Duct tape is an all purpose fix-it tool. For camping, wind some tape around your water bottles. It can then be used to fix rips in tents, clothes, tarps, packs, canoes, rubber boats, to make splints, tape blisters on your feet. I keep some in the car, camper, tool box, etc.

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), July 09, 1999

Answers

You are too right, seraphima

All hail the mighty duct tape.

I have even repaired clothes with it. Moma Bear was not to happy but, as we say in Texas, sail-a-vee.

If you don't have more duct tape than you think you could possibly ever use, go out and get some more - now.

In Alaska it's called 100 mile an hour tape. I've seen one small plane that was crashed in the bush have the leading surface on the wing repaired with duct tape and the plane was flown out.

We coined a phrase while in Alaska - Boxonite Luggage. You see a lot of it there. Cardboard boxes coated in duct tape. It works. I've gotten up to a year out of one.

-Greybear

-- Duct tape - Never leave home without it.

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 09, 1999.

Yeah,

On another thread where folks were coming up with fancy ways to attach black-out covers to windows with velcro, discussing finding velcro on sale, etc. (not to belittle velcro - I love the stuff) - I thought....duct tape the damn things up there!!!

My ex once was cutting firewood by himself, cut himself on the leg, used duct tape wrapped around wound to close it while he finished up. Wasn't fun taking it off but it worked!

Absolutely a must-have (in quantity!)

-- Kristi (securx@succeed.net), July 09, 1999.

Greybear,

I thought I was the only person who ever heard it called 100 mile an hour tape. However, I have boughten about as much duct tape as my husband can handle.

Sitting here right now, I can see duct tape here and there, and know where other repairs are hidden away.

Gosh, I need new furniture.

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), July 09, 1999.

Now Lilly, I know boughten is not a word; I'm not even gonna look it up. But I diverge; Whenever I think of repairs to roofs, tents, or other exterior structures, I remember a tip that an old roofer told me about. The material that you use, tape, tar, etc. will last much, much longer if you protect it from the sun. this is why you may have heard of a roof repair that last approx. one year and then starts again, if roof cement (tar)has been the main solution. The ultraviolet rays will deteriorate most types of adhesives faster than the attached materials. One solution is to keep the patched area shaded.

-- KoFE (your@town.USA), July 09, 1999.

It's good at better than 100 mph, Greybear. I've seen those mechanics slap it on the front end of the NASCAR cars to stop flapping fenders. Heck, those things go 200 mph.

-- Vic (Rdrunner@internetwork.net), July 09, 1999.

Lily,

YOu do NOT need new furniture.

Cover that old stuff with duct tape!

It makes a nice new covering that is easy to clean. Easy to slide in and out of the cahirs and it can be accessorized nicely.

For those REAL fashion mavens, duct tape can be bought in colors. But for the purists this is a bit "out there".

Since noone has mentioned it, I'll add a note about duct tape's muscle bound cousin - filament tape.

When the job requires *super* strength go for the filament tape. This tape has fiberglass thread embeded in the structure. You are NOT going to tear this tape.

I was traveling across Wyoming once when the hitch broke off my trailer. Filament tape to the rescue. I taped it back on and made it back to Texas. It worked so well that I pulled that trailer for another 3 years with just the tape holding the hitch on.

BTW, filament tape is how you make handles for Boxonite Lugage.

-Greybear

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 09, 1999.

KoFE,

Do tell? So your recommendation for roof repair? Not duct tape I assume.You must e-mail me your solutions.

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), July 09, 1999.

Some of these duct tape stories deserve at least a sit-com! Or maybe a ductumentary?

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), July 09, 1999.

Actually, there is a TV show that has this angle covered.

It's called the Red Green show and it's on PBS in some areas.

They have a regular handy-man skit where they build stuff out of junk. You have never seen so much duct tape in your life before you started stocking up for rollover.

The best thing about duct tape? No expiration date.

