It's said to instantly stop leaks, but does it really work? The As Seen on TV product "Flex Tape" is supposed to work on all kinds of surfaces, wet and dry.
"Flex tape grips on tight," said Phil Swift in the Flex Tape commercial.
It's supposed to patch, bond, seal and repair almost any product. Other TV stations have tested it on leaky pipes and it held up. We tried it on a bucket spilling out water and it worked.
But what about watercraft?
In the commercial they show a boat being cut in half. Then they taped back together using flex tape and showed it floating.
"So the inside is completely dry. Yee doggie," said Swift in the commercial while riding the boat on water.
We decided to try it on some beat up canoes which had holes.
"I've never seen anything that really works so this will be a good test," said JK Marine Lake Ida Service Manager, Tim Sweeney.
Boat expert Tim Sweeney read the instructions which were short.
"Just cut peel stick and seal," said Sweeney.
The product says it can be used on an array of products including boats, kayaks and canoes. But it does come with one caveat in the fine print.
"Flex Tape should be used as a temporary emergency repair," read Sweeney.
Sweeney started patching the aluminum canoe which had small and large holes. We unrolled and cut the tape, stuck it on the canoe.
"Going on easy?" asked Reporter Ashley Bishop.
"Mmhmm" responded Sweeney while putting the Flex Tape on.
The tape was sticky and easy to apply.
"Almost feels that this should work very well," continued Sweeney.
We added the tape to the rest of the canoe and Sweeney had a good feeling.
"I had my doubts but I think it might actually work," stated Sweeney.
We then tried patching up a plastic canoe, which had tape on it in the past. The Flex Tape instructions did state it might not work as well on plastic materials, and Sweeney noticed a difference.
"It isn't as instant and you can see where it doesn't want to bond," Sweeney answered.
It only took minutes to apply the Flex Tape. We were then on our way to see if we would sink or float.
We got in the plastic canoe, moments later we started taking on water but was only a small trickle.
"It was just a little dribble but would definitely get you where you need to go," explained Sweeney.
The water came in on both ends of the plastic canoe.
"You can see it coming in," Sweeney pointed out.
We then tried the aluminum canoe, which Sweeney felt more confident about the Flex Tape working on. We got in and in seconds we took on water.
"We got at least three leaks going on here if not more," said Sweeney. "You can see it's starting to puddle."
It didn't matter the tape colors both black and white got leaks which surprised Sweeney.
"The way it went on, I thought it would work well," said Sweeney. "But now my feet are starting to get wet."
"Is it worth the buy?" asked Bishop.
"I would give it a B," said Sweeney. "B-, I guess, it would work to get you in as a temporary fix but not as a permanent fix."
We did try to pull the flex tape off after but it was stuck on. The inside of the roll says the tape is not intended to remove cleanly.
Flex Tape is sold online and at local retailers like Wal-Mart and costs between $13 and $20.
If you are looking for a used canoe with or without holes you can get them from the canoe guy, Allen Drechsel. His number is 218-330-4479.
