Why Goon Tape is everywhere
Hockey tape on a Glock looks cool. A little rough, a little edgy. Tactical without trying too hard. Does it really add value though?
If you own a Gen 5 or earlier Glock, you can probably relate that the grip texture is one of the first things you thought about upgrading. There’s not much texture to the stock frame and it doesn’t take much sweat to make it slippery. Enter Goon Tape. I have a friend who wraps all his grips with it and I’d seen it online and it looks cool, so I figured it’s a low investment to try. I opted for Eagles hockey tape, a less expensive alternative to Goon Tape, which costs too much for what it is.
Some links here are affiliate links — if you buy through one, we get a cut at no extra cost to you. We'd recommend the same gear either way.
For a few bucks and a few minutes, I wrapped my grip and felt like I modded my gun. I felt a slight ergonomic improvement and 10% more like a tactical poser. If you’re after the goon look, but don't want to pay the hypebeast tax: [Eagles tape on Amazon affiliate.]
The catch
Well, it doesn’t really do much. Wrapped with hockey tape, my Glock 45 felt a little more secure when my hands were dry, but sweat in the Texas heat pretty much negated it for me. At my latest range trip, I felt the gun slipping and requiring readjustment one too many times. Realizing this slippage would add up to burned time on stages, I finally decided it was time to try some real, aggressive grip.
What I switched to: Talon Pro Grip
Talon makes a range of textured grips, pre-cut to cleanly cover all the important surface area of your pistol. They’ve been doing it almost 20 years and have the best reputation of the companies making this kind of product.
Their “Rubber” version is grippy but mild. The “Granulate” is basically sandpaper — maximum grip, and rough enough to catch on clothing and rub your hand raw after a heavy session. The “Pro” texture sits in the middle: a coarse-grit rubber, like rubberized sandpaper. Especially when I haven’t formed strong preferences yet, the best of both worlds option is what I’ll opt for. So I went with the Pro texture to try on my G45.
Installation
Peel off the backing, line it up to the frame, and massage it into place. The wrap is cut to your specific gun, so there's a right place for it to sit. What worked for me was squaring it up with the mag release and Glock logo, and ensuring the bottom edge lines up parallel with the magwell and the top edge with the slide release. Once the first side is seated nicely, you can work around the back and the grip will fall into place. Once you’ve wrapped around to the finger side, peel up the edge of the left side so you can tuck the loose end under for a seamless wrap. After a round of squeezing everything down, I ran a hair dryer over everything before squeezing again to help the grip bind better, focusing on pressing down the edges since they’re the most vulnerable to coming loose.
The verdict
So far, I’m super excited about the decision to upgrade my grip and I think it looks cool too, especially since the look reminds me I’m not messing around anymore. For how affordable this mod is, I’m already confident it’ll be one of the highest impact when it comes to actual shooting performance. I’m expecting much more stable shooting form and quicker followup shots. While a Talon wrap is more of a commitment than hockey tape, it's still the less committal, less expensive route when compared to having your frame permanently stippled. While I haven’t shot a stippled frame, I imagine it feels a lot like this Pro grip, and a stipple job costs at least 10x the price, sometimes up to $500. And if you ever want to swap it with another texture, the wrap can come off. Not the case with stippling.
Now that I know what I was missing, I can tell you that when it comes to actual grip improvement, hockey tape is a joke. My friend just got a Gen 6 Glock which has a significantly more aggressive texture out of the box than previous generations. I’m excited to test his grip against mine to see if the Gen 6 grip is solid enough to not require a Talon- stay tuned.
