Mini Duck Tape Rolls – Ducklings!

I recently posted about Gorilla Tape’s To-Go tape, which is intended as a more portable version of the super-sticky and durable tape. However, despite its smaller diameter, it’s not exactly pocketable. I can’t find my brand new roll at the moment – which isn’t a testament to its size – so I cannot measure it, but it’s about the size of a large roll of electrical tape. It’s a couple of inches wide.

If you need really small and really portable duct tape, Duck Tape’s Ducklings might be the answer. I haven’t posted about them sooner for one simple reason – it’s hard to find a good place that sells them for cheap.

I bought a couple of rolls for maybe $1.25 each at a local dollar store. Maybe they were a dollar each? But $1.25 sticks out better in my memory. They’re sold online as well, but for such poor pricing that you might be better off just buying a regular sized roll of Duck tape, to cut down to size for wrapping your own mini rolls of tape.

These Duck Tape Ducklings are 3/4-inches wide and provide 15 feet of tape. They’re wrapped around a smallish sized core and are pretty darned small.

I have 3 rolls of mini Duck Tape, and can’t find a single one. Maybe they’re hiding out with my Gorilla Tape. What makes it worse is that I have a dedicated tape storage bin, and that’s clearly not working as well as it’s supposed to. But I digress. I can tell you that these mini Duck Tape rolls are quite small, maybe around 1-1/2″ in diameter or so. Certainly far smaller than the Gorilla Tape To-Go.

The Gorilla Tape To-Go is sized to fit tool bags and the such, these mini Duck Tape Ducklings are sized for your pocket or any bag. Plus they come in a wide range of colors and patterns. It’s not exactly fair to compare Duck and Gorilla tapes, as Gorilla Tapes are far stronger than your run of the mill Duck Tape.

You only get 15 feet of tape, compared to 10 to 20 yards that you get with a full-size roll, and so mini Duck Tape rolls are truly best kept for your urgent travel needs and not day-to-day use.

A full-size roll of Duck Tape is $3.50 to $6, depending on color, style, and size. A mini Duck Tape roll is reasonable at $1-2, but not for the $5-6 that they’re priced at online.

For $1-2 each, I’d keep a roll in the car, one in my travel bag, and one in a super-compact portable tool kit. That’s why I bought 3 rolls a couple of months ago. But beyond $2 a roll – no way. At that point I would just wrap duct tape around an old pen, dowel rod, or other mini core, as I have done before.. Sure, there’s the potential that you will lose some of the adhesive effectiveness through the process of creating a self-wrapped roll, but probably not by a huge amount.

Buy Now(via Amazon)

Amazon has sensible pricing on certain mini Duck Tape colors, but we’re talking about 1 or maybe 2 styles, and in much more of a rainbowy crafty color. Maybe some of the other rolls will drop down in price.

I can’t explain the high pricing. Maybe they hope to entice crafters who are often willing to pay more for the right color? You would be surprised to hear about how many emails I have received over the years about where to buy Duck purple plaid tape, a discontinued color.

If you can find these for a buck or two each, they’re still a lousy value compared to full-size rolls, but the convenience and utility are justifiable. More than $3 is somewhat of a ripoff. Aside from that pricing caveat, I think these mini duct tape rolls are recommendable.