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Hoof Repair I was turned onto your site by a friend of mine after seeing me apply duct tape to my horses feet to create a "boot," so to speak. I see that you've already got a similar story on your HMO page, but wanted to send you a picture of what my horsey boots look like. We're using the duct tape over baby diapers to hold medication to the horses feet until they heal.

This sutff [the duct tape] works great, is durable and creates a foot ensemble with a sense of cosmic style to be envied the globe over! Not only are they easy to create, they're economical, costing around a $1.50 a pair--a savings of over $95 when compared to name brand horse slippers bought from finer tack shops.
All I have to say is thank God for duct tape!! --- Mandy G., Traverse City, MI

Movie Theatre Snack Money Saver My friends and I, being teenagers, don't have a lot of money to spend. When we go to the movies, rather than buy extremely expensive theater candy, we bring our own. The trick is to wear very baggy clothes, and then conceal the snacks (soda, candy, large bags of cheeto's) in your clothes by duct taping them to your ankles, stomach, etc. This prevents the treats from being confiscated by the evil theater guard people, and also makes for hairless ankles once the tape is removed! --- Katie G. Baldwinsville, NY

Boat Compass Light My friends and I were sailing from Annapolis to Martha's Vineyard. During the night the light in the compass failed so we used Duct Dape to attach a mini Mag light to the compass globe. Another lifesaving use for Duct Tape. --- David B.

Painters get seminary ready for Papal visit using Duct Tape Before selling houses, I use to be a paint salesman. One of my painting contractor customers had a job getting a local seminary library room ready for a visit by the pope. The contractor was given the task of reapplying poly urethane to the wood paneled walls. When the priest in charge of the project came by to check on the room, he was horrified to see that the room was being covered in a high gloss sheen!Not knowing what to do, the contractor called me for some help since he now had to degloss the entire room. He couldn’t sand it, because his painters might sand too far down to the wood, and then end up having to re-stain the walls, which also meant the possibility of chemically stripping them. Chemical deglossers were also out of the question at the time because of the fumes.
After a little bit of thought, I tried applying some Duct Tape to the wall, heated it, then pulled it off the wall. Lo and behold! The duct tape took off the recently applied gloss coating! I ended up selling them ten cases of Duct Tape, and prescribed a system of removing the coating. The painters would apply the tape, making a sheet of approximately 3x3, would heat it with a heat gun, allowed to cool a little, then could just rip it off the wall. It was even effective with detailed corners and carvings.
The Pope’s visit was delayed a few weeks, and I never found out whether they used that room as a reception area or not. But the duct tape caper worked out for my customer in a cost efficient way! ---Ken A.

Sledge Saver Bud Larson of San Diego, CA saved this antique sledge hammer (left) from an early demise by taping the handle. Should last another fifty to one hundred years.

Garage BandAid My friends and I are in a really bad garage band. One day at practice, my guitar strap started to hurt my shoulder. the solution? I took my strap, put some soft paper towels over it, and wrapped the whole thing in duct tape. Since then, I haven't had a problem with the strap at all. Plus, my strap is now waterproof. - Brady

Patriotic Couch ala Duct Tape This is what my brother, a good friend and I did on our July 4th afternoon to add some patriotic spunk to the living room. Our couch was falling apart and decided to repair the mess with duct tape. To our surprise at the store we found red, white, and blue duct tape. We'll as you can see we used it. 11 rolls. 316 yards. 4.5 hours. But she is beautiful. We call her "Old Glory"-Betsy Ross Collection. --- Tyler W., Auburn, Al

Bailing Wire of the New Millennium Oh, I used duct tape on the tractor the other day. The rubber connection between the carborator and airintake is old and it had a hole so the proper air/gas mixture was off. The tractor is so old, parts hard to come by... so duct tape. --- Dale R.

Lunch Bag Helper I carry my lunch to work in a particular size brown paper bag that I get from a grocer. I use the same bag over and over for many days. Sometimes I extend the life of the bag by repairing small rips with duct tape. This way I can continue to use the bag until I get another like it. --- Robert C. Great idea! Here's an improvement on your idea: In our show we make a reusable lunch bag by duct taping over a paper bag. Also - freeze a water-soaked sponge in a plastic baggy. Duct tape the sponge bag securely onto the side of your reusable lunch bag - refreeze the bag every night - you will have a mini refrigerator for your lunch.

Community Theatre Helper I help with costuming at a community theatre, and in theatre there's always going to be last minute changes that can't wait. Once we realized that a dress wa way too long just before the show opened; with no time to sew in a hem. Solution: duct tape, of course. Then there's always those times when during a period play some premadonna actor is going to flatly refuse to wear his/her pants/skirt in the proper place (the real waist). Duct taping costumes to their bodies can be very useful in these situations. --- Vera T.

Olympic Camera Modification When the 2002 Sydney Olympics needed a camera modification for the coverage of the Men's Marathon, Darryl Smith grabbed his roll of duct tape. (photo on left)

Duct Tape Toddler I put my daughter Bostyn to bed at about 8:30pm and then check on her when I go to bed for the night. When I checked on her, she was in bed....clothes and diaper both thrown on the floor. I put them back on and proceeded to go to bed. The next morning, I awoke, went to her room and again, everything on the the floor. That night, when I put her to bed and checked on her before I went to bed she AGAIN had no diaper on. The only tape I found was a roll of regular packing tape so I used that to put around the tabs of the diaper so she couldn't pull it off. In the morning when I went to get her once again she had NO diaper on......yeah, that packing tape held real well. Today while in the garage I found a roll of duct tape and here she is, all changed and ready for bed....I mean really....what else do you expect us to do? - Trie E, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada

Cooler Cooler Mitch uses camo duct tape to identify (and reinforce) his can cooler. Hey, cover the whole thing with camo tape, Mitch. That way, no body will see your cooler at all! And while you are at it, cover that shirt in camo tape, too!

