Honestly, I wasn’t sure if grip tape was something that I needed until I taped up the grip and sidearm of, well, everything I owned.
You could get grip tape from just about anyone, but Goon Tape’s (stylised GØØN Tape) cracking aesthetic — and a wolf grey colourway on the tape — encouraged me to try their Raid Tape, and from the friendly note to the quality product, I was immediately won over.
Pictures provided by Goon Tape, taken by David Trieu
How do you make grip tape cool?
Running a rapidly growing business is often only as easy as the team you’ve got behind you. When talking to Adam — Totts to his friends — the brand’s founder and social media manager, he’s keen to shout out the people that help Goon Tape run smoothly, whether that’s the top-notch Raid Tape or the brand’s red-hot Instagram.
Most of the brand’s photography is done by David Trieu, and Adam is also helped out by Cathy, Ron, Tolga and Zach who all help run a business that’s rapidly expanding.
” They all help keep us running on all cylinders behind the scenes,” says Adam. “Without them none of this would be possible.”
Goon tape has its roots in real firearms, like so many essential bits of airsoft kit.
“Goon Tape was founded because we were looking for a moisture-wicking grip solution that would also protect our hands from the excessive heat generated by the barrels of our carbines (especially the Kalashnikov variants),” adds Adam. “We wanted something very soft, durable, and affordable that didn’t require specially cut grip pieces for each firearm or component we wanted to cover. After testing many different materials and dimensions, we finally decided on a solution that satisfied our requirements, and we launched our brand in early Fall of last year.”
People ate it up. I’ve personally coated my Scorpion Evo, HK 416 and MP5 in tape and while I don’t have to worry about excessive heat or recoil, the look is cool and if something is going to get covered in crap, I’d prefer it to be the tape.
“GØØN Tape’s main goal is providing our customers and social media followers with the highest quality products, and customer experience,” Adam says. “Many of our guys and gals rely on their firearms and equipment to get them home safely, so we take that responsibility very seriously. That’s also a big reason why we have our tape made here in the States and not in some random factory overseas where it would be much cheaper.”
This Made in America sensibility is a point of pride for the company, and with tape this good, it’s hard to argue. While airsofters don’t have to trust their life with their gear, the thousands of airsofters that have spent money on Crye combat uniforms and gucci plate carriers shows that we want something durable, and in this case we can take advantage of the enhanced needs that real firearms owners have.
On the field
Adam’s main interest in Airsoft is as a training tool to sit alongside his real firearms experience.
This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a past putting BBs on target. “My hometown neighbourhood was constantly engaged with after-school and weekend airsoft battles in the local woods, and though that was more friendly than competitive, it definitely influenced me a lot growing up,” says Adam. “My loadout was pretty simple: an electric Tokyo Marui M4 carbine with iron sights and a metal, green-gas powered 1911, also from Tokyo Marui.
Adam laughs. “It definitely wasn’t the most “Gucci’ setup but to me it was so epic!”
He hasn’t played Airsoft in a while he admits he’s thinking about it as a training aid now, especially with the cost of ammunition over in the US.
Next up
When it comes to products, next from Goon Tape is more colours throughout the year, in addition to more Goon Tape Solutions and even apparel.
One of the key parts of Goon Tape’s business model is to empower people to protect themselves and take responsibility for their own safety.
With this in mind, Adam adds: We are also looking to organize some virtual seminars featuring various personal protection experts, that would give our followers a crash course in a variety of important tactical skills and concepts.
This is especially useful for the personnel that are likely to be in real-world scenarios, but for airsofters, it could be an opportunity to get more familiar with principles they might be able to use to squeeze a win out of a tough skirmish.
“We are incredibly excited for what we’ve got planned for y’all this year, and can’t stress enough how thankful we are for all the support we have received over the past few months.” says Adam, adding “Shoutout to Mom and Dad too – Sup guys!”
You can buy Raid Tape from the Goon Tape website. We personally recommend the combo pack which also comes with two different colours and a handy pair of medical scissors.