Don't forget its critical role in Apollo 13.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), July 09, 1999.

can't wait 'till Rob Michaels sees this thread.

-- (laughing@home.now), July 09, 1999.

Last year just before El Nino gave us a severe beating, I did repair the garage roof with duct tape. Worked like a charm!

-- flora (***@__._), July 09, 1999.

Yes, nothere, duct tape..."the handy man's secret weapon!"

Good tip Greybear, super strength, huh, and up until now we just imposed weight limits on those chairs...

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), July 09, 1999.

Actually, duct tape does have a finite shelf life. I have seen rolls that were dried-up and useless. If you are storing enough to last a long, long time, you should seal it in plastic bags and keep it in the proverbial cool, dark place.

-- y2kbiker (y2kbiker@worldnet.att.net), July 09, 1999.

Suggestions for uses ?

Check out http://www.exploremaine.com/~joeho/tape.htm

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), July 09, 1999.

link to uses for duct tape

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), July 09, 1999.

link to uses for duct tape

sorry...try this one

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), July 09, 1999.

While the boys on the Red Green show do, on ocassion, go a tad bit overboard their basic approach is good. I assume the excess is for artistic emphasis.

-Greybear, who doesn't know much about those artsie things.

-- Got Rope?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 09, 1999.

Spend the extra money and purchase "contractor's grade" duct tape at a contractor's heating and supply wholesaler's shop. The glue is much stickier, stronger cloth, and it rips easily.

The so-called "contractor's grade" which I purchased from Home Depot was awful; couldn't tear properly; had to throw it out (I almost always get good products from Home Depot, BTW). Here's a good example that paying more for a better quality product is well worth it.

Bob, Ph.D. Nuclear Engine

-- bob (janebob99@aol.com), July 09, 1999.

Kristi- the reason we were discussing velcro is that duct tape works TOO good. Still trying to take the previous owners plastic off the inside windows without removing all the paneling veneer. And you can't keep removing it and replacing it daily. Of course, it's great on the outside metal.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the refrigerator and it was practically held together with duct tape! Haven't replaced it yet, the duct tape is working fine.

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), July 10, 1999.

Laughing@homenow: Yes, Duct Tape is an important subject that I have posted about many times. Glad to see more interest about it finally. Hey! That gives me an idea--- :)

Seein as this here new prep forum has shown a real interest for Duct Tape, one of my favorite subjects, perhaps its time to start a DuctTape Understanding and Help (DUH) support group. I noticed that there is a HUMOR category.

Our mission as DUHs can be to further the understanding, appreciation, and practical uses of Duct Tape in our preparations, and to stay on top of, or below, or somewhere around all Duct Tape developments - as well as being a support and help group for all of us that suffer from Duct Tape Compulsiveness or other prep maladies. Duct Tape poetry would also be encouraged, naturally. Anyone think this support group would be of benefit to the prep forum?

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), July 10, 1999.

I think we should all be inducted into DUH immediately!

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), July 10, 1999.

seraphima: Thank you for such a quick reply, Oh Starter of the Duct Tape Thread. in-duct-ed. I like it. :)

Lets see if anyone will second our motion before, or beafter, we go ahead, or behind, or somewhere else with this here silly idea.

Lettuce de-duct if this is a good idea or not. What say you Chuck, Oh Great Driver in the Night? What say you BigDog, Oh Great Co-Creater and Master of other Dogs and even Geese?

What say the rest of you? To DUH or not to DUH - that is duh question!

-- Rob Michaels (sonofDUH@exxon.sprint.com), July 10, 1999.

I duh-finitely vote YES! Linda, whose 2nd son made himself a wallet constructed solely from green duct tape.

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), July 10, 1999.

Yes for the DUH. In order to better prepare for the future and to further the undrstanding and philosopy of duct tape we must unite.