Duct Tape Party My husband was turning 60 last November, and we decided to throw him a "duct" tape party. Each person coming to the party had to arrive with something made from duct tape. We made decorations from Duct tape, including streamers hanging from the Chandelier, and a bouquet of Duct Tape flowers on the table. Some of his gifts were as follows.
1. A hat made out of Duct Tape with various remarks written all over it, like "Got Tape?", with two golf tees taped onto the front, and "Duct Tape is my Life".
2. A Duct Tape vest in Extra Large (took three roles)
3. A loose-leaf binder wrapped with duct tape for all his Duct Tape Newsletters. We printed off several editions of the Duct Tape Newsletters and some patterns and put them in for reading material.
4. A Mickey of Scotch (his drink of choice), which was wrapped with so much duct tape, it would take some time to peel it all off and you would work up a thirst.
5. He was given a wallet from the pattern off one of the articles in your newsletter.
6. The Duct Tape movie was put on for entertainment.
7. He received a Duct Shui book, of which he didn't have a clue what that was.
8. A package of red Duct Tape for his pocket in case of emergencies.
9. His daughter made a birthday card out of duct tape.
10. A calendar that has 365 Days of Duct Tape.
11. A Duct Tape Pattern Book
12. The one that was most interesting and the most creative, was someone had taken a wooden ruler, cut it apart at one inch intervals, laid it onto some Duct Tape, then you were able to "roll" it up to make a 12" measuring tape for your pocket.
We had a cake made from the Dairy Queen with Bob the Builder with a large roll of Duct Tape in his hand. Needless to say fun was had by all. --- Roxy

Cow Innards Kept In One of the cows at the farm has a deep laceration which causes some of it's insides to fall out if the skin is not held together (that's what the farmer told her). They had tried to use medical tape to cover the area until the wound heals but the medical tape would easily become dirty or wet and fall off. They have since switched over to duct tape. The problem area is now completely covered with duct tape and will continue to be until the wound has healed and the problem is no more. I wish I was there to see it and had pictures to send but I don't. --- Jacob C. Turner, Maine

Tip Enhancer When employees at the popular "Not Licked Yet" frozen custard stand in Fish Creek, WI, wanted to up their tips, they used duct tape to advertise $1.00 per hug, kiss, and/or cuddle. Did it work? Sure did (probably because of the duct tape in "Big Tony's" case). (Photo from left to right, "Big Tony" (Paul), Sande, and Maggie.)

Eyebrown Shaper When tweezing my eyebrows, I have found that becomes tedious (and that doesn't work for me) so I cut a strip of duct tape and placed it on my brow, when I ripped it off all the hairs I wanted gone, were gone. Surprisingly, it wasn't even painful! --- Leslie A.

Cap Bill Bender Duck tape makes the perfect curve for your hat bill. Just take your favorite hat (Realtree or John Deere preferably) and insert the bill into a roll of Duck tape, wait, the you've got yourself a perfect hat bill. --- Norris E., Lewisville NC

Sail Boat Savior I had just launched my sail boat and had the mast stepped. As I was in the process of sorting out the rigging I found that one of the lines was too short. It had been marginal last year but for some reason it was now so short it would not work on the boat any more. I considered what options I had before me. 1. splice a short piece of line to the old one. Or 2. replace the line completely. The splicing option could not work because the line had to slide through eyes and a splice would make the line too fat to go through the eyes. So the replacement option was my only solution but that posed two new problems. 1. I did not know how long the old line was so I had to get it off the boat and measure it before I could get a new line. 2. I had to thread the line through a series of blocks that were 25 feet off the deck at the top of the mast.
So. Duct tape came to the rescue to solve both problems. I took a 1/4” clothesline and my old line and laid them on top of a 1’ piece of duct tape end to end. I then very carefully rolled the tape around the line making a “splice”. I repeated this procedure with a second piece of duct so I would have a stronger joint between the two lines. I then pulled the old line off the boat and the clothesline followed it into the rigging and through the blocks. After all of the old line was completely free of the boat I was able to now measure it to get a new line that was long enough to work. After purchasing the new longer line I repeated the procedure in reverse. I was now able to thread the new line through the rigging by pulling on the clothesline duct taped to the new line. The duct taped joints held up going around all of the blocks and I was able to replace the old line with a new one that fit on the boat thanks to duct tape. This solution made it possible to change the line from the deck of the boat instead of un-stepping the mast or using a crane and a bosun chair. --- Geoffrey Skog

Roto-Rooter Helper (left) Orville shows off his paper paddle he makes with duct tape wrapped around the metal claw at the end of the snake. The duct tape helps remove paper plugs in sewer lines. Good thinking, Orville! We have another idea: To prevent sewer lines from getting plugged in the first place, duct tape all sink drains closed and toilet lids down - then you won't have to call Roto-Rooter who charged us over $600 and STILL didn't solve the problem. But are we miffed? NAH! We LOVE throwing money "down the toilet!"

Duct Tape Saves Assignment My son David, who was in the second grade, had spent a long evening on a home work assignment, and like a loving and concerned parent, I decided to check his work for accuracy before the assignment was turned in for a grade. As he was preparing to "go catch the yellow dog", I sat at the kitchen table and read his paper. I noticed an error at the same time he heard the "yellow dog" rounding the corner. I put the eraser to the paper and with what I thought would be an easy task, slid the eraser across the paper, and we both stared in horror at the ripping of the paper. Panic set in immediately for the both of us. The "yellow dog" was down shifting as it was making It's final assent up our hill, and my son looking at me with that "Make a miracle happen fast and real fast Dad" expression. My survival instincts set in and I headed for the utility closet. In a series of amazing moves, I grabbed the duct tape, pulled out about seven inches with mouth open and teeth prepared to make a clean surgeons cut, I suttured the ripped homework assignment in a manner that would bring a smile to a surgeons face. Needless to say, my son didn't miss the "yellow dog, and the paper recieved a passing mark. Now fellows, I didn't save any money on this duct tape job, but I did save my son a lot of grief which is worth a lot more than money. To make this experience so memorable, I received a note from his teacher that was written so neatly and professionally above the duct taped paper. The note,"Great paper David, and Mr. Moss your duct tape job is a work of art". Think of it guys - duct tape and art being taught in language art classes as synonyms. --- moss Duct Tape IS a great art medium… check out our gallery!

Duct Tape Paintball I just started playing paintball, I found out how painful it really is to get hit with those things, so I wanted armor. That isn’t a cheap sport either. So I made myself: I Made My Grip better, A belt to hold my paintballs, A Set of Gauntlets, a Neck Protector, a Chest and Back Protector, A Helmet to protect the top of my head, And a Bag to hold all my equipment. In the end Duct Tape saved me around $200, now I have enough money for more paintballs. --- Jack Z., Courtland, Virginia Read other Money Saving ideas in our Savin' of the Green Contest page.

Barefoot Skis Duct tape over the bottom of your feet. I do this often, it saves your feet especially if you hit something such as a log or alligator. Once the tape is wet it doesnt hurt to pull the tape off. - Chris H.

Lifeguard Uses As a lifeguard I am familiar with the methods of reviving drowning victims who's hearts have stopped (one definition of clinical death). We commonly use CPR (Cardiopulminary Resusitation) to get hearts going again when no AED (Automated External Defibulator - electric shock) equipment is unavailable. Part of this technique requires breathing into the victims mouth and/or nose at regular intervals to force oxygen into their lungs. We typically wish to use pocket mask (also known as face masks) to create a barrier to limit the passage of communicatible deseases between victim and rescuer. You can create on the these with duct tape by creating a circular tube with both ends open. It must be somewhat cone shaped, one side large enough to provide coverage of both mouth and nose, and one end small to fit nicely between the rescuers lips. This type of device would be preferable to any rescuer over simple mouth-to-mouth. It provides enough protection to limit risk to the rescuer.
Duct tape can also be used to keep the victims tongue out of the way of the windpipe or tie down people who may limit you ability to revive a victim (i.e. over helpful family members) Once again, this is not simply useful for rescuing people but rather also capable of reviving drowning victims already clinically dead. The improvised face mask provides enough protection to the rescuer to give him/her the fearlessness to act quickly enough to save a life. --- Nathan Thanks, Nathan. You can read more medical uses in our HMO on a Roll section.

