More Random Chatter from the Duct Tape Diner


Still More Random Chatter from the counter at the Duct Tape Diner (most recent at top): Inspired to share your story? E-mail it to us. Read our submission requirements first.

Warning: Housework Is Dangerous to Your Health
One day I was vacuuming my house. I thought I was further away from the couch then what I really was. I turned and my toes hit against the leg of the couch. After screaming at the top of my lungs......"Oh for mercy me, I have hurt myself" Or words to that effect. I realized I had broken my toe. Not the little one, or the big one, but the one right next to the big one. Now I know going to the Dr. wouldn't do any good. They don't cast the toes. I pulled the toe back into place,....... more "mercy me." I wrapped Duct Tape around the broken toe and the big toe. Taping them together held the broken one in place. I am happy to say that today the toe is great. I did a good job of setting it, and the Duct Tape did a great job holding it in place while it healed.
Everything in life is a learning experience. I learned that house work is hazardous to your health. AND never attempt it without a roll of Duct Tape. --- Jayne Sherman

Duct Tape Snowman
(left) Sixth grader Michelle M. of Tallmadge, Ohio created this solution to the ever-present melting snowman problem. Make it out of duct tape! Good thinking, Michelle! And remember, Duck® brand duct tape comes in white for the classic snowman look. Thanks to your teacher Bob for sending this to us.

Dorn Life Essential
When I first moved off to college I was greeted with a sad surprise when I walked into my dorm. One guy was trying to use electrical tape to fix a ceiling tile that simply wouldn't stay up. I took the new found amateur under my arm and whipped out my duct tape. Two minutes flat (including the time it took me to climb up his makeshift ladder) and his ceiling was fixed. I soon became known as the fix guy. I used the wonderful roll of stickiness to fix many broken pictures, torn homework assignment, etc. My reigning achievement came though when Nerf dart guns became popular around campus. I used Duct Tape to fasten gun holsters and straps. But the best part was when I found that properly placed strips will improve the accuracy of the Nerf darts. Better hit rate plus no one else could claim my darts. --- Rowdy Y., Paducah, Kentucky

Duct Tape Stanley Cup
Hockey player James VanGuilder of Roseville, MN didn't have the patience to acheive the Stanley Cup by conventional menas, so he made his own - out of duct tape. While it's not quite the right size, we think it will be equally as impressive on his trophy shelf... and better yet, James won't have to give it up at the end of the year.

Camping High Jinx
I like to use duct tape to tape my friends at camp to the bottom of their tents........its fun and hilarious when they try to get up! --- Dawn Howes

Duct Tape Sectional
True story. My mother's favorite product was duct tape. When I lived with her as a teenager, I came home from school one day to find that she had sawed our living room sofa in half and duct taped the ends of each half to keep the stuffing in. She said she had decided to make the sofa a sectional. --- Rinda Haynes (Daughter of the Duct Tape Queen)

Punk Fashion on a Roll
My name is Thomn and I am an aspiring young punk. I'm 17 years old and have been into duct tape for quite some time now. Just recently, I have been making belts, bracelets and various other things out of my duct tape. Also, I went down to a local skate shop and started selling my gear. My person collection consists of a duct tape belt with pennies, a bracelet with several pyramid studs and some pennies, and another bracelet with 32 pyramid studs and a bondage hoop. I make little stuff like wallets, notebooks, and the like. My current project is a duct tape backpack. --- Thomn

Band Aid
We were on our way to a football game that was almost an hour away, and on our way we had a band bus wreck. There was a tractor trailer carrying cars ahead of us without its lights on. The first of four of our buses stopped in time, but the second rammed right into the back of the other one. The front of the second band bus was wrecked but the back of the first bus was still useable and we repaired the back with none other than DUCT TAPE! Duct Tape - The Greatest Stuff On Earth!!! --- DuctTaped Band Geek

We use duck tape to repair our instruments for marching band. One time my friend fell on the field. We quickly reached for the repair kit on a roll and wrapped half the horn in tape. The tape lasted for about three months through extreme heat,rain, sweat, and quick manuevers. We have also found that a metallic version of duct tape lasts even longer. -- Tfeet

Bananas 101
As you may or may not know, a banana tree typically produces one set of fruit, weighting 50 pounds or so, called a "bunch". On the "bunch" are groups of five or ten banana on one stalk called a "hand" of banana. The dozens of "hands" are all attached to a central heavy step; altogether they make up the "bunch".

The main things to recognize is that after the first bunch is done, the tree has basically done its duty and is destroyed. This is easy to do: the trunk is mostly water and can be cut with a machete or simple saw, very easily. So you cut or hack the tree down and then cut or hack it into sections of three or four feet. At the top of the tree are the leaves with are 10-feet long or so and look at bit like small coco-palm fronds. These leaves also are cut or hacked into shorted sections for disposal.

