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365 Days of Duct Tape Calendar Fixes A lot of you are sending us notes about your calendar problems. We've had other duct tape lovers come up with some fixes. Check them out by clicking here. If you don’t own a 365 Days of Duct Tape Calendar (2002 is our sixth year!) - you can get one at the Duct Tape Pro Shop right now!

Warning: Potentially Lethal Bean Shrapnel I just read today's (1/15/02) recipe in my page a day Duct Tape calendar and am a little concerned because I have a feeling no one tried this recipe before it was published. As a kid, my friends and I enjoyed throwing canned vegetables in the fire, not because we liked hot, fresh veggies, but because it always resulted in an impressive explosion. A can of beans in a fire quickly turns into a thin-walled pressure vessel, and then a bomb.

Now, I realize your calendar is in fun and that most people are smart enough to realize this, but if I was a betting man, there is more than one calendar owner who tries a new trick with duct tape everyday, and this one may result in disaster. You might want to consider this and think about removing it from future publications. --- Brian Schaub

Brian: Obviously one must crack open the lid of the can first to relieve the pressure which will result from the boiling bean sauce in the can. But, as you say - all of this is in "fun" and we don't recommend that anyone actually does any of it. I believe that each of our publications is disclaimered as such. Thanks for your concern - we will post this in the Duct Tape Diner to warn prospective bean-burn victims. Gotta go - something just blew up in our kitchen. --- The Duct Tape Guys

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Duct Tape helps the Strongest of Men I was watching a world's strongest man competition and in one event they have to carry a huge stone thats the shape of Africa as far as they can and this one guy made a ring of duct tape so he could hold it on each side and lock his arms around the stone, needless to say he won all thanks to the power of duct tape. --- josh v.

Before and After Doll Repair Usually Pat Simpson (host of HGTV's Before and After) is dealing with house remodeling projects. But, simpler repairs are apparently in Pat's life too. He just sent us this photo of a doll repair he made using a bit of red Duck® brand Tape.

Helping Grandma Rake I was doing yard work when my rake broke. As usual I went for the Duct tape, well the bottom of the rake broke in half , leaving me with no rake. I thought for a second then thought I would kill two birds with one roll. I grabed my grandkid and rolled duct tape sticky side out around her middle. When she rolled on the lawn, as little kids love to do, she laughed and played for hours out there rolling and I, as a smart grandma, got my lawn raked up all in the same as you say roll. --- Betty G, Delano, California

Lug Nut Tightener I have another use for duct tape. Actually, I forgot but my wife remembered. I once had a truck and the lug nuts would not always stay tight. So I duct taped them on and they were never lose again. --- J. Mosier

Custodian’s Helper Last fall the custodian at my wife's school called me for some help. He knew my penchant for using duct tape. The tiles at school were gray and they were splitting, So he asked me to bring four rolls of duct tape and we duct taped the tiles together. When we were done you couldn't tell the difference. The gray duct tape blended right in with the tiles and no one knew the difference. --- Joel M.

Architectural Wonder Roll I’m an architect, and the way I find duct tape on construction jobsites, I think someone should develop a standard specification division we could bind into our Project Manuals for the Contractor to follow. Think about it…… I don’t know where it would be filed: with “Moistureproofing,”or “Hardware,” or “Finishes,” or if another section needs to be created just for duct tape. --- Gordon L.

A rose by any other name… (is Kenny) At the Orchard Supply Hardware How-To Fair in Pleasanton, California, Jim and Tim were greeted by Kenny bearing two hand-made duct tape roses. In addition to the roses, Kenny makes all sorts of stuff using duct tape (from wallets to clothing). Check out the roses in detail at our duct tape fashion accessory page and then click to our "How-To" page to find out how to make a simple duct tape wallet.

Eavesdropper Stopper Watching the current 2002 Winter Olympics and keeping a keen eye out for duct tape uses in the Olympics I came across this gem published in the Denver Rocky Mountain News on thursday Feb. 14. In the discussion of the Figure skating controversy between Canada and Russia in the pairs judging the following sentence caught my eye: "...during the routine post-event judges meeting Tuesday where the pairs judges duct-taped the door to prevent eavesdropping..." --- Thanks to alert duct tape fan Sharon Amirfathi For More Olympic Uses of Duct Tape click here.