German Ceiling Taping
(right) Leave it to German ingenuity to come up with a clever solution for space problems at the computer lab. Dirk sent us this photo of a ceiling beam taping (with no further explanation of the circumstances involved).

Youth Group Enhancer My church youth group has done several games involving duct tape. Two of our favorites are:
Tape On The Wall: Teams of approximately 10+ people compete to get a piece of tape as high as possible on a wall. Favorite technique: The Pyramid. Three or four people on the bottom, 2 (or 3) people on the next row, 1 (or 2) person on the top. Standing on shoulders and stretching, We get the tape way up there. Then for the next couple weeks everybody wonders what the peices of duct tape are doing so close to the ceiling on the wall of the Youth Room, until somebody comes through with one of the huge 20-foot ladders and pulls them down.
Taped On The Wall: Teams compete using duct tape to attatch a person to a wall for the longest possible time. The victim stands on a chair leaning against the wall, and the team uses approx. 2 rolls of tape to secure them to the wall. With 4 people on the wall, the chair is removed from each person one at a time with a stopwatch. Average was 8 seconds, until the Junior Highers tried it.....I'm not going to give away our secret recipe but the kids got one young lady stuck to the wall for a full hour! By the end of that time her legs were hurting and since her arms were taped against the wall, it was a lot of fun pulling the tape off of her arms. --- Mark C., Student Ministry Team, Harvest Commuity Church See our other wall (and ceiling) tapings here (and read our instructions for SAFE taping before you attempt this stunt!)

Lawnmower Fix My lawn mower handle bars broke, needed to weld them but instead I just wraped duct tape around and it held up until I had finished my job. --- Phillip J. Hey, Phillip - we hope you didn't PAY to get it repaired! Just keep adding duct tape and keep mowing!

Duck ala Duct "Yearly at our school there is a duck competition. Students are asked to make a duck of any sort. We decided that a duct tape duck was in order, in honor of our technical director at the theatre where we work". -- Jenny and Amanda, Walla Walla, Washington See more examples of animals made with duct tape in our duct tape art gallery.

Rope on a Roll Hey on a trip into a cave system with boyscouts one of us got stuck down this one jole in the cave. The ground was so slick and wet that he couldn't climb up with out the use of a rope. But we DIDN'T have a rope so we made one out of duct tape. We torn off 15 foot strips or so and braided them for extra strength. Well he's alive now and surprised that the power of duct tape saved his life! --- Robert B., Casa Grande, Arizona

Catapult Helper Our school science olympiad team last year had a catapult compititon. Well, the people who were assigned to build the catapult hadn't had time to even start it but had broken a bridge in another competition before and still had the broken pieces of balsa wood. Five minutes before the competition, they built the catapult out of the spare pieces and alot of duct tape. As other teams went around looking at each others designs, they all laughed at the duct tape covered catapult. when time came to compete, everyone was still laughing yet they stopped when the kids took first place. Sadly that was the only competition we won that year, however, it was all because of the duct tape. --- Justine

Duct Tape in Foreign Affairs A few years ago, I went on a nine day tour of Europe, Austria, and Switzerland. Of course, for any trip, duct tape was with me all the way. It is a good thing too. Not only did I fix a pair of sunglasses for a girl, but we were with a group from New Jersey who had a frisbee. There frisbee broke solidly in half and they had heard that someone from our group had duct tape. I gave them the tape and for the next five days that I saw them, that frisbee flew as though it was brand new. --- Eric Savage
Thanks - Eric - while the current administration is in place, we can use all the help in foreign affairs that we can get!

Prom Jeep Make your prom outfit out of duct tape like this couple did and the next step would naturally be to decorate your prom ride in matching colors. See more of the 2003 "Stuck at Prom" contestants by clicking here.

Radiator Fix While on a fishing trip miles from anywhere, the water hose on my truck ruptured. As always, I had duct tape on board. I wrapped the ruptured area with duct tape and refilled my radiator with my minnow bucket using water from a hearby creek. I drove the 35 miles back home without incident. - Charlie V.

Crawl Remover My husband and I sometimes like to watch some of the programs on CNN, MSNBC and some others that continually run that annoying scroll across the bottom of the screen. Maybe we have senior citizen ADD, but we found we couldn't focus on the program with those useless messages creeping by.
Duct tape to the rescue! I cut a piece of duct tape that would cover the screen and reach a few inches around the side of the set. I covered the part that touches the screen with another piece of duct tape so only a few inches of each end of the strip are sticky. When we watch normal channels we can release one end of the tape. This may not save $$ but it saves my sanity, and that's got to count for something.--- Judy C

Crawley Thing Remover A while back my wife almost had a heart attack when she spotted a rather large garder snake in the basement. It slithered off into an area of storage and I tried desperately to locate it. No luck. We were leaving for a weekend vacation and I had the crazy idea of laying strips of duct tape (sticky side up of course) around the laundry room where she had seen the serpent. I figured is was like a sticky minefield and had hoped the snake would try and return by the same route. We returned home after two days and there it was. A two foot long garder snake all twisted up in the duct tape. Needless to say, I was a hero but the real hero was the person who invented DuctTape. By the way, I informed the local exterminator of my success and he said they would have never thought of such a method but would use it in the future.
- Darryl L.Loves Park, Illinois

Trucker Helper Our son-in-law, Neil, is a real Duct Tape enthusiast. He uses Duct Tape for all repairs around the house and on his job. He's an OTR truck driver. Many times he needs something fixed on his truck and there is no place close to take the truck for repairs. One very cold and very snowy day he was driving another guy's truck and ran into several such emergencies. He was driving down the road in the hills of Pennsylvania when the windshield wiper on the driver's side blew off. He pulled off the road immediately and took the wiper from the other side and, since it had broke off, he Duct Taped it to the arm on the driver's side. He didn't want the arm minus the windshield wiper to scratch the windshield so he Duct Taped the end to cushion it. He continued on his trip with the windshield kept clear and no problems in sight. After a few miles, the top bolts on the driver's side mirror came apart and let the mirror drop down to where it was of no use to him. Of course, the outside mirrors are the only way to see what is going on around and behind him and no place in sight to get new bolts. He tried rolling down the window and holding the mirror up so he could see but his hand and arm were getting very cold. He soon found a place to pull off and fix the mirror with, you guessed it, Duct Tape. He got back in the truck and with a cup of coffee soon warmed up and continued on his way. It was getting close to lunch time so he found a nice truck stop and got a good hot meal. While he was sitting in his truck, relaxing, he noticed the wire to the CB was loose and could get in his way possibly causing on accident. Being the safety minded driver he is, he decided to fix it with his handy roll of Duct Tape. He, very neatly, taped the wire to something to anchor it as he had done in his own truck. He prefers to use Xtreme Duct Tape on his own truck to co-ordinate the colors. --- Super Mom-in-law, Ohio