This is where the duct tape comes in: people around here who have some banana trees in their yards, like our family, will bundle together a few segments of leaves and perhaps one or two trunk pieces (they're a bit light weight) and put duct tape around them. The tape does a good and sturdy job. The nicely bundled groups of debris are then left out for the trash-collector. Very fine. --- Tanya and Bob Stauffer, Hawaii

Speaker Repair 101
The two woofer speakers in my stereo system were sounding distorted, so I took off the speaker grilles and noticed that the rubber surround rings that support the speaker cones within the frame rings had disintegrated, causing the cones to sag out of alignment. These speakers were no longer manufactured and no stereo shop was willing to repair them, so after much thought, I decided to attempt to repair them with duct tape. Duct tape is thin, strong and flexible and can be formed into a ring shape, but the tape glue alone was not strong enough to withstand the speaker vibrations during use, so I used beads of white glue to secure the duct tape to the speakers.

I disconnected the speakers, removed them from their enclosures and set them on my bench with the cones facing up. I carefully scraped the rubber residue from the speaker cone edges and frame rings. I applied a band of duct tape, sticky side out, to the inside of each frame ring and applied a bead of white glue where the tape contacted the frame ring and let the glue dry overnight. I cut the exposed duct tapes into small strips by making vertical cuts with a scissors, then bending the free end of each strip toward the speaker cone and sticking it to the outside edge of the cone, making sure the strips had a radius bend and the cone was centered within the ring. The strips overlapped where they contacted the cone edge, so they formed a continuous ring. I applied a bead of glue where the tape contacted the cone edge and let the glue dry overnight. I tested the cones for free movement by flexing them in and out with my fingers and listening for any scraping sound. I reinstalled the speakers in their enclosures and turned on the power. The speakers now sound clear, the tape has not loosened after six months and I saved myself the cost of replacing two expensive speakers. I love duct tape! --- Bob R., Branford, CT

Thanks for the in-depth accounting of your speaker repair, Bob. You have undoubtedly helped poor college students everywhere! --- The Duct Tape Guys

Duct Tape for Continued Fun in the Sun
A few years back I burned the insteps of both feet on the hot sand playing beach volleyball. I was playing in another tournament the next weekend and bought all kinds of tape, gauze, Band-Aids, etc. to protect the goose egg sized blisters that had developed. Nothing stayed on in the sand. I brought out a roll of duct tape and used that to keep the gauze in place. The next fall I was on vacation in the Bahamas ( playing beach volleyball again) and opened up my knee on a piece of coral. The duct tape I now always carry with me (even on vacation in the Caribbean) again worked to hold the bandage on so I could continue to play. Never go to a tournament without your roll of duct tape. --- Bob Swain

At least it wasn’t the windshield!
It had not been long since I had moved out of my parents house and on to my own, when I made the fated visit. I had gone to visit my parents and my father heard me complain that the back glass on my Mustang Convertible ragtop was starting to crack. I certainly did not have the money to invest in a new top; but, I sure never a imagined what was next to come. The next thing I know, my mother and I looked out the kitchen window and saw my father admiring his latest jerry-rigged project. Yes, my father had not just patched the crack with duct tape; but, the entire back window! I could not bear to question his intentions, he looked so proud that it would never again rain in my back glass. Never mind the fact I would never be able to see out of the window again, or hold my head high in front of friends and dates.
Well, it just so happens that it wasn't long before my little convertible was For Sale! Now I politely keep my mouth shut in front of Dad if if I am having any mechanical difficulties. --- Karen Creamer

Don’t these guys sound brilliant?
When my friends get drunk one passes out on the couch and my other friend, lets call him Squishy, takes my duct tape and and tapes him to the couch (photo on right). Like i said this has happened twice, and i'm out two rolls of duct tape. --- Chewy

We're thinking that a strip of duct tape across the mouth will prevent the undue consumption of beverages that would render this stupified state. --- The Duct Tape Guys

Never Underestimate the Power of Duct Tape!
This is a rather humorous but unusual circumstance I came upon.... My husband and I were driving along a country road when we got a flat tire I pulled over and he got out to investigate.... after cussing and complaining for over 15 minutes, I got out to see what he was doing to my surprise he was trying to duct tape a gaping 5"x5" hole in my front tire with duct tape .... duh! I couldn't help but laugh at the idea that duct tape could work and without any air left in the tire? --- Janelle (minnesota)

Janelle: We think that if he used enough duct tape, it probably would have worked. --- The Duct Tape Guys

Glove on a Roll
Well my husband was working on the roof, and got a pretty big blister in the palm of his hand, and since there were no bandages around and he had to continue working he took a roll of duck tape and wrapped it around his hand like a glove, to protect the blister. He worked fine all day. --- lisa

iMac Fix
The new iMacs don't come with a built-in disc drive (since discs are apparently going the way of the 8-track tapes). So, Matt M. of Shoreview, MN took matters into his own hands and created his own built-in disc reader. Good thinking, Matt!

