The Best Drum Stick Tape And Grips (2024)
Tape and grips are very useful to get control of your drumsticks. Using these can make you far less likely to drop your sticks in live situations. They can also enable you to have a looser grip, saving you from a raft of potential drumming injuries in your hands and arms.
Since drummers are prone to drumming injuries from intense playing, drum stick tape and grips are a great solution to prevent this. Additionally, tape and grips offer better playing which prevents sweat and a loosening grip from altering the playing style.
My top recommended drumstick tape is the ProMarkSRBLA Black Stick Rapp. This is a very popular choice that offers comfort and durability, resulting in a high-quality product.
My second recommended drumstick tape is the Vater VSTBK Stick & Finger Tape. An affordable and decent-quality drumstick tape for those on a budget.
Contents
The Best Drum Stick Tape And Grips (2024)
Let’s compare these in more detail.
1. ProMark SRBLA Black Stick Rapp
The ProMark SRBLA Black Stick Rapp is one of the most known and most loved wrapper tapes in the drumming world and for a good reason. This tape provides you with great comfort and grip while playing and is also very durable. You won’t need to change them every other night, you can put them on and be confident they will hold up for quite some time.
The ProMark Rapp comes in a pack with a wrap for 4 sticks, but you can reuse them several times. The adhesive side that glues to the sticks is rather durable and can survive a few stick changes. Alongside the wrapping tape itself, which you simply wrap around your sticks, you will get a thinner black striped tape used to wrap the ends of your wrapping, as another measure for keeping everything in place.
You can get this tape not just in standard black color, but also in several different colors and patterns. You should beware though that the patterned tapes are slightly different in a way that you can feel the pattern on your hand when playing. All in all, this is a great high-quality product that you will cherish and buy always once you get your hands on it.
2. Vic Firth Drummer's Stick Tape
The Vater VSTBK Stick & Finger Tape is made for putting on both your fingers and drumsticks. Thus, it can be used in any situation where you can get blisters on your hands, like playing bass guitar. Additionally, it sports a very affordable price tag.
This tape is actually not a tape – it’s a kind of a mesh-like material, which sticks to itself, but it doesn’t have any adhesive materials to secure it to the stick itself. You should expect this and secure the tape with regular electric tape or something similar, to prevent this product from sliding off your sticks.
Because it’s not a tape per se, this product is really comfortable for the hands and will provide you with all the care you need, especially if you have some medical issues with your hands. Also, it will give you enough grip not to worry about your sticks and to play them as you wish.
3. Vater VSTBK Stick & Finger Tape
As a prominent drumstick maker, it’s no wonder Vic Firth has drumstick tape products. Just like their drumsticks, this tape is really good. Vic Firth Drummer’s Stick Tape is a product similar to the one mentioned before and it does a pretty good job at keeping your drumsticks in your hand no matter what you do.
This tape comes in just one color and the packaging includes the wrapping tape itself and finishing tape to keep it all in one place. This gripping tape is ultra-thin, so if you have an issue with other tapes being too thick, it will resolve your problems. It has velvet-like finishing, which is a nice touch but still provides you with enough grip.
This is a high-quality, elegant product, made from drumstick makers for drummers, to help prevent sticks from flying all over the place all the time.
4. Promark White Stick Tape
The Promark White Stick Tape is similar to the SRBLA Rapp tape previously mentioned on this list. This particular tape is mainly made for marching band drummers, as the white color brings out visibility and bling in your playing.
This is a classic adhesive tape, which is meant to be wrapped around the whole stick and not just the holding bottom part of the drumstick. It provides you with grip and comfort while playing, but the main selling point of this tape remains the color, simply because it brings out the best in visual performance from a drummer.
The tape offers a good grip while playing, has a very alluring and budget-friendly price tag, and hails from a well-known manufacturer such as ProMark.
5. Vater VGTBL Grip Tape
The Vater VGTBL Grip Tape is one of the finest tapes out there and for a reason. Made by a famous drummer company, this tape provides drummers with the best grip and comfort while playing, but also with durability strong enough to keep your sticks together.
In the packaging, you will get 4 sets of adhesive grip tape, which is enough for 4 pairs of sticks in total, as well as finishing tape to help keep it all in place once it’s set. Also, you can choose different colors when ordering the tape, which enables you to stand out on stage when playing.
This tape is reusable several times transferring from stick to stick until the adhesive part is gone essentially. If you decide to buy this product, you can be sure you are getting a high-quality product that will give you a light and soft finish on your sticks, providing you with grip and strength for your sticks.
What are other alternatives to Drum Stick Tape and Grips?
Some people use duct tape or electric tape or some other type of resilient tape to wrap it around their sticks. However, these are not ideal for drumsticks. Also, many drummers use tennis racquet tape, which is the most similar to the products reviewed here, as it is made to provide grip on sweaty hands and sudden strong moves.
However, nothing can replace the stick gripping tape made especially for drumsticks and drummers. They provide you with unmatched comfort while playing, helping with any medical problems you might have (carpal tunnel and such) while at the same time providing you with a great stick grip.
Conclusion
There are a lot of options on the market as to what tape you can get for your drumsticks and there are several different types you can get – some will give you more grip but will wear out faster and other will give you somewhat less grip and strength to your sticks but will last longer. All in all, there is something for everyone out there.
My top pick is the ProMarkSRBLA Black Stick Rapp, a high-quality and very popular choice that offers comfort and durability.
My budget pick is the Vater VSTBK Stick & Finger Tape, an affordable and decent-quality drumstick tape for those running on a budget.