Duct Tape Mom If you are the Duct Tape Guys then I am the official Duct Tape Mom. I have always been prepared with duct tape for the past 20 years as I have been raising my four children. It has saved us on many occasions by holding together broken car parts when a repair place is nowhere in sight, helped with all kinds of school emergencies and projects. I even fixed the torn ducts of the heater in my attic with you know what....duct tape. My three must have items in my backpack: Duct tape, Swiss Army Knife (now I have to take it out before going to the airport) and your competition, WD40. With these items a Mom can turn from an ordinary Mom into a SUPERMOM. Other Moms just laugh at me, but they do not seem to have any trouble asking to borrow my essentials when needed. --- Terry B. We're not moms, but we aren't laughing at you, Terry. Tape on!

Helmet Enhancer I was driving down the freeway and saw a guy riding his motorcycle - he had his goggles duct taped to the back of his helmet. Not only did the duct tape do a wonderful job of holding the goggles securely in place at high speeds, it also doubled as a reflector. --- Michelle M.

Duct Tape as a Sport? I represent www.playstickit.com a site devoted to the emerging duct tape sport known as Stick it to the man with a fine roll of duct tape, or simply Stick-It for short. and i was wondering if you could plug or put a link to our site on your site. --- Stick-It Right Hand Man, William S. You got it, WS - we'll even show a photo of your "Presidente" Bill Conroy in action.

Prom Rescue I was 17 and it was my prom day. I had had my dress made for me and it fit to a tee....no room for disruption. Since it fit so nicely, I couldn't wear any underwear because the thong lines would show(Marianne would know what I'm talking about), and it was strapless so i didn't need or wear a bra. The evening was going well as all of my friends and I showed up for dinner at another friend's house. A good friend of mine thought he would go all out and borrow his neighbour's Porsche, and when he arrived with his date, we all wanted to go for a ride. As we all know, Porsches don't have the most leg room, so when I got in for the ride, I had to crunch my legs up to my chest in order to fit. Well as luck would have it, my perfectly fitted dress RIPPED right as I was getting out, along the seam going up the back of the dress, exposing my bare butt to everybody around me (and especially the driver). Luckily one of my friends had a long poofy dress that I quickly wrapped around me. After I got changed and ate dinner in sweat pants and a t-shirt, some friends and I rushed home for my mom to sew it back together. The sewing, as well as the material, was shotty. So, to put the icing on the cake, when I put it back on and took it for a practice run, it ripped AGAIN! I was so frustrated and scared that I wasn't going to be able to go to the prom, I took it upon myself to fix the problem. I marched out to the garage and took my dad's duct tape and taped the entire length of the seam(on the inside of course)! My dress behaved for the rest of the night and I managed to have a wonderful time despite the tragedy that had occurred earlier (the duct tape came along for the ride to the prom and acted as an accessory around my arm)! --- Ilyssa M.

Invader from Space? (right) Nope, sorry if we scared you. It's really Melissa from Minnesota - who needed a costume for school. With the help of some cardboard, duct tape, and some led lights from Radio Shack, Melissa turned into a convincing 1950's vintage space invader. Good idea for a Halloween costume (watch for our upcoming book in the fall of 2003)!

Screwy Idea I am finishing a basement and while installing the drywall I am using alot of screws, so to keep the screws handy without having to hold them I duct taped a magnet to the bottom of my cordless screw driver. The magnet is then used to both pick up and hold a large quantity of screws, to be removed one at a time whilst I fasten them into the drywall. A very handy use of duct tape. --- Ron S., St. Louis, MO Great idea, Ron. Or, you could do what Jim does, wrap your entire upper torso in duct tape, sticky-side-out, and roll around in a bathtub filled with sheetrock screws - you will have a seemingly endless supply!

Gator Jaw Breaker I've just returned North from my home in Florida. Last week a nine 1/2 foot alligator was spotted relaxing in front of my garage. The police called in the Florida Gator Control force who arrived on the scene with their "official alligator trapping kit" which consists of: a gun, a snare, and, of course, a roll of duct tape. Fortunately the gun wasn't needed but once snared it took quite a bit of duct tape to secure the jaws on this huge creature. -- Blitzen

For travel, it's all you need! Going on a week vacation to Cancun? One roll of duct tape on each arm and leg should last for the week. This would cut down on the luggage you would have to carry, in fact you may not need any luggage...therefore nothing to wait for at the baggage claim. No carry ons to have searched. Airport alarms will not be triggered from it either. If your spouse is nervous about flying, just strap him into his seat extra securely, one piece over the mouth of the child behind you will also make the flight much more relaxing. You won't have to worry about loosing your ID, tape it to your body. Duct tape is great fashion wear. You can have a different style swim suit everyday. If you get sunburnt, just apply duct tape over entire body. Dead skin and unwanted hair will be removed, leaving silky, smooth skin.(I would suggest a Mexican cocktail or three before and after removal of tape.) Duct tape's beautiful, jewel like shine will impress the native people there and work as a great trading item. --- thanks to Annette H.

Silver Broom A few years ago I went to the Last Chance Curling Bonspeil in Hibbing Minnesota with an old curling broom that had been sitting in the sun for a few years. As I started to sweep a few ends, I noticed that the rocks were getting stuck on bits of paint chips that had fallen off my broom (paint peeling from the exposure to the sun over a few years). I quietly ducked out of the arena after the game and met up with a maintenance guy from the rink. I asked him if he had any duct tape handy, and of course he did. I wrapped the entire handle of my broom with duct tape and carried on curling for the rest of the weekend. Many curlers commented on my patched up broom, which I dubbed the silver broom (the name of the trophy for the world's championship of curling).
It is now five years later and I am still curling with the duct taped silver broom... with fresh tape going on last year to renew the old tape that was wearing thin by my determined and athletic sweeping skills. Oh yeah, and it really hasn't been lucky... we have only won two games in five years of play at the Bonspeil. --- AW from Canada

Handcart Scratch Proofing (left) I just moved and kept scratching my stuff with my hand-truck. I took some Manco Insulating Foam Pipe Covers and taped them to the bars of my hand truck at the contact points. No more scratches or dents. Works great. --- Robert T.

Star Duct Hey, you know that Star Trek quote, "Live Long and Prosper?" How about, "Live with duct tape and prosper." --- Andrew. W. Good thinkin', Andrew!