I propose a contest for the best and/or most ingenious use of duct tape. Weapons made from duct tape shoud be excluded. Entries must be verified by one other person. Newbiebutnodummie's entry of her sons wallet has the lead in my opinion. We did use duct tape for name tags at the North Texas meeting but that's not much compared to an entire wallet.

Other nominations? (duplicating feats from the Red Green show don't count)

-Greybear

BTW, I think nominations should be allowed which include other types of tape in combination with duct tape as long as the project uses things for which they were not intended. Rresourcefulness being the goal here. Of course Greybear would never think of the humor angle, this is a *serious* subject.

-- Gerybear (greybear@home.com), July 10, 1999.

Good humor is always in style. Heck, the good humor ice cream truck is always in style. You have my non-deletion blessing.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), July 10, 1999.

Greybear: "Other types of tape" included with the duct tape? I don't know about that. Wouldn't that make it fiat duct tape? If, so den ahm agin' it! We must maintain the purity of our Duct Tape at all costs!

Sheesh! Just when I have some time finally and have a good thread going on the other forum Dear Mrs. Michaels starts up. Looks like I'm offline now 'till later tonight. See youz guyz then. BFN, Rob.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofDUH@JPMorgan.com), July 10, 1999.

It is only in honor of the *spirit* of using duct tape (for naything other than ducts) that I suggest a project might include other materials. Coat hangers for instance. As long as they are not used for hanging clothes would qualify. This is, BTW, one of the MOST powerfull combinations in the shade-tree mechanics pantheon of procedures. If you can't fix it with duct tape and coat hangers then it need to be discarded.

-Greybear

Anecdotal note: I have solved two of the great mysteries of life. Note that socks tend do disappear and cost hangers tend to multiply. After much investigation (including infrared filming coat hangers in a dark closet to see if they were breeding - they weren't) I have discovered the answer.

Socks are the larval stage of coat hangers.

We have not exactly caught one morphing yet. Though we are so sure of this principal that we have teams of investigators working at this moment to catch one in the act. Inquiring minds want to know.

-GB

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 10, 1999.

Now how are we going to get any work done around here today...the whole family is searching the farm for entries.

Weapons disquaified? However would that include repairs to weapons?

For a pure duct tape/coat hanger product, I would like to submit for your approval, a fly swatter; we got many years of good service out of it under heavy indoor/outdoor use.

Now for a new entry??? Hmmm, let's see, I bought two 15 x 20 tarps today...plenty of hangers....I wonder how long it would take to make a garage?

Hey once we get our official DUH charter and get organized, I propose an International Duct Tape Craft Project Day. We could set up boothes outside hardware stores for the promotion of the versitility of duct tape, and to raise cash AND Y2K AWARENESS at the same time!!!

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), July 10, 1999.

Graybear, ROFLMAO! I have noticed, though, that pant hangers do not multiply, but rather disappear as socks do. Maybe pant hangers are hybrid coat hangers?

What a wonderful thread!

-- RUOK (RUOK@yesiam.com), July 10, 1999.

Folks, This one's going to be hard to beat, this guy used 2 kilometres of the stuff to make a suit to protect himself from Grizzly Bears, not grey ones I hope! From the Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday... (Snip) Mr Hurtubise sees the day when bear researchers can clump through the forests, protected from fang and claw - indeed, from anything short of nuclear blast - in his soon-to-be-patented Ursus Mark VII anti-grizzly bear suit. Mr Hurtubise is a buckskin-clad inventor of the old school - the school whose motto might be "perseverance, improvisation, duct tape". He used more than 2,000 metres of the stuff on the last prototype suit... Here's a link, hope it works!

Grizzly bear suit

-- Ron Davis (rdavis@ozemail.com.au), July 10, 1999.

Oops, Link takes you one level too high!

Scroll down the page a couple of times, or find "Fearless Inventor"

Sorry

RonD

-- Ron Davis (rdavis@ozemail.com.au), July 10, 1999.

