Has anyone found an alternative for the 3M hook tape? The prices I have found online for the 3M stuff has been pretty expensive.
Yes 3M is a conglomerate with many brands. 3M is their industrial brand while Scotch is their consumer brand for the same products. I picked up a RF7070, which is 12’ of white 3/4" wide at my local Target. They also stock Black 3/4" x 5’ which is RF4741 You’ll find some of it with glues and adhesives and a different selection in the hardware section. The liner is printed with 3M every inch or so and when I compared it to the loop on the official hatches that we have and it appears to be the same density of weave and attachment performance.
Yes they are all 3/4" wide so you need to use multiple strips to get the desired width.
Thanks for the info. I was wanting to use the “official” 3M stuff mentioned in the manual, but it was outrageous!
Unfortunately another case of FIRST throwing teams under the bus because of a sponsor. If they were really thinking about the teams the could have asked 3M for consumer sized package equivalents were instead of just posting the number of the product they got for free that is intended for industrial sales.
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Our team has limited funds, and we are quickly realizing that FIRST is expensive, at least initially.
It’s not just initially. It gets more expensive as you try to do more things 
@MrV I wouldn’t assume that FIRST gets the hook and loop tapes for free just because 3M is a sponsor. FIRST has used the same hook tape for many years to hold field components to the carpet and in other locations such as the drivers station shelf. In the field manuals FIRST has stressed not to waste supplies because it is expensive. The SJ3572 is commercial grade, and FIRST uses it because it minimally degrades over use. As such if your team is just looking to prototype or looking for a less expensive alternative, go out and find any appropriately sized hook tape from your local hardware or supply store and use it for your needs.
That’s not encouraging news!
How much are you looking for? We found the biggest problem was that as supplied by 3M, it comes in a 50 yd roll, which is far more than we wanted.
You can get it for $8.75/ft plus shipping:
We ordered 5’ (enough to completely outfit one face of a rocket) from these guys. We’ll use generic hook tape – maybe even Velcro brand if we’re feeling extravagant – everywhere else, but this way we have one “official” rocket face for determining how the real field will perform.
We are using Velcro for our manipulator, so we need enough to attach to the arm, plus replace as it wears during competition.
Oh, now I see why you might want a lot of the real stuff – or at least something very close.
Once I’m back in the shop on Monday evening, I’ll compare the real stuff with the other hook tape we’ve got in stock and see if I can give you any useful comparisons.