Silver Broom A few years ago I went to the Last Chance Curling Bonspeil in Hibbing Minnesota with an old curling broom that had been sitting in the sun for a few years. As I started to sweep a few ends, I noticed that the rocks were getting stuck on bits of paint chips that had fallen off my broom (paint peeling from the exposure to the sun over a few years). I quietly ducked out of the arena after the game and met up with a maintenance guy from the rink. I asked him if he had any duct tape handy, and of course he did. I wrapped the entire handle of my broom with duct tape and carried on curling for the rest of the weekend. Many curlers commented on my patched up broom, which I dubbed the silver broom (the name of the trophy for the world's championship of curling).
It is now five years later and I am still curling with the duct taped silver broom... with fresh tape going on last year to renew the old tape that was wearing thin by my determined and athletic sweeping skills. Oh yeah, and it really hasn't been lucky... we have only won two games in five years of play at the Bonspeil. --- AW from Canada

Prom Rescue I was 17 and it was my prom day. I had had my dress made for me and it fit to a tee....no room for disruption. Since it fit so nicely, I couldn't wear any underwear because the thong lines would show(Marianne would know what I'm talking about), and it was strapless so i didn't need or wear a bra. The evening was going well as all of my friends and I showed up for dinner at another friend's house. A good friend of mine thought he would go all out and borrow his neighbour's Porsche, and when he arrived with his date, we all wanted to go for a ride. As we all know, Porsches don't have the most leg room, so when I got in for the ride, I had to crunch my legs up to my chest in order to fit. Well as luck would have it, my perfectly fitted dress RIPPED right as I was getting out, along the seam going up the back of the dress, exposing my bare butt to everybody around me (and especially the driver). Luckily one of my friends had a long poofy dress that I quickly wrapped around me. After I got changed and ate dinner in sweat pants and a t-shirt, some friends and I rushed home for my mom to sew it back together. The sewing, as well as the material, was shotty. So, to put the icing on the cake, when I put it back on and took it for a practice run, it ripped AGAIN! I was so frustrated and scared that I wasn't going to be able to go to the prom, I took it upon myself to fix the problem. I marched out to the garage and took my dad's duct tape and taped the entire length of the seam(on the inside of course)! My dress behaved for the rest of the night and I managed to have a wonderful time despite the tragedy that had occurred earlier (the duct tape came along for the ride to the prom and acted as an accessory around my arm)! --- Ilyssa M.

Apartment Handiman on a Roll I recently moved to a new apartment. It wasn't the greatest place, but the rent was wonderful, and I could do some easy fix-it-ups for cheap. After I moved in, I proceeded to put my skills to use. Wrapping duct tape around a leaky pipe saved me from having to call a plumber. Under the couch and chairs, foam was starting to fall out in spots, so a layer of duct tape keeps them from loosing their fluff. The ceiling is made of those annoying squares of weird plaster/foam, and in one room, mice had eaten up a spot in the ceiling. After I put mouse poison up there, I used white duct tape to seamlessly cover the hole, giving my ceiling it's previous apperance. Then the cable and cable internet started acting funny, and I discovered that squirrels had eaten through the rubber sheilding outside the building near the cable box. Rather than wait weeks for unreliable cable guys, or buy an expensive 100ft. cable and spend hours re-running it through, I duct taped over the entire cable outside the building. Now my cable tv and cable internet works great, and the squirrels are scratching their heads on this new event! --- Keith

Rocket Engine Adapter My brother is really in to model rocketry and (surprise) duct tape. He bought a small kit and assembled it. He just wanted to test it with a small engine, but it would just fall out. So he made an engine adapter out of duck tape. He just wrapped enough duct tape around the engine untill it fit snugly. The rocket flew better than ever! --- The Brother of Anthony L. of North Carolina

Crabbing Companion As a west coaster, I frequently go crabbing. I recently snagged a crab trap on a rock and tore the side open. No problem, right? Just duct tape it and re-use. Well, with the salt water and the turbulence, a piece of tape peeled back from the wire and when I pulled the trap, there was a crab stuck to it! Now I use wire coat hangers wrapped in duct tape (sticky side out) and drop them to the bottom. A bonus is that when a crab gets stuck, it trys to walk away and you know it"s there. Happy crabbing. --- Mike R., Courtenay, BC, Can.

Ice Grippers and Cow Ear Muffs I bought myself a pair of cheap, slip on cleats for my shoes this winter and have worn them about six times and the cleats are falling out already. So I came up with this idea, get some smooth top thumb tacks and put four to six through the duct tape from the sticky side and wrap the tape around your shoes, and no more slipping on the ice. The Cleats (ice grippers) that I bought cost $5.98 , I have seen them for up to $44.95. With one roll of DUCT TAPE and a package of thumb tacks I can go for a long time for the price of even the cheap ice grippers.
Living on a farm/ranch we use duct tape for many repairs and fixits. From fixing fork handles to taping windows on the old fencing truck. Another use, when our calves are born in the very cold weather sometimes their ears will freeze. Sounds horrible doesn't it? We have made ear muffs for them out of fleece but these do not stay on well, as the cow tends to lick them off. Some ranchers use DUCT TAPE to tape the ears close to their heads, so the ears stay nice and warm and the cow cannot lick the tape off. Good luck when trying to get the tape off with a cranky mama cow blowing snot up your butt. --- Dolly S. Alberta, Canada

Barefootin' Revised A waterskiing buddy of mine uses duct tape in the following manner - when we go barefoot skiing, he wears neoprene boots (kind of like paddle boots for canoeing/kayaking). To keep them on his feet, he duct tapes them to his leg. --- Aunnie...

Hurricane Helper My reputation of being a bona-fide duct-tape dude had it's apex helping out a friend during hurricane Floyd a couple of years ago. My wife and I live in a mobile home, and since my wife wasn't too keen on riding out a hurricane in a tin box on wheels prompted us to seek shelter in the 2 story house of our friends. My buddy woke me up at the height of the storm by saying, Lee,
I need your help." Treking upstairs in the dark we discovered water pouring down from the attic access stairway. Well, going up into a dark attic in a two story house in the middle of a hurricane, with obvious damage was not my idea of fun, but who was I to say no to a friend in need. Once in the attic we discovered the roof seam cap and been pulled off the house and there was a 6 inch gap at the apex of the roof. Not knowing what to do I started thinking fast since my buddies house was going down and he was supposed to close on its sale the next week. Meanwhile the wives were downstairs fretting over what was going on up in the attic and thinking that the house was coming down. My wife later told me that she was all too relieved when down from the attic came the booming command, "Get me some Duct-Tape and some garbage bags." Well 30 minutes later I had duct-taped several garbage bags end to end and then mounted them up underneath the hole in the roof creating a long trough. We then poked a couple of holes in our new creation and put a couple of buckets down to catch the water. Within a couple of days the roof cap had been replaced and the house sold without a hitch. Needless to say, my duct-tape exploits became well known after incident. --- Lee in Franklinton, NC

Canoe Patch A group of men (myself included) were on a canoe trip deep in the Algonquin Park in Ontario Canada. During our adventure we came upon a set of rapids, which of course being young at heart and age, we decided they had to be shot. Most of us made the trip down the rapids safely. Unfortunately one of the last canoes hit a hidden rock and started to take on water. They made it safely to shore, where we were all baffled as what to do to fix the canoe. Someone suggested to use some pine tree pitch, but this was rejected due to the fact that the tar could rub off. Should we buddy up in others canoe and leave the damaged canoe in the woods? Well, and to this day I do not know why, but one of the group pulled a roll of duck tape out of his pack! The canoe was removed from the water, dried off and a patch of duct tape was applied to the hole on the outside of the canoe. This worked like a charm and stopped all water penetration for the rest of the trip. This roll of duct tape saved the day as it would of been miserable if not impossible to stop the leak. Our canoe trip adventure would of be ruined if not for the good planning of one member and a roll of duct tape. --- Don W A great hint - featured in our first book (1994) - and testified to by thousands of canoeists across America.

