When I was a kid I took lessons from Aldini (Alex Weiner). He introduced me to the power of R/S
that went well beyond the Invisible Deck. Al also introduced me to Joe Berg, who was a real
character as well as a collaborator with Aldine on a number of R/S effects. Long story short, I’ve
been making my own R/S cards and decks for over 50 years. I’ve tried everything imaginable and for
me, hands down, Grip Stick is the easiest, quickest, cleanest and most effective method for roughing
cards. I also really like the video tutorial that comes with Grip Stick. Erik is a great teacher
and he shares a lot of ideas that should help everyone get started using this amazingly simple
product. The so-so reviews here are puzzling to me, as I really can’t say enough about how well
Grip Stick is working for me. My thought is that perhaps some people are not taking the time to
apply Grip Stick correctly. When Aldini taught me how to rough cards using beeswax, he said each
card needed to be rubbed for about 30 seconds or so, rotating the card around so it is fully coated.
Pressure is also important. I use a little more pressure than I’d apply using a standard pencil
eraser to erase a pencil mark. Bottom line is I like Grip Stick better than spray, fluid and even
beeswax. And yes, it is a little expensive but I think the video tutorial adds value making the
package well worth it. I bought the combo pack with Grip Sticks in 2 strengths and have so far only
used the “regular” strength to build a couple of test invisible decks. Both decks perform
flawlessly and as good or better than any ID I’ve purchased over the years.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I made the Invisible deck and the Brainwave deck both decks work great. I am going to try another
Invisible deck putting Grip Stick on the top half of the cards It is hard for me to separate the
cards and I only used the regular stick. Being older and having dry hands don't help. But this stuff
will do the job.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
Have a lot of roughing sticks I’ve purchased over the years and grip stick works by far the best. I
have the extra hold. I’m very very happy with the purchase. Also the fact that it comes with a
proper instruction video along with tricks you can do. Penguin did good with this as always.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I've just used the regular Grip Stick to breathe new life in to a mirage deck that had lost it's
grip and therefore couldn't be used reliably for fear of flashing the hidden cards.
I
watched the video tutorial and Erik does a great job of explaining how to apply the grip stick and
how to create different decks. My mirage deck is now repaired, and if anything is more sticky than
it was when I got it. I'm going to play with the deck a bit to "wear it in" but I can already use
it again without fear of showing the hidden cards, even with a table spread.
After doing a
whole deck I've barely used any of the stick so it's obviously going to last a long while.
Really happy with this and going to try some of the other things Erik mentions in the video.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
I've owned many of these types of products and tested them all for well over a decade. Some leave
all kinds of visible residue, flakes, and/or chunks on the cards. Grip stick applies pretty cleanly
and invisibly.
The video download that comes with Grip Stick is much more thorough than
others. Lots of value here compared to buying pre-prepared decks.
I've always liked a stick
style product over spraying because there's no dry time, no need for ventilation, etc.
It
will take a knack to know how much pressure to use when applying. You don't want to be too light,
but you also don't want to be too heavy-handed. Like all good magic, it will require a little
practice.
I'd suggest making a "sacrificial" deck and treating each of the 4 suits with
different amounts of pressure. Each packet provides enough cards to test the results. Then you'll
know where your personal sweet spot is.
Anyone who says this just "doesn't work" for them
simply hasn't done enough trial and error - and you certainly don't need a lot of experimentation to
hone in the results.
So far for typical decks like an ID, I find the Regular strength to be
ideal. The Extra Hold really is quite strong. I'm sure I'll find an application for it, but it's
definitely harder to separate the cards with the Extra Hold, as advertised.
One stick will
be enough to prep dozens, possibly hundreds, of decks.
Best version on the market!
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
It didn't took more than 5% of the bar to complete an invisible deck. Defenitely a good option to
prepare you own decks, with a good detailed tutorial and extra tricks!
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
iT HAS VERY LITTLE HOLD AND YOU HAVE TO APPLY TOO MUCH TO MAKE CARDS TO SITCK TOGETHER.
1 of 3 magicians found this helpful.