BSI Insta-Cure IC-GEL

[alfiefive]

This is a quick and dirty review, but I am pleasantly surprised by the lifetime and quality of a recently-purchased superglue product that I thought I would through it out there.

 

I know what you're thinking--any cyanoacrylate gel glue is perfectly fine in a reef environment and a lot of products that are marketed as marine reef superglue gels are the same beast with a different name. This is probably true in a lot of different scenarios. However, this product has proven to have a higher value per quantity, longer lifetime than other superglue gels that I have used, and has proven to have a higher quality when used in certain reef-specific applications.

 

Until using this product, I had been using Loctite Superglue Ultra Gel 0.14oz (link), I was always disappointed at how frequently the Loctite gel glue ran out (like two or three squeezes of the bottle, it seemed), and also at how ineffective the cap was and how frequently the nozzle would require scissors or a needle if I wanted to use it again down the line.

 

The BSI Insta-Cure IC-GEL (link) is a little more expensive ($9.00 from my LFS or $5.00 online compared to the $4.00-$6.00 in my downtown Boston hardware store for the Loctite). The BSI product contains 0.7oz/20g of the gel, and the gel is EXTREMELY thick when compared to the Loctite product. The product contains significantly more gel, the gel is significantly thicker, and the product comes with two nozzles (one for a replacement in case things get sticky). However, not once in the past three weeks in which I have used the product has the nozzle shown any sign of dried glue or difficulty applying the product.

 

The product also shows zero signs of "stringing" once underwater, something that I found quite common with the Loctite product. Please try this product if you find yourself running out of glue too frequently or having "oh come on!" problems with the nozzle on your current superglue.