Help for Problem Bulbs If you have to change a light bulb that is recessed into a globe that is barely bigger than the bulb itself, you have a problem: No way to get your fingers around the bulb to unscrew it! (What idiot designed this light fixture anyhow?) The solution is to slip a 6-inch piece of duct tape in between the globe and the side of the bulb, sticky side towards the bulb, with about 3 inches hanging down. Pull on the tape to get it to adhere to the side of the bulb and now you can apply rotational force to the bulb to unscrew it. --- Grant S., Shawnee, KS Good idea, we use a similar method to remove a broken bulb that has left its base in the socket - wrap duct tape, sticky-side-out around your finger (a couple of layers) - jam your newly sticky finger into the bulb base and twist it out with ease. - Duct Tape Guys

Duct Tape Keeps you in the Dark I'm a college student, and what better way to spend my Sunday night than playing with my Lite-Brite. To my dismay, I found that my skills on the Lite-Brite have diminished from their childhood levels, leaving my drawing riddled with holes. Duct tape to the rescue! A little bit of carefully torn black Duct Tape, and my image no longer leaks light! ---Bryan K

Apparel on a Roll I have been the biggest fan or duct tape for the longest time. It came to me when I joined my local drama club, because we fixed everything with duct tape. I even made the front page of our local news paper becauseof my suit. I just finished my suit today with my new gloves that I made. They are so wonderful. When I wear the suit to school I get all of these weird looks but I am use to that. Yes, I do wear the suit in public. I just wanted to tell you how much Duct Tape has changed my life. --- Daniel Z. Click to our fashions section to see the photo of Dan (page 8 of the section)

Gift on a Budget My husband and I were married in December of 2002. Our wedding was three days after Christmas and I really wanted to do something special for my little brother for his gift. We have a large family, so we draw names and buy only one gift instead of 7. My brother is a freshman in college, has a top bunk bed and has no where to sit when he comes home from class. I thought, "It would be really nice to get him a bean bag chair so he wouldn't have to sit on his roommates' beds." Well, did you know that beanbag chairs are expensive? I ruled out that idea and kept thinking. In the meantime, my (now) husband and I kept receiving wedding presents, packed in those little styrofoam peanuts. I thought to myself, "What a pity that you can't use these peanuts for anything..." Eureka! The idea was born and I finally had a way to be resourceful and give my brother what I knew he wanted. I filled two trashbags with foam peanuts, stuck them together and covered them entirely with duct tape. It feels just like the vinyl on a beanbag chair, and can easily be repaired if it gets a hole in it! I mean, that's how people fix beanbag chairs anyway...duct tape!
Needless to say, he loved it, and the chair was the talk of his whole dorm. I was so inspired, I made one for my husband too. Each time the manufacturing method gets faster. Soon we'll have a factory! Enjoy these photos of the creation of the chair and of my husband enjoying it while playing Playstation 2. It's comfy too! --- Darcie L. Fort Worth, TX

Jump Start I recently had defibrillation training (you know the keen little machine that can save lives) and learned that the defibrillator pads might not stick to a hairy chest. Duct tape to the rescue!!!! Grab the duct tape, stick it on the chest hair and then rip it off, and then go going to save the person’s life!!!!! I am in the environmental protection business, and we use duct tape to seal our tyvek suits and full face air filters!!!! --- Reggie from PA We're thinking that pulling the duct tape off of a hairy chest alone will jump start the person! Check out our other medical uses. It's HMO on a Roll!

Duct Tape for World Peace (and Warm Hands) So we were on the bus to the anti-war protest in Washington D.C. when my best friend realized she forgot her gloves in her dorm room. I whipped out my roll of duct tape, and made her a pair of super insulated and very fashionable mittens. Her hands stayed warm all day, and everyone on the bus wanted a pair of their own. --- bluecanary

Clutter Remover My freshman year in college I lived in a pretty small dorm room, and people would annoyingly leave their clothes, shoes, bags, whatever at my place. So the solution that my roommate and I came up with was to duct tape anything people left in our room to the ceiling. It helped relieve the clutter and made for an interesting conversation piece. --- Karen T., State College, PA Good idea - we're gonna try that with our sons' rooms!

Auto Trim I have a 1992 Ford Escort. The car is in great shape, runs well, nice polish. Only problem is the black rubberized trim under the windows is starting to flake off. First I went looking in auto parts stores. They had lots of trim, but of course nothing that matched or fit my old trim. Dealer had a kit that was way expensive and too much trim (It is not all gone yet). Then I remembered that I had some Black Duct Tape right in my Garage. I took it out and it was exactly the right width. I cleaned off the area and put that tape right down - and it was 30 degrees out. Stuck like a dream. It's been through two car washes and it is still there. The wear has actually improved the look because it was a bit shinier than the original trim. And, if it does wear out, there is plenty more where that came from. --- Robert H. B.

Fiscally Responsible City We just returned from Cape Coral, Florida where the City of Cape Coral, uses duct tape on their detour signs. The arrows, on the detour signs, are all made out of duct tape Must keep the taxes down!! --- Priscilla D

Snowmobile Windshield Repair My son was trying to keep up with the old man on a snowmobile when he failed to negotiate a turn. Rolled it over and broke off the windshield. He didn't want to be cold all weekend so we taped the windshield back on! --- Sheldon

Arthritis Aid I have rhuematoid arthritis. After many years of wear on my joints and my ankles breaking up, a ganglion cyst appeared on the side of my ankle. It really looks ugly. So now I push this soft cyst in and duct tape it. Works great and nobody sees it.- Gloria V Actually, our other favorite product: WD-40 works great at relieving arthritis pain!