Cougar “Gets Real”
I have a 1990 silver Mercury Cougar that was involved in an accident. Rather than have major work done to repair the headlights, grill, and hood, my fiancee used ducttape to hold the lights in, continuing the strip of tape alongside the car, so now I have very fashionable "racing stripes". The accident was 2 years ago, and the duct tape has lasted through two harsh Boston winters. --- Karen Gearty
Obviously, Karen, you've realized the value of having a silver car. Duct Tape: It's body shop on a roll! ---- The Duct Tape Guys

Cat Scratch Retribution
My son, Nicholas, when he was 3, I believe found a new use for duct tape. Let's just say: pet control. Nicholas is an avid Hot Wheels collector. I would say at that time he had close to 200. He was in his play room one day playing with them and our cat, Miss Whiskers, went in and started batting them around, and in the process scratching them. Nicholas got mad, went to my wife and asked where the duct tape was, found it and went back into his play room. Ten minutes later he came out and didn't say a word. Miss Whiskers, definetly a people-loving cat didn't follow. My wife asked about where she was and Nicholas replied truthfully, "my playroom". Kathy went in to find the cat duct taped from neck to buttocks to the closet door. The cat looked might odd hairless for about three weeks. --- David W.

Chuck Sees the Light
I think I'll throw away all my tools except for my duck tape. --- Born Again Duck Tape User, Chuck
Chuck: YOU DA MAN! --- The Duct Tape Guys

Duct Tape Tucks a Tux
Duct tape use is not only a "guy thing". My husband agreed to be a groomsman in a buddy's wedding (why he did this is another story). Anyway, the tux was picked up the day of the wedding. Two hours before the wedding when he was getting dressed he discovered the pants were 6 inches too long and the tux shop was CLOSED. Needless to say, Me, the wife, came to the rescue !!! I promptly measured where the hem should be and duct taped the pants to the correct lenght. After properly taped a quick ironing will help to "seal" the tape to the material by melting the adhesive to the material. This guarantees a sure-fire hem in a pinch and the wedding pictures look great. Duct tape and a WOMAN saved the day again! --- ElleC

Oil Pan Fix
Just after my friend left for a hour drive back to his town, he ran over a muffler and it ripped a hole in his oil pan. We went to the auto store and got some muffler repair that was supposed to heat up and attach (yeah right). Well, I thought, I'll hold it on with a couple strips of duct tape. Then another, then another, and the engine was really heating up. The duct tape became this huge goey melted mess on the oil pan. He drove all the way back to Houston, no problem. --- Chris in Dallas

In Sickness and In Health... Duct Tape
The Allens of Escondido, CA used duct tape to remove hair stubble after ten radiation treatments. "It's extremely soothing!" reported the recipient of the treatment.

Duct Tape Prevents Damaged Book Fines
I saw on your site that you want uses for duct tape in school or work. Since I have gotten into high school, I have had to cover my books every year. Usually I used some brown paper shopping bags, but they were ugly and ripped off very often. Then I started putting duct tape on after the paper bag. It never rips all year, and you can write on it and erase whatever you want, and it looks really cool. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between books so I put the duct tape on horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. I put a cover from one of my last year's books onto a book from this year that is the same size and it is still in perfect condition! --- Joanne N., Hibbing, MN

Great idea! We suggest that you get some colored Duck® brand Duct Tape to differentiate between your books. You can find colored tapes at most WalMart and Target Stores.

A Boeing Employee Recommends of Duct Tape (600 MPH Tape)
Duct tape is what we buy at the hardware store. It is good for just what is says it is. 600 MPH tape is silver in color, not gray as duct tape is. It has high tensile strength at high temperatures, and it will seal broken radiator hoses. I would hate to risk my engine's life on duct tape. I always carry 600 MPH tape like they use at the Boeing Aircraft Company, to make temporary repairs on aircraft. --- Ernest S.

A National Geographic Endosement of Duct Tape
Please refer to the October 2000 issue of National Geographic in the article, "Across the Heart of Africa." This guy is walking across the untamed heart of African jungles with a bunch of pygmies. In the article he repeatedly refers to the use of duct tape as "shoes" as he traverses the swamps and jungles. A must read endorsement for the product!

Body Shop on a Roll
After my divorce I was in such desperate need for a vehicle that I purchased a bright orange Honda Civic that was plagued with terminal body cancer. There were holes all over the poor thing. The head lights were hanging by a thread, there was a big nasty hole in the hood that allowed rain in, and more. "But it got me where I needed to go", I kept reminding myself. But thanks to my handy roll of duct tape, and a can of orange spray paint, I kept her together 'till she finely died of natural causes! I had thought my story was rather unique until I head of a young woman who too had to tape her car together. Unfortunately, she had died, and her friends, in tribute to her obsession with duct tape, each put a strip of duct tape on her coffin as they paid her their final respects! --- Gloria P.

