Duct Tape Equestrian At a horse show in Oklahoma City last December at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) my daughter's costume of a knight on a horse utilized lots of duct tape. The bulk of the costume was made with duct tape, aluminum foil and clear packaging tape. This includes the costume on the horse. The lance was pvc pipe with duct tape wrapped on the outside. This was a big hit with the audience. - Marge E., Seattle, WA

Stilt walkers Amy Nelson and Rob Summerbell from Madison, Wisconsin-based Jolly Giants stiltwalkers use duct tape to secure their stilts to their legs. Click here for the Jolly Giants' web site.

Snare Repair I'm a drummer in a Hard Rock Band. On a gig recently I broke my snare drum head during the third song . I grabbed the band's duct tape (always plentiful) and patched the head with two layers . We played about another 35 songs without a problem. My soundman says.....Hes never heard my snare sound so crisp ,yet full. - Hat

Water Bill Reducer While I was watering my garden,  the handle on the water faucet broke and I couldn't turn the water  off.  My husband was rushing to get to his weekly poker game and didn't have time to deal with it.  No pun intended!  He grabbed a roll of duct tape and taped the faucet handle down.  In no time at all the leak was fixed (temporarily) and my husband was off to his game. My watering can sprung a leak shortly after and I promptly duct taped that up too. Thanks to duct tape my water bill isn't out of control. - Angie Ettipio, San Antonio,TX

Burning Man and Duct Tape Burning man would collapse altogether without duct tape. here's a shot of me from last saturday night's mutaytor show after the man burned. The yellow light on my back is from a 50 ft ball of flame from a propane mortar. The rangers estimated there were 10,000 people watching our show. See more photos of the Burning Man Festival here: www.BurningMan.com

Luggage Testimonial I'm a Sheet Metal Worker and have been the construction industry for over 35 years. I've made use of most of the applications that you illustrate in your calendar. My kids gave me your calendar last year to show me that there are others out there that "Use the Heck Otta' Duct Tape" like I do. I really enjoy your calendar. Keep up the GREAT WORK!!!!

Two weeks ago my wife, two of my grown children and myself flew from Baltimore, Md to San Diego, Calif to attend my wife's Mothers funeral. This is where the story gets good!!! To show my respect for my deceased mother-in-law, and to gain an upper hand in retrieving our baggage at the airports, I decided to affix a "DUCT TAPE CROSS" on the front and back of all our luggage. My wife shreiked, "You're ridiculous!" You should have seen the envy in the eyes of all the other guys at the airports. Waiting in line trying to decide if that certain piece of luggage was theirs or not, I just plucked my "Trophies" right off the conveyor belt with a sense of pride, knowing that I was certain that piece was mine and I wouldn't be embarrased having to put it back on the line, like they did. - Glenn A. W., Marietta, Pa.

Award-Winning Duct Tape Roses
Here are pictures of some roses I made. The red white blue ones were for a 4th of July decorating contest at work, we won. The purple were for a Rose Festival contest and won best faux rose! Working on some for Halloween now - Alice O'Donnell

Bottle Rocket Launcher Here is a picture of my duct tape bottle rocket launcher. I made it in preparation for the 4th of July. Materials include:
1 Strong glass bottle, empty of course.
4 Toilet paper rolls. (The handles)
About 2 feet of 1/4 inch metal tubing. (The stock)
About 3/4 of a large roll of Duct tape.
I used lots of duct tape incase of a misfire. Safety first... With that much duct tape on there I think it could contain a grenade exploding in it. - Andy Weber, Clive, IA

Dry Money Recently my friends and I went to Six Flags Great America (it would be better if they included free rolls of duct tape) we went on the water rides. My parents gave me a couple hundred to take with me. We all decided to go on the water rides (all of them). I was soaked and forgot my money in my pocket. Thanks to my duct tape wallet the money was dry, but no one else's was! - Peter

Toad Abode This hanging flower pot fell and broke, so I duck taped it - of course! The result: A Toad Abode. - Maggie K., St. Peters, MO

Two Computer Ideas 1. Just got a new PC and wondering where to put that all precious "boot disk" that you won't need for a further 4 years when the damn machine breaks down? Duct tape it to the inside of the PC, away from heat sources.

2. Pulling something to bits to get it fixed? Wondering where to put all those loose nuts, bolts and screws while you take a part in to the store? Duct tape all the loose fittings into one un-losable whole. - Jonathan Phillips

Create-A-Tool My computer needed some more memory, so I bought some. I opened up my CPU to find that the RAM slots are situated behind the CD-ROM drives. There was no way I could get to the little tab on the end to secure it in place without some sort of device. I went to the garage and commenced searching for the parts to make the tool I needed to reach the tab. I ended up duct taping an allen wrench to a screwdriver in order to reach behind the drive and flip the tab. My computer is twice as fast thanks to Duck Tape and a little ingenuity. - Austin B.

Wasp Away Recently I used duct tape to seal up my living room ceiling fan to prevent wasps from coming through. It isn't pretty, but it works well enough. One of my friends is a fan of yours and thought this was an amusing new use of duct tape. I didn't do it to be amusing; I did it to keep the wasps out! - Mary Elizabeth R., Weyauwega, Wisconsin Whatcha mean it isn't pretty?! We think it's even more attractive, now!