Up in the Air I work on Twin Commanders; a high-wing, twin turbo-prop, smallish executive prop-jet airplane. Each engine produces 800 to 1000HP depending on the engine model. It's capable of cruising at 25,000ft at speeds up to 500MPH. Duct Tape is used extensively throughout the pressurized cabin to seal around access panels. It's also used in the inside of the wings where rubber fuel bladders rest on wing ribs and spars to prevent perforating the bladders. So there you go. The guys at the hanger and I enjoy your your book. --- Terry

Garder on a Roll I wanted to share with you the story of my mother in law. I found out that she used duck tape to hold up her knee highs. Her legs are so thin that her knee highs fall down so she uses duck tape. --- Cheryl L

Hang it All! My high school recently finished a production of The Music Man. While hanging up costumes, the bar supporting the hangers crashed down and refused to be fixed . . . until we brought out the duct tape. A few strips of the gray stuff and we were able to hang up the clothes for a thirty+ person cast, some with eight costume changes! --- Kelsie C.

Duct Tape Baby Zak (right) is obviously being brought up right. He is sporting his duct tape philosophy t-shirt. Now, all they need is a duct tape bib to control those nasty prune juice stains.

Yeah, we planned that... While enjoying the "The Jumbo Duct Tape Book" my brother-in-law got me for christmas, a few of the center pages fell out. Acting on the clever duct tape drawn into the bindings, I creased some short sections lenghtwise to stick the pages back in. Thanks for all the great tips and humor-- keep it coming! --- Fred K., Dearborn Heights MI..
Fred, we'd like to say that we planned that as an exercise to improve your taping skills, but, it's probably just an over use-weakened binding.

Pray for no Groin Pulls! Tired of the heating pad slipping off your shoulder -- get your wife to duct tape it into position. --- Jon H.

No Drip Pant Can Lee N. of Eastside Heating in Bellevue, WA came up with the idea of creating a no drip paint spout using duct tape on the inside rim of a freshly opened can of paint. When you get done pouring, just rip off the tape to reveal a clean can rim edge. Good thinkin' Lee!

Oversight. Sorry! I read your Jan 16th calendar page about using walking around the house with duct tape on your feet to pick up all the miscellaneous clutter and there you could "sort it out and throw it away" as you leave the house.Please, please, please guys, don't forget to mention that there could be a lot of good snacks among the things stuck to the tape! --- Kenton

Fire and Rescue Rescue I volunteer with a local fire-rescue department, and one day while responding to a fire call the door ajar light came on. After looking outside, an outer compartment door had opened, and the latch had completely broken off. We had to get to the call fast, but needed a secure way to hold the door closed. Viola! Duct tape. The two strips of duct tape we put on the door lasted the week until a reserve was available. --- Chris W., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Blister Preventer My friends and I like mountain biking and my friends had biking gloves and I didn't. So I whipped out the duct tape and made my own duct tape biking gloves custom fit to my hands. I use them when I go biking now and they really work! --- Michael S.

Practical Joking One of my sons, and his friend like to lay strips of duct tape sticky side up in the road....and wait for a car to run over it If it is long enough, it makes a flopping sound, usually causing the driver to pull over- thinking he has a flat or something. They nailed me once too....lol. --- Torre To read MORE practical jokes with duct tape, click here.

Panamanian Hut Repair I live and work in the Republic of Panama and manage and architecture and engineering firm. Many of our projects are in remote areas requiring extended stays in some interesting accommodations. One of our projects is in eastern Panama along the border of the high pastures and the Kuna Yala Indian territory. After a two and a half hour drive from the city, we pack in by horse another two hours into the high rainforest.
Our lodge is a simple hut with an old zinc roof which, of course, is full of holes. This is one of the rainiest places on earth and even in dry season it rains almost everyday. My buddy Brent came down here from the states to help out on some survey work. He patched the holes in the roof with duct tape. We all laughed at him because he taped it from the inside on the underside of the roofing in the middle of the night. We all knew it wouldn't hold under these tropical conditions of hot sun and hard rains. That was back in June of 2002. I was in the hut this past weekend, January 2003, and all of his patches except one are still holding and the hut is dry. His little on-the-spot duct tape repair has saved us several hundred dollars in new roofing and all the work of dragging in new roofing sheets behind our horses. We figure he used about 20 cents worth of duct tape.
Brent is a fervent prophet of duct tape and I, along with the high pasture cowboys are now firm believers of the "One True Duct Tape!" We never pack into the bush without it. --- John B.

Razor Aid My husband had been using my disposable razors to shave with lately. He tended to either cut himself under the nose, which soon formed a scab and made him resemble Hitler, or he didn't shave there at all, again conjuring up a likeness to the Fuhrer. His electric razor had been dropped and the head, cracked and would no longer stay in place. When I found out the cost to replace the working parts was going to exceed the price of a new razor, I got out the duct tape and the rest is history. Now when we want to clean it,(what I meant to say is when I have to clean it) just take off the duct tape, tap out the shavings and replace the tape. --- Lesley D., Auburn, MA

Prayer Book Savior After many years of use, the binding on my daily prayer book was falling apart. When the old Sexton of our congregation saw it, he called me into the office, told me to hold the book up, cut off a 9 in. strip of duct tape, and ... (say Hallelukah) ... good as new!!! The book continues to serve me well nearly 15 years later. --- Rich K., Edison, NJ

Sled Helper I in Weblos and we had to do the Klondike Derby. We were pulling the sled when the rope popped off. So we hooked the rope on a caribiner and duct taped it to the sled. It held out till the end of the race. And we used it many other times to! ---Stephen

Hen Repair I used to live in a rural area...and kept chickens...cats, dogs, goats....etc.. One of my dogs was notorius for killing chickens....and I caught her one day with one of my hens...chewing on her. I got her away from the dog and noticed some 'innerds' hanging out of her....but still attached. I cleaned her up and pushed everything back in. wrapped her with silver duct tape so that only her neck, wings and rear were visable. Next time the dog tried to get her...she couldn't chew through it. Less than a year later...the tape fell off. She was good as new. --- Torre

Drunk Helper I may well have saved my roomate's life w/ducttape -- BY TYING HIM UP. The dude was drunk as a skunk, man, and he went to take the car for a joyride. Both myself and our other roomate, Kyle, tried to reason with him and explain that he and others were in real danger if he drove the car drunk. He was unwilling to listen, and really wanted to get to his girlfriend's apartment that night -- so he tried to dodge us and take off anyway. We physically restrained him for a minute and then realized that we both needed to be somewhere and couldn't fight with this dude all night. We were about to give up on him, when Kyle noticed a large roll of heavy duty ducttape right on our fridge. Within ten minutes we had him duct taped real good to a kitchen chair. If anyone EVER wondered about the strength of ducttape against a wild criminal mind on a bender -- FEAR NOT. With multiple layers of the tape holding him in the char, even this dude was absolutely stuck. Cruel? I don't know -- I'm still convinced we saved his butt. --- Peter

Balloon Retrieval I help friends in a balloon decorating business, on occasion a helium filled balloon will escape and float to the top of the ceiling. To retrieve the balloons we always carry duct tape and roll it sticky side out and stick it to another balloon attached to a string and just stick the tethered balloon to the loose one and bring it down. --- Mike A.