Drummer’s Best Friend
Hello, fellow duct tapers and musicians alike! I have personally found duct tape to be invaluable for all musicians, but especially drummers. What works better on stuff that you smack really hard with other stuff than duct tape?! On drum sets, tape on the heads works better than drowners for your toms. Put a couple of strips on your snare drum, crank it down, and taa-daa, you have the most extremely punchy "funk" sound you'll ever come across without expensive heads. They'll all last longer too. Thought I've never tried it on cymbals I bet it'd 'dry' up the sound a lot. Put it on sticks (Especially important for folks in marching bands) and they'll last a lot longer. Vinyl electrical tape works pretty well too. Also, if you're in a marching band and the sleeves on your uniform are too long, you can do a few things. Make some duct tape hems for your sleeves, maybe, or simply tape 'em back. If your uniform has silver around the cuffs anyway, you're bound to get style points! ---Jordan K., Havertown PA

Power Tool Helper
My boyfriend is an avid user of duct tape and when he dropped his drill off the ladder, they decided to use the almighty guy tool to fix it. --- Jennifer Nemeth

Duct Tape: The Sticky Snake Snagger
When relatives were having trouble with uninvited snakes in their basement, they asked everyone for advice on catching the frightful critters. I remembered how my husband used to catch his 'pet snakes' whenever they would escape. A few strips of Duct Tape, sticky face up, in areas where a snake has been seen always worked for us. (We discovered this by accident, when we found one of the AWOL creatures stuck to the duct tape behind a poster on our wall.) Sure enough, within a week, we received a note from my elated kin about their first 'catch'. Hope this works for other folks! --- Teri M., Indianapolis, IN

Here is a use of duct tape from the Sandia Mountain foofhills of Albuquerque, NM: My wife and I were having a dinner party and one of our guests walked into the kitchen after dinner and notified us that she saw a snake. We tried to catch what appeared to be a nonvenomous snake before he climbed behind some cabinetry but were unsuccessful. We remembered that our kitchen door blew open one night earlier that week though wasn't discovered until morning. One of our guests came up with the idea of leaving strips of duct tape on the floor sticky side up near where he was hiding. The next morning we had a snake! We couldn't get the tape off him though. --- J. William W., Albuquerque, NM

Swampbuggy Racing
Duct tape is great! Actually should say Duck tape since we used it to tape up our Duck. I used to be involed in Swampbuggy racing and the only way we could seal the engine compartment of our buggy "E-Z Duck" was to duct tape the edges of the hood to the body. It worked great,our engine never got wet like some that didn't use duct tape. Way to go Duct(or Duck) Tape!! --- David Callahan

Weed Control Assistant
Duct tape your hand held sprayer to your riding mower or ATV to create your own power sprayer, you can duct tape the spray wand handle to the rear of your mower/ATV for hands free operation. --- M Koupal
Better yet, just duct tape over your entire lawn and you will never have to weed or mow again! Use Duck® brand green Xtreme Tape.

Duct Tape: Don't leave for college without it!
Recently I moved into my first college dorm and put a bulletin board on the wall, well I'll be darned if it didn't fall down three times in one week. So what do I do... I get a roll of duct tape and fasten my bulletin board on the wall using an entire roll, not only will it stay up on the wall for the next hundred years or so, but it's a stylish silver color. --- Chris at James Madison University

Duct Tape Walkway
Don Claeys made this duct tape walkway to protect Rhonda's feet from the sharp rocks while walking to the beach.
Great idea, but you could just duct tape Rhonda's feet to protect her precious tootsies wherever she walks!

Duct Tape is Next to Godliness
This is part of a mass email that got sent to everyone at my college: "Hey I misplaced my Bible today I hope at least one of you ran across it today. It is a NIV Study Bible with some duct tape on it. When the cover of your Bible runs out, just cover it with duct tape. It makes the word of God even more sacred. (if that's possible!)" --- Charlotte R., Yakima, WA

