APE TAPE- Product Review

                                                    ----------APE TAPE-------

I was recently selected to give a review of a product called Ape Tape. Ape Tape is a new type of athletic tape used to aid in recovery/help you perform through injuries.The box claims it does the following: Reduces muscle and joint pain, enhances recovery and helps fight fatigue, and can be used to apply compression or decompression. Obviously as an athlete, these are all desired effects. One can search out youtube and find a variety of videos showing how to properly apply this type of tape to a multitude of sports injuries and conditions. So here's my opinion of the product.

-THE GOOD

This stuff works! Both of my achilles have been injured within the last 5 years in some form or fashion. I say 5 years because the first one was injured about 5 years ago still gives me discomfort to this day. My newest achilles injury wasn't as severe however it reminds me every day that it has not healed 100%. Enter Ape Tape! Once I taped up my achilles' tendons I immediately felt relief on both legs. It's amazing how something so simple can work so quickly. Within minutes of being taped I feel like I was ready to sprint again with no problem.



Colors
There are a wide variety of colors to choose from. Personally, I like to stick with black myself but the available colors vary from the following:
Blue, orange and power black on Amazon and atleast another 8 more according to the box.    

Sizes-
Ape Tape comes in 2 different sizes - 2inch and 4inch. The prices on amazon are 24.95 for the 2inch and 29.95 for the 4 inch. The total length of tape measured off at 24.4 ft. This is atleast 8 ft more than you get with most of the other brands and because the tape is not pre-cut you can decide just how much you want to use at any given application. Additionally, the grid pattern on the backside of the tape helps to measure and make accurate cuts.

-THE BAD

As soon as I opened the package, the smell of medicated adhesive rushed my nose. My athletic tape may smell that way but this was the first time I noticed it so abruptly. Ape Tape claims to use a special proprietary APESTICK Hypoallergenic adhesive  so maybe that was the smell I noticed. Either way, that doesn't have an affect on it's usefullness however it was something that caught my attention.


The packaging claims that you can wear their product for 5 days straight. It is supposed to be water resistant and sweat proof! Honestly,  I have yet to find an athletic tape where this has been 100% true. Three days of adhesion, maybe! But five, that has not been my experience. Matter of fact, the first application came off within minutes of me starting to sweat. That said, I assumed human error and gave it a second try which went alot better than the first. Rounding the corners off of the edges helped alot, also I believe wiping the application site with alcohol before adhesion helped too.  Five days may be possible depending on where the person is placing the tape. Additionally, the amount of body hair a person has may make a difference also.

-SUMMARY

Ape Tape is just as good as any other kinesio tape on the market in my opinion. The additional 8ft of tape also makes it an attractive brand to purchase. I wish I could validate the claim that it will last five days however that was not my experience. I did like the size of the tape as I felt it was thicker than the other athletic tapes that I am use to. Bottom line, does it work on injuries? You bet your butt it does and at the end of the day that's all that matters. If you are a competitive athlete you are only truly worried about your tape working during training or on GAME DAY.  A new application would typically be used after that so whether your tape can last five days or not is more of a moot point. When it counts Ape Tape delivers!

Disclosure- I received this product free so that I could give my honest unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own and have not been influence in anyway by the company.