Blue tape retainers

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

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:


>  On Jun 9, 2015, at 14:32 , Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
>  
> I'm getting a little tired of replacing old dried-out foam blocks to  
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/