Hammerball Anyone?
When I was in college at a large state university, I was on the crew that installed and removed the drop-in hardwood playing floors for basketball and volleyball games at the arena. The floors are composed of many (probably over a hundred) 4x8 panels (the size of a standard sheet of plywood). The panels are laid on the floor in order, then locked in place one row at a time.
Each panel is quite heavy because they are made of several layers of wood and other materials, and it can be difficult, if not impossible, to position them and lock them in place simply by pushing on them. Thus, once the panels were positioned roughly where they belonged, we used large mallets with double-ended cast steel heads to bang on the edges to "nudge" them into place. To prevent damage to the playing floor, the mallets had rubber covers that fit over the striking surfaces.
However, the rubber covers didn't last long when smacked against the very sharp corners of hardwood playing surface, not to mention the unattractive black smudge a misdirected blow might leave. Of course, you have guessed the solution - a generous wrapping of duct tape over the rubber covers! Presto - inexpensive, easily replaceable, damage-free outer covers for the flimsy rubber covers! Properly preparing one's mallet for a "floor down" shift became a ritual into which new members of the crew had to be initiated.
Also, because the playing floors often had to be put down very late at night following the strike and load-out of a concert in the arena (events known to use prodigious amounts of duct tape - no self-respected road crew tours without having cases of the stuff handy), we collected leftover pieces of duct tape to form balls a little smaller than a basketball. Around 4 to 5 a.m., with the playing floor fully installed, we cranked up a game of hammerball. This truly macho sport essentially is baseball played with the duct tape ball and the aforementioned mallets as bats. The sound of a sixteen-pound mallet getting a big piece of a duct tape ball (kind of a "fwump") was truly satisfying. The best hitters could knock a well-constructed (i.e., dense and heavy) ball nearly the full length of a regulation NCAA basketball floor. --- Jason Wolfkill, Memphis, TN

Thanks for your Support
My friend went to our prom with us, and the dress she wore could not hide her bra. She tried on all sorts of strapless ones with it, but could not find one. She eventually ended up duct taping her chest into place, she said it held all night and came off easily. Now all of us wear it when we need a boost. --- Sara R.

Duct Tape will Sponsor any Team
True Story: In a work softball tournament our team had been runner up for two years in a row. This year our uniforms were white t-shirts with red Duct Tape numbers on the back. We took it all this year! Hooray for the "Duct Tape Dynamos"! --- Becky Rhodes

Here’s a Bird-Brained Idea…
I recently returned from a trip and upon arriving home, my wife noticed that the robin's nest, that was in a tree in our back yard, had blown out from a storm we had earlier in the day. The baby birds and the nest were lying on the ground and the mother bird was not around. After giving the situation some thought, I decided to try to duct tape the nest to the limb of the tree where it had originally been built. After doing so, I placed the baby birds back in there nest and I am happy to say that the mother has reclaimed her brood and the bird family is doing fine. --- Vernon R.

Garage on a Roll
I wanted to build a kit car a couple of years ago, but didn't have a garage. I didn't want to spend much making somewhere to build (rather spend my money on shiny car bits) so bought a large roll of plastic sheeting and large roll of Duct Tape. With the aid of a one of the walls of my house and a few pieces of wood I built a garage out of duct tape and plastic sheeting.
I've now built the car, crashed it & re-built it in the same plastic & duct tape garage. There was some Duct Tape deterioration during the second winter, but a generous helping of fresh Duct Tape soon fixed that. I won't mention the uses of duct tape in building the car as they are far too numerous. --- Dave Daniel

Who Needs an Ace when you are a Duct Tape Ace?
Recently my son got hit with a baseball, in the leg. It swelled up. NO ace bandages around.
After applying ice, we found some cheesecloth ( light cloth for draping over picnic food to keep flies out), wrapped it tightly around the injury, and applied two widths of ducktape. worked like a charm, swelling went down by that evening. --- Nick Spagnola

See the Duct Tape Guys share their hints... click the ticket stub on the left.

A Durable Hide for your Books
It's back to school time again. My son came home from Junior high and said he needed to cover his school books, but that last year he got into trouble because the covers we put on tore and the books suffered. This year we found the answer, we duct taped the whole outside of the book over the paper cover! --- Koupal
Good idea, but we suggest wrapping the cover in a paper bag first, then cover the bag with duct tape, or you will never see the actual cover again!

Put the Pedal to the Metal!
You know those speed zones where it's just impossible to go the speed limit? On a really dark night, use black duct tape to change the speed limit numbers. With little trouble at all, 35 can become 85, 55 can become 66, 70 can become 88, etc. and no ones the wiser. --- Sharon R., Katy, Texas (Now probably serving a 60 day sentence.)

Chainsaw Companion
A few years ago, a dear friend Tom Oliver (TO), who was in his early '70s, was at his cottage in Georgian Bay. He and his wife built the cottage in the late 1940s. It's on an island, about a 30-minute boat ride from the mainland.
Anyhoo, TO was doing some renovations on the cabin or chopping down some tree or something, and he was using a chain saw. The chainsaw malfunctioned and flew back right into his thigh. Of course you don't have to be a doctor to know that there's a pretty significant artery running up the thigh. His quick-thinking son Craig was nearby, and immediately wrapped his dad's thigh in a beach towel and secured it with duct tape. They then made the trip to the hospital, which took about an hour. The doctors told Craig he had saved his dad's life by binding up the thigh with duct tape. TO was delighted when we gave him a copy of your first book to celebrate. --- NVW

Bras and Balloons
My wife and I live in a 3 level house, the garage being on the lowest level and the bedroom on the highest. One morning while leaving for work she noticed (in the garage) that her bra strap had broken. Not wanting to go up 2 levels & change, she looked around, spied the duct tape on my workbench, and made the necessary repair, which lasted all day. Another time, I had to wrap duct tape sticky side out around a 16 ft. pole to unwrap the ribbon from a helium filled balloon that had gotten wrapped around the ceiling fan. --- Jerry Balling

"Shouldertop Computer System"
I really couldn't afford a laptop to carry around with me. I could however afford duct tape and some
scrap lumber! --- J.C. Anderson (see J.C.’s brilliantly bizarre shouldertop computer by clicking to Duct Tape Bizarre). Good thinking, J.C. - you won a Duct Tape Toolbox, three books (autographed) and a Duct Tape Pro cap for your ”Ductapivity.”

