Originally Posted by RawAlex

Fast forwarding and then rewinding the tape does two things:

1 - it verifies that the tape is in usuable condition,and that there was no manufacturing errors that will make the tape jam half way through a shoot.

2 - it gives any loose particles or what have you from the production process to fall off before you use the tape.

Many people I know stripe tapes before using them, I don't mostly from the stand point of wear and tear - it would literally double the amount of work for the camera to record twice.

JP, I have a panasonic deck here (DV-1000) that is quite useful. However, with the ever changing formats these days, it can be expensive to try to keep up.