3M™ Gripping Material Gives a Handle on Performance

St. Paul, MINN. – February 7, 2011 – 3M Gripping Material can mean performance advantage for athletes, workers and do-it-yourselfers. The thin material consists of thousands of gripping fingers on one side, and 3M high-performance adhesive on the other. It sticks on contact to handles, shafts, clean new gloves and other products and equipment and stays put to increase friction and decrease slippage, even in wet or oily conditions.

“3M Gripping Material means a less-fatiguing, lighter grip for better productivity and performance in sports and work,” said Tanya Richert, global marketing development manager with 3M. Trial bags of the material are now available on Shop 3M, at http://tinyurl.com/6876j8z, in two rolls of adhesive- backed 1” x 15’ material, or in six sheets of plain-baked 6” x 7” material.

Possible applications for 3M Gripping Material include:
Adhesive-backed formulation:
· Tool handles and levers
· Steering wheels
· Handrails
· Sporting goods handles, such as on bats, ski poles, rackets, bikes, fishing poles and golf clubs
· Power and garden tool handles
· Lawn care equipment and snow blowers
· Medical equipment such as walkers and wheelchairs
· New, clean gloves

Plain-backed formulation:
· For sewing onto gloves, such as for work, batting, golf, biking, ski, racquetball, racing, etc.

According to 3M’s Richert, “3M Gripping Material resists abrasion and punctures and can stand up to the demands of athletes and industrial applications, even in wet, oily conditions. It has been tested to perform across a broad temperature range from -40 to 160° F (-40 to 71° C) indoors and out.”

Ideally, the gripping material is applied in an A/B system, where it is used both on a handle and a glove, for instance. “3M sponsored a study comparing the effects of gloves and grips on athletic performance. The study’s authors found that baseball players using batting gloves made with gripping material, along with a gripping material grip, had a 4.4 percent increase in bat speed compared to leather gloves and leather bat wraps,” said Richert. “This translates into a fly ball traveling 16.6 feet farther simply through the use of the gripping material system.”

For more information about 3M Gripping Material and the new trial bags, please visit Shop 3M at http://tinyurl.com/6876j8z or call 800-362-3550.

About 3M
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