Hollowman and Duct Tape
I just came back from seeing Hollowman, the new movie with kevin bacon, they use duct tape in a way I have never seen. A man gets a crow bar sliced into his abdomen and elizabeth shue closes the wound with duct tape. once again proving duct tape is the most useful tool on earth, --- Slick 200O@...

Probably the only redeeming part of this otherwise lame movie. Now, if the guy had only been wearing a duct tape cumberbund, the crow bar probably never would have penetrated in the first place.

Aeronautically Correct
A story has just recently surfaced in the Aeronautics community that my dad's friend did something pretty stange in 1986. He ran a 1946 Ercupe off the end of the runway into a barbed wire fence. Being a stong believer in the power of duct tape, he patched all the tears and flew off into the sunset, never to be heard from again...(not!!) We in the Aeronautics community lovingly refer to duct tape as the 100 mile an hour tape and preach the liberal usage of duct tape wherever we can find people willing to listen. We state boldly: “I AM PROUD TO BE CALLED A USER OF THE TAPE, I'VE SEEN THE LIGHT!”
P.S. Please don't show this to the feds , as they do not see duct tape as being air worthy (little do they know)... --- Bill E.

Amen! Preach it, brother!

Yet Another Wallet
I was at summer camp this year and I had forgoton to bring my wallet , this coupled with an insane amount of free time and a pocket full of cash I had an idea. This is where i had the idea for the duct tape wallet it has 4 card holders and a slot for my permit (I just used hard clear plastic and taped it on ) and a key ring on the edge . This thing can take a beeting and still look shiny. --- Steve Donovan

This is the first three-fold we’ve seen, so we posted it. Nice work, Steve. However, we don’t need any more photos of wallets, or announcements of web sites that make wallets (there are at least 200 of them out their). Now, when someone has a site that makes houses completely out of duct tape, that we’d be interested in seeing.

Surfboard Repair on a Roll
We have used duct tape to repair surfboards on a number of occasions, you can even use it to stick sections of your board that have snapped off, back on ! Allthough admittedly only smallish sections. --- Jeremy Samways

Cloggers’ Companion
I'm a traditional Appalachian clogger, and on many occasions I have had to dance on floors and stages that have been excessively waxed. Since having a fast-tapping foot fly out from under one's body generally results in an uncomfortable fall, I was looking for a solution to the problem that wouldn't ruin my shoes or affect the sound of my stepping. Luckily, me friend and fellow dancer Lily knew the answer--duct tape. A bit on the shoe silver side out will keep you from slipping on waxed floors and it is easily removed from the sole. And, if the floors are really sliipery, simply fold the tape in half lengthwise so the sticky side is out and apply it to the bottom of your shoe--you won't slip a bit. --- Amy

Gamers Love Duct Tape!
The guys at Gamers in La Vista, Nebraska, sent us this photo (right) of two of their duct tape uses: repairing furniture and cover cords on the floor. They say that they could not do business without it!

Musician’s Helper
I play bass clarinet and there's this screw that likes to unscrew itself. It's in a hard spot to reach, and the thing doesn't play when it's not screwed in all of the way...my solution, put duct tape over it, hasn't bothered me since. --- Leanne

Enough of the Rude Gestures
For about a week when my cousin Kate was little, she had a habit of sticking up her middle finger at everyone. To cure her of her tendency to make rude gestures, my uncle duct taped her middle fingers to her index fingers on both hands. After that, we saw a lot less of Kate's middle finger. --- Jacqueline Smith
Thanks Jacqueline - we loved your work on Charlie's Angels (you were Tim's favorite).

Duct Tape Rifle Sling
While moose hunting last Fall near Boulder, Wyoming, I was "back up" for two friends who had not shot their moose yet. I was also the official photographer, pack mule, scout, weather watcher, camp cook, harmonica player, and jester. I carried my .30-30 for backing up a misplaced shot (the hunters were using blackpowder weapons), and got tired of lugging the rifle, the pack of "essentials" (toilet paper, duct tape, etc.) and camera. I decided that not having a sling on the .30-30 was my biggest problem so I created a fashionable and useful rifle sling out of duct tape and was able to carry everything with no problem. And both hunters got their moose. --- Jim J., Riverton, Wyoming

Make Your Own Furballs?
My cat got into my garage and shed a bunch of hair on the rug. I couldn't sweep it off so I covered my feet with duct tape, sticky side out, and removed all the cat hair by marching back and forth over the rug. My two year old thought it was hilarious. I occasionally do the same thing in the dining room area if it is not a big enough job to warrant getting the vacuum out. --- Aimee C.

