That’s right.  It turns out that hockey tape is better than electrical tape.  I can’t speak for the non conductive properties of hockey tape but it’s definitely stickier than electrical tape and just about as cheap.

For non-Canadians, hockey tape is tape that is wrapped around a hockey stick on the blade where the puck makes contact and sometimes at the top end to aid in grip.

I cut a small strip and wrapped it around the end where the wire is attached to the jack.

 

Pros

• It’s sticky
• It’s strong
• It’s black
• It’s cheap

Cons

• It looks a little cheap
• Require’s a little bit of work and dexterity

So far it has been about six months and it’s holding up quite well and seems to stronger than the original.  I may want add this preventively to cheap headphones on the other stress areas such where the earpiece connects to the wire and on the ‘Y’ joint.

I have also applied hockey tape to the frayed cover on a cell phone charger.