Christmas (see last post) and there were some items that wouldn't fit into the luggage on the way home.  "I'll mail them"  I offered.  When they left I would have tons of time - right.

I am pleased to tell you that today I finally got those packages ready for mailing.  They aren't mailed, mind you, but they are ready for Roy to take them to the PO.

I had two rolls of packing tape:  one with the infamous cutting blade and place to stick the cut tape, and the other that looked unused.  I know some people use those cutting blades and sticker-onners (technical term) with ease.  I've seen them do it at the packing and shipping tables.

No matter what brand of packing tape I use, I seem to get the roll where someone has cut off the end strip and I am left to look for the tape end.  While it was in the drawer, this tape has laid itself down perfectly on the remaining tape and sealed itself to it.  There is no visible line where it ends.  I can't  find it by squinting in the sunlight.  I can't find it with my finger nail.  It seems not to exist.

Meanwhile, that little sticker-onner with the cutting blades is a smart-ass and accuses me of not taking the time to rest the remaining tape end properly on the device.  I've tried, but in our dry and often staticky climate, that cut end flies back to join the rest of the tape as soon as I get it off my fingers.

I spent some time today finding those ends or cutting new ends into the tape, just to have them seal up - or just come loose a quarter inch at a time, or split into ribbons.  I decided I couldn't win and tossed the whole mess into the waste basket.  I paid good money for that tape.  I hated to throw it away.

There was another roll of packing tape in the drawer.  It's called EZ Start and claims to have super strength.  True to its promise, it started it easily and sealed my packages.  However, the tape felt thin and weak and I worry about it staying on the package.  Knowing it was made in Taiwan doesn't increase my confidence in it.

The box I chose to use is one that Amazon sent.  It held a huge and heavy new dictionary that I gave my hubbie for Christmas.  (He likes paper dictionaries, not an online one.)  I was thinking about tape and saw that amazon had used a tape that was part packing tape, part advertising, and part what I call strapping tape.  Now that's a tape I would use if I could find it.

I searched Amazon for packing tape and looked through 3 pages of different tapes.  Look at this one.

You'd love it.  It weighs eight pounds and costs $179.11.  Guess at that price it would work, but it's a little pricey.

I never knew there were so many types of tape.  It was kind of fun looking through them, but in the first 3 pages, I didn't see the tape I saw on my amazon box.

Next time I need tape though, I'll try amazon and its office supplies.  I was amazed at the selection.

So, now these late Christmas boxes will go out tomorrow.  I hope their owners recognize them as gifts.  One is a box of "No monkey butt paste"  ( I kid you not.) and the other is a toy helicopter that my grandson probably can't fly now anyway because of the snow and rain in his area.  He'll make use of it, I'm sure.


Have a good day.

Marilynne