These shipping tape things

You must either have a bad one or you're using it wrong. The one we have is amazing.

User error
- Skill issue

Cheap ones are s##t, worn out ones are also s##t. Adjusting the tension on the tape roller is a fine art as batch to batch the glue can change.

God I need to get out more !

You can say "shit" on the Internet.
- They're being brainwashed by corpo social media to self-censor, a necessary 1984 step.
  Edit: Fuck.
- Let them self censor. It's their comment.
  I'd personally prefer to see special characters than word replacement like "unalive"
- Well shit, shitty, shit shit shit....
Hey, you're trying to censor with asterisks but Lemmy interprets those as formatting instructions. If you want the asterisks to show up, you need to put a backslash in front of them like so:
Cheap ones are s**t, worn out ones are also s**t.
- And we're all adult enough to handle reading the words.
  It's such a strange idea to use bad words but okay it by censoring letters out. Either use the word or don't.
- Thanks, forgot not everything is plain text !

Probably using them wrong. These things are great if you have a lot of boxes to tape and need it done fast.

Where I work, we use the cheapest tape known to man. It's pretty much 50/50 if they work or you spend 30 seconds fixing it. Helps if you adjust the tensioner...
- If the tape itself sucks and doesn't actually stick to anything, it really doesn't matter if the tape holder is good or cheap. Most of the time, the real issue with the dispenser is the blade has become dull and won't properly cut. But if the dispenser is of decent quality, the blade is easily replaced and/or sharpened. Not that any employer actually spends time or money doing basic maintenance of their own equipment...
That or really bad tape was what I was thinking.

They're less bad if you use quality tape.

100% and figuring out how tight that tension bolt needs to be for the tape you are using.

You're likely using it wrong. They're great, when you have a good one.

Bought one when moved to a different country and had to pack a lots of big boxes.

Its great time saver, only downside is how god awful loud they can be.

I felt dumb at some point to put hearing protection on for using these things. But they are actually realling fucking loud.

I use them everyday. I work in logistics. Trick number one is to have special tape that isn't as loud when unrolling it.

Tip number two is just use your finger to put the first bit on, hold it with the finger and do the rest. At the end, push the top part against the box to make the knife cut the tape.

Wipe over the tape with your finger if needed, some tapes and kinds of carton don't have much holding power. If you move your fingers over the tape, you'll heat up the glue and it will stick better.

Managed to perfectly perforate my chin with one of these as a foolish 16 year old in my first job. Entirely user error (I'll let you guess how) and left my chin looking like you could tear it off like a postage stamp for weeks after.

Safe to say I wasn't allowed to use it again after that, so my only experience with these is that they're terrible - though that's probably not a fair judgement given the circumstances 😂.

You’re not supposed to lick them.
- Very sage advice, though in this instance the issue was more me trying to tear off a small piece of tape by holding the dispenser at face level with the blade facing towards me... Whilst pushing the strip of tape away from me to try and tear it. I learned an important lesson about physics that day.
- Damn, i should've read the instructions for once

It takes some practice, and you have to understand how the blade engages based on the angle you’re holding it at. If you can figure that out, these are awesome. It doesn’t even have to be a fancy one or more expensive tape.

They are super cool. They can be used with only one hand for any sealing-related jobs. But you need to practice with them for 5-10 minutes before it "clicks"

Years ago I worked 2nd shift in a bindery at a medium-sized print shop. One day when I came in at 3 pm, the 1st shift straw boss announced that we had to get a certain job folded and boxed and ready to ship by 5 pm. The asshole who ran the folder on 1st claimed it was "all set up and ready to go". It was not. So to add to the frustration of the situation, this one c*nt, whom her co-workers called "Pricess Smith" because she was fucking the married supervisor who's name was Smith (no, not really), used to hide one of only two tape guns in her toolbox. So after wasting an extra 10 minutes looking for the one remaining tape gun (after 15 minutes finishing the set-up of the folder), we barely got the job folded, boxed and palletized in time for the truck driver to load and deliver it.

Later, once we had time to breathe, I was still feeling salty. I broke into her assigned plastic toolbox by removing the hinge. I took out "her" tape gun (not hers. just to be clear) and taped it up in a huge wad of tape, then put it back and put the hinge back on, and put the toolbox back where she kept it.

The next day, we heard that she cried about it and even went to the company VP about it. After placating her, according to one of the other supervisors, they all laughed their asses off.

The ones where the plastic shield pressing against the box makes the little teeth plunge into the tape are friggin' orgasmic.

I prefer static blades imo there are better for a wider variety of situations.
But I've that could be the dynamic nature of things I use tape on. The pressure ones are absolutely wonderful for their intended task though. Although not Jean creamingly if you are me
- Although not Jean creamingly if you are me
  Edit: I finally understand. "Jean-creamingly." Ejaculating in denim, not a first name. 10-4.

Fairly confident you are using it wrong.

They're fantastic for boxes.

Depends on the item.
Some are great some are annoying.

But generally: Skill issue

Practice helps.

A good one of these makes moving much easier and less painful and aggravating than the cheap ones or the plastic things. Just don't use it too long, take breaks if you're making a lot of boxes at once. You can stress your hand and wrist using it.

There's also a technique to it, which you can find examples of online. Try a few ways and see which works for you. Also practice helps. 😁

My search: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=how+to+use+packing+tape+dispenser&tt=iosapp&_sp=42E1644D-3938-4D1B-A693-C152F5E91823

don’t use UPS brand tape for these things

How's it not working for you?

You got one of the nice ones there. Play with the tension on the wheel. If it's too tight the blue metal piece will bend and that causes the tape to slide off. If it's an old worm out tape gun, you can bend that blue metal back pretty easily.

They work great until someone drops it and bends the frame. As soon as there's misalignment it's becomes frustrating garbage.

Working warehousing, I bought my own and tethered it to my push cart because every one in the building kept getting destroyed by other employees.

I think they're fine but kind of unnecessary unless you're boxing a bunch of stuff. If you're moving or do online sales on e-bay or whatever it might be worth picking up a quality one but otherwise just buy a roll of packing tape.

I got one the last time I moved houses. Now I'm very glad I have one whenever I am about to send or return a package, reinforce a box or do some quick and dirty fixes that would make landlords weep.

If you don't have the tape facing the wrong direction, it should work effortlessly. Many fail to understand the razor and plastic shield mechanism that leverages tension to make a clean tear tho. The tape can melt and be tough to use. You could also have a low quality item technically but even cheap ones are fairly manageable for a while
Source: An embarrassing amount of exp honestly

The only way I’ve been able to get these things to work is to put my thumb on the tape roll so it stops rolling out and I can cut it with the blade part. I have historically had the same issue as you though.

Oh, thank you! Based on these replies I assumed I am the dumbest person on the planet.
- You shouldn't need to do that, but a lot of people do.
  Instead, when you apply the tape, roll it away a little bit to get the end to stick, and then pull on it to unroll. When you're done, press the flat end down and twist the tape gun into the tape to cut it cleanly.
  Once you've the the technique down, it's very efficient.
- I felt the same way for the longest time and then I decided to try that. It’s probably like training wheels, but it at least works for me now.

A triangle shaped thumb nail and the tape roll alone is all you need to be lightning fast. Seen pros do it for a living, so I had to try. Beats these things by a mile!

Tape Gun.

https://youtube.com/shorts/AYV0JmlKA28

I don't think it's possible to use sheathing tape without one.