Blue tape retainers

foam blocks ... hated the things we just tucked one end of the tape under the tape ring and snapped it shut seems things stayed in place nicely and no foam outgassing under the seal of the tape ring. Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 6/9/2015 2:38:08 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, nf6x at nf6x.net writes: hold down the ends of 1/2" tapes. Worse, some of the ones I've fished out have utterly crumbled over the years, leaving bits of themselves inside the reel. I am curious: NOS tapes that I bought in the last year or so came with the foam blocks, but I don't recall ever encountering either a foam block or the magic plastic tape "back in the day" on tapes from the rack that I handled as a backup operator. I presume that if they came with blocks, they were discarded when the tapes were unpacked. Is it really necessary to secure the tape end in normal use, or is it just needed during shipping to keep the tape from getting loose on the reel during transport? -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/