Nerd Glasses Revisited I used to wear really big, 70's-style glasses. While visiting my in-laws in Iowa I knocked my glasses off the night stand in the middle of the night and one lens shattered on the concrete floor of their basement. I was lost without that lens and that happened at the start of a two-week vacation and I didn't have a spare pair of glasses. Sooooo, I did the next best thing. I salvaged the largest piece of the lens and (you guessed it) duct-taped it into the center position of the glasses frame.The lens piece was about 1 1/2" tall x 3/4" wide and I could actually see through it.

It held for about two weeks, we went to parties and met their friends, and I successfully drove from Iowa to Ohio to visit more relatives, then back to Texas, before getting a new lens. I occasionally had to turn my head a little to get it into focus, but basically it worked. Many years later I met one of their Iowa friends who said he didn't recognize me without the silver patch, which proves that this unique use was not only effective, but also memorable. I've been knows as the family "Duct Tape Guy" ever since. --- Mike L.

Into the Wild I travel a lot overseas to many "garden spots" where things like malaria is prevalent and little else is easily to be had. People ask my advice on what to take with when you go. I always advise them, 'When you go over the Edge of the Wild, take duct tape!" It has gotten me out of numerous binds (by binding things up), BUT the most life-saving use I make of it is to mosquito-proof my room. In many places I stay, the rooms are not air-tight. The usual place is around the AC unit. They knock out some ciderblocks, then stick the AC unit through. They usually leave a huge (5mm is huge to a mosquito)gap that is rather haphazardly plugged up. Whenever I get in a room, I check the AC unit and mosquito-proof it with duct tape. Next is the windows that often don't close completely. People kid me that duct tape is my form of Leroy-was-here. They know I've had the room if everything is covered with duct tape!!! --- Tom L., Houston Texas

Toilet Leak Stopper I used duct tape the other day to fix my toilet. I fixed the ball cock assembly by wrapping tape around the top of it. No more constant water running sound. Thanks, Duct Tape Guys! --- John N.

Ballet Budget Helper I am a ballerina and have love to dance! Duct tape is the greatest shoe repair ever! "Soft" shoes or technique shoes wear holes usuallly within 6 months of use, a good couple wraps of duct tape around the toes & walla! good as new & you're not spending another $30 every 6 months or so! Very cost effective on a college budget! The other use is actually on toe shoes or pointe shoes which run anywhere from $65 - $80 and last approximately 4 months. Thanks to duct tape I can get more use out of the expensive supplies & have enough money left to pay tuition! --- Erin

Inventors' Power Tool Last summer, my buddy and I built a TV projector. Basically, the thing was a cardboard tube, a page magnifier, a mirror cut to the same size as the screen and a roll and a half of duct tape. Basically, we used the tape to make the tube, to secure the tube to the screen, to secure the lens in place, to secure the mirror, to cover up any holes and white duct tape on the wall for the screen. I couldn't believe it when the projector actualy worked. I estimate that the thing was at least 60% duct tape. --- Eddie Y.

Keepin' them looking like new! Our wiring installer just got new boots for Xmas. He had to pull a bunch of wires in the mud so he wrapped his new boots in duct tape to protect them. --- Bruce S., Greenville NC

Goggle Case Recently I received a pair of expensive snow goggles. I knew right away that I needed some way to store and protect them, because the boxes they came in were so flimsy. To solve my problem I simply cut up a cardboard box and used duct tape to piece together a new box that would fit the goggles perfectly. I then lined the outside with more duct tape a attached a duct tape strap to open end close the box with. My goggles are now perfectly protected because of duct tape. --- Steve P.

Horsing Around A lot of equestrians carry duct tape in their saddlebags because if your horse loses a shoe out on the trail, you can duct tape the foot for protection until you can get the shoe nailed back on! Duct tape has lots of other uses on the ranch as well. --- Helen S.

Rodeodeodo! I barrel race my horses and all that good stuff.... well when im stompin' round in my cowboy boots they start wearing thin. But when they start to look like they are talking cuz the soles are hanging off... thats when Duct tape comes in most handy for me. i wrap'em up good and then im good to go. In fact, my nick name is Duckie. but I aint the only one in my family that uses duct tape... my dad wraps his leg when he bull rides b/c he pulled his groing and he dont ever wanna hurt it again. he has been wrapping it with duct tape for years and had no problem!!! duct tape plays an important roll in all rodeo sports!!! --- J.R. (aka Jessie W.)

Another A secured with Duct Tape I once had to make an underwater scene for a class project in science. The teacher said we could use any materials we wanted...so I chose duct tape. I taped four plastic sheets together then made sand, fish, scuba divers and gear, and other underwater things out of solid duct tape. Well, everyone got a kick out of it and I got an A! --- Michelle

We Want Proof! Jim and Tim, I happened to recieve one of your duct tape books: The Jumbo Duct Tape Book, for Christmas this year. I have to say that your humor is a very unique, which I find to be hilarious. However I am skeptical as to how many of those ideas would actually work and how many you have done for youselves. I understand that most ideas are for humor, but how many of the the more practical ideas have you tried? My friend and I are questioning your experience because we believe that an actual "duct tape pro" would already have created and tested all the ideas introduced in your books. What we would like, is a list of all the duct tape creations you have already made. Not any ideas or suggestions please. Just the actual products that have been created, and would prove your status as a true "duct tape pro." Thank you for your time. --- T & M

Oh, yea of little faith. Check through our web site and you will mine thousands of uses that we (and others) have actually tried.
And, when you have written six books and nine page-a-day calendars about duct tape, you are probably a duct tape pro by default - like common-law marriage - or an honorary doctorate... Tape on! --- The Duct Tape Guys (humor book writers, stand-up duct tape comedians, and duct tape users for well over 20 years... You do the math.)

Horticulturalist On a Roll Three years ago, I repaired a severely split dogwood tree limb with a length of cord and duct tape after fall storm damage. The following springs, it has bloomed just as though never split. --- Bob S., Director of Physical Plant, Westminister Seminary, Phila., Pa.

Spare the tape and show the buns... As a middle school principal I occasionally have a student dressed in pants that desperately need some assistance in keeping their waistline at the waist. I give my boys two choices: duct tape suspenders or a duct tape belt. I have never had anyone choose the suspenders. --- Roger S.

Rat Patcher I use ducttape to cover the holes in my mattress that my rats ate. They lived in the mattress for a while (they're fancy rats--domesticated pets) but I started to get suspicious when I tipped my mattress and out came months and months worth of stored ratty food and other less appetizing rattie 'items'. So I taped up the holes with ductape, much to the chagrin of the rats (who were outside the mattress at the time, I'm not that sadistic). But fear not, for those crazy kids have made a new nest under my desk. Long live ductape! --- Wendy Reardon