Duct Tape Mouse Boats
Hi, After visiting your site it reminded me of an experiance I had with Duct Tape in my childhood many years ago. I used to have a friend called Ben, when i was about 12. We used to both share the same interest of keeping pet mice. He had around 40 and I had about 20. One thing we did involving Duct Tape was to make 'Mouse-Boats'. These were boats we made for our mice. The constuction consisted of card-board, a little wood, but of course mainly it was Duct-Tape. The Duct-Tape seemed to be waterproof and was great for strengthening the hull of the boat. The boats could hold around 10 mice, had 2 decks where the mice could hide with cooton-wool for bedding, and were perfectly safe. I have fond memories of sailing the boats in my friends large tin bath. --- Tom Booker, Cambridge U.K

Skiing with Duct Tape
I was at a ski race and the zipper on my speed suit broke. Instead of safety pinning it back together, I applied ample use of duct tape. It kept the suit together and provided a handy back support. Unfortunately, the race was cancelled that day and I did not get to test out the aerodynamic enhancement qualities of ducttape. --- Lisa G., Big Bear Lake, CA
P.S. I have never been able to get through a ski race without a roll of duct tape.

Duct Tape Horse Repair
A year or so ago I went outside to bring my horses in from the pasture when I noticed one was bleeding horribly out of a gash between its forelegs a flap of skin hung down of course, my dad being the tightpocket he is, decided that we didnt need a vet to stich it up, just throw on some bag balm and put something on it to cover the wound to prevent infection. Well, the bag balm
went fine (except for the kick I got from the unhappy horse) but we realized covering the cut would be the hard part. We tried wrapping sheets around her and just about everything else until I spotted the familiar silver roll. I took 4 long straps and some duct tape and fashioned a nice little harness-like thing that kept a guaze pad over the wound without slipping, rubbing, or otherwise ticking off the horse. It worked great! The cut healed and I can't even find the scar. --- Jessie Hockett, Kennewick, WA

A Viaduct Repair Via Duct Tape
The photo on the right (by Edoquard Bruchac, from the Birmingham Newspaper) documents the 22nd Street viaduct wrapped with duct tape to keep the concrete from crumbling until repairs can be made. How much do you bet it stays this way for years? Thanks to Roger Bellow for sending us this clipping.

Duct Tape for the Goat Breeder
I breed dairy goats and several years ago I had a doe (female goat) who prolapsed or inverted her "reproductive organ", (trying to keep it non-offensive here) just before kidding, so since she was due to have her kids anyday I tried to think of a way to keep it in place without a Vet call. I used duct tape! It worked great. I had the same thing happen this year but this time it was an inverted rectum. I did take the goat to the vet and he put in a suture used for this type of thing. It didn't work because of the irritation the doe could not preform normal functions. I removed the suture and did the duct tape thing. Again it worked like a charm. I published a goat magazine and a full article on using duct tape in this manner is in in the next issue. Bet you'll never get another story like this one, but it IS true. Attached is a picture. --- Nancy H., Yucca Valley, CA

Thanks, Nancy... but exactly which part of the goat are we viewing here? Never mind... I guess we'd rather not know.

Duct Tape Trench Coat
When I was in school in the early 70's, I had an old army surplus trench coat for the winter. It developed a large tear down one side, which I patched up with duct tape. Soon, other tears developed and after several tears, it became obvious that I should just cover all of the old deteriorating fabric with duct tape. I did this, including the pull up collar, pockets, and interior lining. A solid duct tape trench coat was pretty cool during the winter of '72 at OSU! --- Randy M.

Avoid Pinched Punch Cups
Only in the South would you see this - we needed extra punch cups for a social occasion at church and someone actually put tiny pieces of duct tape with their initials on the bottom of their punch cups. I guess they thought duct tape was good enough for their crystal. --- Jennifer

Penny Pincher’s Pocket Repair
Getting ready for work this morning, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't fixed the hole in by dress pants pocket, especially when the change I had put in there slid down my pants leg and into my shoe. Knowing my wife keeps DT in the kitchen drawer for emergencies, I found it, tore off about an inch, slapped it over the hole and was off to work in minutes.