Ron,

I would say that his prototype is a definite entry. However it appears the gentleman has strayed from the fold and gone on to other material in later versions. This kind of apostasy can not be tolerated by true believers. Maybe he just didn't think of coat hangers for structural stregth.

Boy, would I like some pictures.

-Grey(not grizzly)bear

Tap dance in a mine field - too good!

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 10, 1999.

Funny how you can go through several rolls of duct tape and not know where it went. Or where it IS, would be more accurate.

During my "dire straits" period I used duct tape to tape together (underneath) lots of carpet samples retrieved from a dumpster and made large checkerboard rugs for all the rooms in the old house I rented. I also used it in this house (folded in flat loops to provide double-sided DT) to hold down a wall-to-wall bathroom rug on a ceramic-tiled floor.

And recently I've used DT (lightly) on paneling to mark drilling positions of the interminable number of clips needed to install Closet Maid shelving. Hint: if you're going to remove it at some point, leave a corner turned under to provide a tugging flap.

Finally, I actually used DT under the house to seal duct leaks, but I now hear it's not good for that!

Now that we're conducting this contest, shall we put together a ductionary?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), July 11, 1999.

When all is said and done, how about a book entitled " The Importance of Fruitcake,Duct Tape and Coathangers in Your Pre and Post Y2K Life" ?

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), July 11, 1999.

And don't forget stock panels. I'm thinking of hiding a few stock panels, tarps, baling wire and duct tape in the woods. I figure with this stuff I could put up an emergency shelter, barn, stock pen, or whatever in about 15 minutes.

-- Alexi (Alexi@not-in-the-dark.com), July 11, 1999.

Alexi,

An excellent idea. Some might not know what cattle panels are. They can be described as organized coat hangers on steroids. They are a (usually) fencing material made in stiff sheets (or panels).

They are really a grid of metal rods that come pre welded together. They commonly come in 4' x 20'panels and you can get a variety of sizes of grid (the size of the holes). They can be used for *almost* as many different unintended purposes as duct tape.

-Greybear

-- Got bailing wire?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 11, 1999.

To echo the comments above re "The Red Green Show," let's not forget Red's most famous line: "The handyman's secret weapon--duct tape."

-- Don Florence (dflorence@zianet.com), July 13, 1999.

P.S. And I'd say that the handyman's #2 secret weapon is WD-40, especially for those of you living in the rust belt.

-- Don Florence (dflorence@zianet.com), July 13, 1999.

Re coat hangers as the "adult stage" and such:

Avram Davidson explained this brilliantly in his classic 1958 short story "Or All the Seas with Oysters". Safety pins are the pupae, coat hangers are the larvae, and bicyles are the adult form. Haven't you ever noticed how all those bikes suddenly appear when the weather warms up? Or how you so often see coat hangers with a few safety pins attached to them? Hmmmm?

Wait! shhhhh... they'll hear us... 8-}]

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), July 14, 1999.

But, Mac, what about the socks?

-- Tricia the Canuck (tricia_canuck@hotmail.com), July 16, 1999.

That duct-tape suit must've been a bear to take off. It'd give me a rash for sure.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), July 17, 1999.

Tricia -

It's my understanding that socks aren't part of the critter's life-cycle. However, they are integral to a peculiar warp (and woof) in the space-time continuum known as the "Hose-Zone". Single socks (never pairs) frequently pass through this rift, which appears within most clothes dryers for reasons known only to Big Secret Government Agencies and Maytag repairmen, but neither of these groups are talking.

It's possible that this stocking singularity is associated in some way with the pin/hanger/bike entity, but my grant request hasn't come through yet, so I haven't finished the research. *sigh*

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), July 19, 1999.

Mac,

Just wanted to let you know that your theories have triggered a new line of investigation for me. This is the beauty of free colaberative efforts of those of us on the fore-front of scientific investigaton.