Hershey's Kiss Halloween Last year for Halloween my mother and I made a Hershey Kiss costume. We made it out of shiny duct tape, regular duct tape, a hula hoop, a lamp shade, and some paper with wire. We made the two layers with the shiny on top and the regular duct tape on top. to make it puff out more we attached the dress to the hula hoop. Than my mother made a hat out of a lamp shade that made it a little pointed with the Hershey sign popping out. It looked great i got so much extra candy for creativity and originality. Ever since I've been obsessed with the art of duct tape. - Lizzie H. To see lots of duct tape costume ideas, click here.

Hello Dolly I recently purchased a set of wheels & tires to replace the worn out ones on an upright 2-wheel dolly. I had measured the dolly axle to be 1/2" and the new wheel bearings measured just over 1/2". When I installed them, they were obviously too big for the axle and wobbled badly. The solution, of course, was to wrap the axles with duct tape until the wheel bearings fit tightly, then tap them into place with a snug fit and a smooth ride once again. Another triumph for modern science and duct tape. - Larry N., Fort Smith, AR

Insty-Luggage Eric M. and his wife from Hudson, NH flew to Illinois to attend a friend's wedding and came across the Pfltzgraff store before traveling home. This photo shows how duct tape turned their purchase into handy carry-on luggage. Once again, proof positive that it's always important to travel with duct tape (you never know when you'll run across an outlet mall).

Zip it! Last week my cheapo zipper broke during the morning. Looking around for a fix, I found the one thing my office wouldn't be "home" without - Duct Tape! A piece on the back of the zipper kept my pants closed. I did need a piece rolled back on itself sticky side out to keep the fly shut. Hey, I made it through the rest of the day.

Also, one of the softball players at the office needed a quick hem in her pants. You guessed it, Duct Tape saved the day. She played the season and after several needed washes, the duct tape hem is still working strong. - David D.

Computer Wiz Kid (above) Cody C. of Fort Walton Beach, FL, fuses duct tape to fix his computer. He also uses it to channel his super powers with this special duct tape cape. He says that the cape is super hot - we bet the chicks think so, too!

Air Marshall on a Roll Ever since September 11, I can't bring my Swiss army knife on airplanes, so I would be completely at the mercy of any would-be hijackers. So to protect myself, I always fly with a roll of duct tape. I figure the passengers can gang up on the guy and hold him down while I tape him to his seat. - Jim T.

Towel Rod Fix I had one of those lapses of judgment and bought one of those items you get flyers for along with your credit card bills. Needless to say, it didn't assemble as advertised and the paper towel rack parts included a metal hollow rod and 2 plastic end caps that would not stay on the rod. I was about to throw the whole thing out when I thought I'd try a little duct tape. I cut 2 1/4" strips and then cut those in half. I put two small strips over each end so that half was down the inside of the tube and half on the outside. Then I put the plastic end caps back on and now they stay on. I also had to make an "adjustment" to a 24" towel rack so it would fit in an 18" space on the wall. I cut the tubes. My girlfriend complained that the outer rod kept falling out and that I needed to cut it "longer." Since I could not find my magic saw, I used the same duct tape fix I used on the paper towel holder. The tube doesn't spin and does not fall out any more. - Steve H., Winston-Salem, NC

Badminton Quick Fix We were having family reunionat our house and just about everyone was playing Badminton.  With so many people we didn't have rackets to spare and when one's strings became mangled and twisted, all we could do was toss it to the side and lose a player. Finally, when it came down to only a few rackets, my uncle pulled out the duct tape, (right after we happened to buy one of your books!) and a plastic grocery bag. He tied it around the head of the racket and secured it with, what else, the mighty tool, DUCT TAPE!!!  Now, we can play like pros without worry. Thanks Duct Tape Guys!  you came to the rescue when we were in need! - Erica M.

Boredom Chaser on a Roll This summer I've been really bored so I've made this duct tape pig. The pig's name is little Petey and he's made out of 100% duct tape. - Tanner C.

Duct Tape News from the UK Going out for a posh evening meal my wife suddenly realized she had forgotten to shave her legs. After some convincing I quickly applied strips of duct tape all down her right leg and ripped off the lot in one go. The scream was heard for miles and she went out with one hairy leg. The hairs on the duct taped leg took weeks to grow back!

Also, when we were newly married with not much cash I found an abandoned freezer by the side of the road. The freezer insulation had perished so I covered the entire back padding of the freezer with duct tape and it lasted for years and was still going strong when we had enough money to buy a new one and passed the duct tape model onto some friends.

My last story involves a trip to the USA where I had found some great sporting bargains in yard sales. Not wishing to incur excess baggage fees I duct taped tennis rackets, baseball bats, catchers padding and hockey sticks to the outside of my suitcases thus making them one item each. The airline allowed them through and I had no problems spotting my luggage on the carousel. It all arrived safely! - Steve E., London England.

Nick Berg Loved Duct Tape (click here to go to the Nick Berg tribute page)

Favorite Slippers Saved I have found one recently. I have a pair of slippers that I wear all the time to hang wash outside. They were worn so much that the bottom had holes, plus they become very slippery. What better way to hold them together and also provide a non-slippery surface.

I asked my husband to wrap duct tape around the bottoms. They look like a pitiful sight and my family teases me to invest in another pair of slippers, but a couple strips of duct tape served the purpose. - Kelly Nixdorf

Rhino duct tape My wife and I were at the Milwaukee County Zoo last weekend and noticed a bandage on the tail of a rhinocerous. As we got closer, we read a sign discussing the rhino's medical problems; and we also saw that the tail bandage was held in place with duct tape top and bottom. Apparently, duct tape is part of a veterinarian's medical supplies. Shouldn't it be included in all first-aid kits? - Lloyd B. R.