At work, I got to thinking, "Why wait for a problem? When I get home I'm going reinforce all my change pockets with DT!" --- Ken G. Smart man, Ken! An ounce of Duct Tape Prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Ringer Washer Repair
I have an old Maytag wringer type washer. It had a rubber ball, with a hose attached to a control which attached to a control on the wringer mechanism. You had to press on the ball with your foot before the wringer would operate. Four years ago, the ball rotted, causing an air leak. I took off the control to which the hose was attached, and found a plunger which was activated by air pressure from the hose. Having seen the many of uses of duct/duck tape on the Red Green Show, I got a brainstorm. I held the plunger out, and taped it with duct tape. Four years later, the wringer is still operating. Not too safe for someone with long hair, or any large protrusions, that might get caught in the wringer, but I don't have that problem. --- RJ, Michigan Like we always say: “It ain’t broke, it just lacks Duck Tape!”

Dad’s Duct Taped Slippers
This is rather different than the rest of the stories I read but I did want to share this with you. My mother gave my husband a pair of houseslippers for Christmas many, many years ago. He dearly loved those slippers and, you guessed it, began to put duct tape on the places that started to wear. Each year we would try to get a new pair but they would always be returned and more duct tape added to the old pair. Last May my dearly beloved husband passed away. He was buried in his best suit, shirt, tie AND the duct tape houseslippers! --- Betty S., Decatur, Il

Bike Seat Repair
Stefan’s black bike (left, a1983 Suzuki Katana 550) used to have a plain black seat cover which let in water so he made the two-tone silver & black one out of duck tape. The Katana 750 and 1100 models used to come with 2-tone seats in these colors so it was pretty much an obvious color choice. --- Stefan

Duct Tape Sighting on the Slopes
At Stevens Pass (Washington) I ran into a female snowboarder in the lodge with a roll of duct tape tied to her pack. I asked her what the duct tape was for and she replied "anything and everything". At the end of the day I saw a fellow snowboarder with duct tape wrapped around most of one leg! --- Robert Kiel

F150 Duct Tape Pick Up
About 10 years ago I owned a Ford F150 Truck. It was about 15 years old and in ruff shape. The guys who worked with me thought that duct tape was a simple solution when it came time for repairs. The mirror falls off, we duct taped it on, the antenna comes off, duct tape again. Rust was repaired and patched up with duct tape. The best part was the racing stripes and numbers we added for fun. Each door had the numbers double 00 in duct tape. We also added our own version of white wall tires with duct tape. It was fun while it lasted. --- Mark Denning

Joggers: Are those biker shorts chaffing? Make your own with duct tape. No more chaffing and in taking them off you get an expensive hair wax for free. --- D. Rust

Duck Tape Backpack
Ron Khare (left) skyrocketed to the top of his school’s “Cool List” when he showed up sporting his homemade, 100% Duck tape backpack. Ron has generously shared his instructions on how you can make your own Duck Tape Backpack at:
http://i.am/duct_tape_backpack --- Thanks, Ron!

Cricket Control
My true and not too interesting duct tale is about having to spend the night in a little motel in a small town in the middle of Texas. The only room left faced a large field that had been mowed that day. When we got in it was about 11:00 p.m. We got our key, opened the room door and saw about 100 dead field crickets all over the rug. My wife said she wasn't staying in a room with all those dead crickets and at that moment a live one popped in under a large gap in the door. With no further thought I went to my Jeep and pulled out a roll of duct tape, my constant companion. I came back into the room, balled up a wad of duct tape sticky-side out, and began pressing it to every cricket in the room. I then threw the wad of cricket tape(there were several) into the dumpster outside, came back in and taped the gap completely around the door. No further crickets gained entry and my wife was extremely greatful for my presence of mind. It is not often that a man has the opportunity to be a hero. --- Dick Urban

Duct Tape Keeps Grandma Safe
My grandmother had Alzheimer's and we couldn't keep her from climbing out of her wheelchair and falling. Even the most expensive medical restraints wouldn't keep that little lady put so we duct taped her in. Worked great. --- Lori Green

Horse Hoof and Computer Repair on a Roll
I had a horse that had an abscess in the hoof. I made a paste of meds and duck taped a diaper on the bottom of hoof for padding and to keep the meds in place. Worked great and horse was better in no time.

Also had an old computer that wasn't working so well. It went up in smoke so I took it apart and used duck tape on some of the wires that was fryed. The thing is still working fine today. --- Feather Gtraining@...

Duct Tape Dental Floss
I was at work one night and a large piece of food became wedged between my back teeth. I tend bar so I asked the customers for floss. One lady had an old round tin of travel floss in her purse but the floss would not come out of the tin. I looked in our tool drawer to get a pliers to open the container. Lo and behold a roll of duct tape with several strings hanging loose. I pulled a six inch piece loose and behold dental floss. The food was gone and I was no longer being irritated.
--- Forrest Rieder

Callus on a Roll
Jim used duct tape to get some more mileage out of his aching feet during a Rocky Mountain hiking trip. He thought of the duct tape as "Callus on a Roll."

Duct Tape: Thick as a Brick

Body Shop on a Roll