Experiments begin today. Here's the crux of my new idea: I am going to begin duct taping socks together in pairs before washing them!!! If we are sucessfull at this step, we may try duct taping an entire load of wash together. (Expecting balance problems in spin cycle, but no theory is perfect when you're out here at the leading edge of science.)

Is it possible that the magneto-kenetic-physic energy field (discovered in earlier research) that is emmited by duct tape could over come the nexus field you postulate in washers / dryers? Hmmmm.

-Greybear

ps, sorry to hear about the delayed grant funds, but know that there are a few of us out here who continue to experiment in our amature ways. It is nign impssible to stop the march of Science!

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 19, 1999.

Greybear -

Hmmm... I like your line of thinking. Mitigating the Hose-Zone Effect through judicious application of duct tape, in much the same manner as one controls a nuclear reaction using graphite rods. Most ingenious. My compliments!

Perhaps we can also make use of some early research by those two young Austrians, Hansel and Gretel, and add a tracking and control mechanism to the load. It may be that that dental floss discussion on another thread could provide some useful insights. Let's take this up after tea, shall we?

It's poetry in motion

she turned her tender eyes to me

as deep as any ocean

as sweet as any harmony

mm - but she blinded me with science

"she blinded me with science!"

and failed me in biology...

--- "She Blinded Me With Science", Thomas Dolby

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), July 19, 1999.

I would just like to suggest that you also keep rolls of "traveling duct tape" in your car. (i.e. be prepared to duct and run).

Useful for leaky hoses, etc. Use your imagination.

;-D

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 22, 1999.

While you're investigating the sock rift, please also check for tea spoons - mine disappear in the dishwasher quite frequently. I think that the nursery rhyme got it wrong - it was the sock that ran away with the spoon, not the dish. Naturally, forks and knives follow once in a while, but it seems more difficult for them to fall through the rift. That can't be due to size if the socks manage to make it through - this is definitely an area requiring scientific explanation.

As an aside, while putting socks and spoons through the washers duct taped to prevent disappearance may be effective for that purpose, it may prevent cleansing of the objects - making the journey through the washer redundant. This was pointed out to me by the head of the Department of Redundancy Department.

Please continue to update us on your regress.

-- Tricia the Canuck (tricia_canuck@hotmail.com), July 23, 1999.

Or possibly, Diane, in a nuclear emergency, we have be faced with the need to "duct and cover".

-- Lilly (homesteader145@yahoo.com), July 24, 1999.

While posting an answer in another thread, I suddenly realized an important primary product of the duct tape class that I have zilch of, and that is BALING WIRE! With duct tape and baling wire, you can do the most amazing McGyveristic things. Probably shouldn't be left to the last minute.

To my last minute list, on reflection and after checking some expiration dates, I am adding contact lens cleaner and soaking solution.

-- robert waldrop (rmwj@soonernet.com), July 26, 1999.

I may qualify for in-duct-ion to DUH, yet!

While at work last night, we had a patient who had a very hard time keeping his mouth shut while sleeping with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure - treatment for sleep apnea). My co-worker and I had the brilliant idea of duct taping his mouth closed (to keep pressure up, need closed mouth). Unfortunately, we didn't actually do it - we feared he might not appreciate neither the taping nor the removal of the tape. Does one get credit for unused duct tape ideas for DUH entrance qualification?

-- Tricia the Cnauck (tricia_canuck@hotmail.com), July 30, 1999.

Absolutely. Extra points, in fact, for creative uses in the medical field. Just taping a cut shut doesn't count though, that's passe. Been done too many times.

My wife is on a BIPAP. We have had, shall we say, spritied discussions about *just* the subject of duct tape and open mouths. Why we've even discussed using duct tape as an adjunct to the BIPAP.

Since I'm at least an advanced amature (if not qualified as a pro) I've refrained from entering some of the more esoteric uses I've made of duct tape. It just wouldn't be fair. Trying to keep a level playing field here.

-Greybear

-- Got wire?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 30, 1999.