Finger tape for grappling – review (e.g., BJJ, Judo, Wrestling)

Finger tape are basically sports/athletic tapes designed to save people the trouble of separating a normal roll of sports tape into different width.

One important thing to consider is rather the adhesiveness of the tape could withstand training sessions and competitions. Another reason many people considered designated finger tape is that they are tired of their tape coming off during a 1-2 hours session. So all finger tapes try to sell these two ‘convenience’ to us when we are purchasing finger tape.
1. Width of tape is suitable for taping fingers (0.2-0.3 inches).
2. Sticky enough to withstand a training session or competition

Brands of Finger Tape

Tape Armor

• Width & Color: 0.25, 0.3, or 0.55 inches; white
• Feel: Average adhesiveness (similar to J&J sports tape). Not likely to stick again if it came off.
• Price: $12.99 USD/4 rolls (all width); Shipping=$0; ~$3.25/roll
• Misc: Founded in 2012 by reddit user /u/BJJLibraryDave, the first finger tapes marketed to the BJJ community with pre-cut width down to .25″.
• Thoughts after usage: This was the earliest tape that was marketed towards BJJ.  It is thiner than the stickier tapes (e.g., Tape and Roll, Monkey Tape) so it feels lighter after the tape is applied. While it has a pretty strong following due to historic reason, there are better tapes on the market now.

Tape and Roll

• Width & Color: 0.25 or 0.5 inches; white or skin-colored (only for 0.25″)
• Feel: It has a stronger adhesiveness than Tape Armor and Grip Roll
• Price: $10 USD/4 rolls (0.25″) or 3 rolls (0.25″x2, 0.5″x1); Shipping = $3 flat; ~$3.25/roll
• Misc: Founded in 2014; Based in Carrollton, TX; Sponsors/support multiple athletes; Can also buy their tape on Gameness’ store, so when Gameness is doing a storewide sale, these tapes are also on sale.
• Thoughts after usage: A lot of local grapplers I knew (in texas) used Tape and Roll, and because of its stronger adhesiveness than most finger tapes I have tried, it quickly became my go-to for a while…until I met Monkey Tape (see below). I also liked that they offered ‘skin color’ tape as I got tired of people asking why I’m all taped up (eg., fractured toes), and it is less noticeable 🙂 ***Some newer batches of Tape and Roll I tried from a friend seems to have been thinner and less adhesiveness…not sure was that due to feedback from other customers. I personally preferred strong adhesiveness. ***

Grip Roll

• Width & Color: 0.3 inches; white
• Feel: Average adhesiveness (similar to J&J sports tape).
• Price: $9.99 USD/4 rolls (0.3″); Shipping = $3 flat; ~$3.25/roll
• Misc: Founded in 2015
• Thoughts after usage: It feels similar to Tape Armor, see above. They also only have one width, so if the preference for tapes are less wide (e.g., 0.2-0.25″), that is not available.

Monkey Tape

• Width & Color: 0.2, 0.3 or 0.5 inches; skin-colored
• Feel: Stronger than average adhesiveness while being a bit more stretchy.
• Price: $8 USD/4 rolls (0.2″), $13 USD/4 rolls (0.3″) or $15 USD/4 rolls (0.5″); Shipping=USPS first class (~$2.5-$3); ~$3.88/roll for 0.3″, ~$2.65 for 0.2″
• Misc: Founded in 2016
• Thoughts after usage: It is a bit more pricey (per roll after shipping) than most other finger tapes. However, its stretchy-ness and >average adhesiveness has won my vote. They are pretty new to the scene, but its getting a very strong following from people that have tried it. I’ve never had it come off my fingers during >2 hours of grappling (gi or no-gi) when it is property taped (i.e., buddy taping with X-crossing under the finger joints, not just a loop around the finger).

In short, I think the $.63 premium on Monkey Tape is worth it. And if 0.2″ is the choice of width, it is actually cheaper than most of the other competitors. 

There are plenty of instructions online (videos or other resources) that go over how to effectively apply tapes on fingers. I won’t repeat their points here, but go check them out:

• The science of taping your fingers for jiu jitsu – BJJ Heroes 
• Jiujitsu Mag’s post on finger tape
• Grapplearts (Stephen Kesting) 
• And don’t miss out on how Kurt Osiander tells us to tape our damn fingers 🙂

Note: I purchased these tapes myself simply because I wanted to try all of them out. Might as well make a comparison post out of it. I’ve consistently cycled between the different tapes in the last 3 months since I started using Monkey Tape, and the difference in secureness and ease of application was very noticeable 🙂