Snow Pants on a Roll A few years ago, at my aunts house, it snowed 2 metres, normally this would mean a lot of fun building snow forts etc.. but my coisin didn't have any snowpants. Being young, we had very large imaginations, and soon realized we could make snowpants. We took some heavy duty garbage bags and duct tape, cut of the bottom of each bag, and duct taped them togeather, after, we added duct tape suspenders to hold them up and duct taped them to his boots so no snow could get in. Needless to say we had a lot of fun that day, and my coisin stayed dry and warm. --- Tess T., Ontario, Canada

Sound familiar? I was actually tied up and gagged at gunpoint with duct tape over 10 years ago. The stunner came when I told a friend and he said, "When it happened to me..." And, my uncle taped the tip of his thumb back on with duct tape rather than spend money going to the hospital. It grew back. On another note, a plumber I know thought he ordered a gross of duct tape (144 rolls). What arrived was a gross of cases of 144 duct tape rolls (20,736 rolls). He kept them and they were all used. --- J. W. The plumber is a man after our own hearts!

Electronic Microsurgery My the power switch on my friend's portable CD player broke so I took apart the CD player to see what was wrong. Turns out that the switch could be fixed by a tiny strip of duct tape wrapped around the switch carriage. Using the point of my knife and the appropriate sized strip of duct tape, I fixed it. This was about three years ago and the CD player is still functioning. --- Lisa "Gravelanche" G.

Boatbox Derby My family's annual "Boat Box Derby", features race boats constructed using only cardboard and duct tape. Check out the web site at: http://www.khammond.com/boatbox.htm --- Ken Hammond

Feder Repair A couple of my friends and I used to compete in an equestrian sport (Horses) that is a little like cow cutting. One time my friend Wendy's fender (holds the stirrup on) broke lose. We duct taped that sucker back together and she kept on riding! --- Keith T.

DUCT TAPE: The Acronym Durable Universal Construction Tool, Totally Adaptable to all Process Environments --- John Hopson, Dayton, Ohio

Ouch! As a nurse, I never cease to be amazed at what people will do! I was telling another nurse my story about the colostomy bag that the patient had held on with Duct tape, when she had her own patient use of Duct tape to relate. A condom catheter is one worn by a male patient who needs a long-term catheter but not the invasion into the bladder required by a regular Foley catheter. The sheath is held on with a light coating of a gentle adhesive, so that removal is not traumatic. That is, normal men keep them on that way. Seems that my acquaintance had a patient who taped his on with DUCT TAPE! Now that's one tough guy!!! --- Linda H.

Hang It All! To make a useful hook to hang things on, unfold a paper clip and poke a hole through a slice of duct tape. Then put the duct tape on the wall and bend the paper clip so it hooks. Even I am surprised at what it has been able to hold! --- Sdiaz

Valentine Matt. F. created this lovely Duct Tape Valentine for his honey. What says "I love you" better than duct tape? Read our other Duct Tape Valentine ideas here in our Top Ten lists.

DeterAnt Do you enjoy Hummingbirds? We have three feeders hanging outside our windows so we can enjoy the little creatures. Our problem was that we have a lot of trees and the tree ants would eventually find the lovely sugar and become nuisances by crawling into the feeders and spoiling the "nectar". We used packing tape initially to discourage them, but good ole Duck Tape, wrapped sticky side out on the hanging wire lasts a whole season. Those poor ants really hate getting stuck on Duck Tape. I think the later arrivals hate seeing a few of their fellow ants stuck there. This works! --- Marc B.

Shoe Saver I play a lot of street hockey, and when I was playing goalie, my shoes would get torn up in the streets. Soon, there was a big hole in the front of my shoe, and my toes hung out! What did I do? I wrapped duct tape around my soles and my Vans where as good as new. Also, if you wrap some more tape around your foot, sticky-side-out, it helps stop the puck on a kick save! --- Sdiaz

Doctor Duct My brothers-in-law are both carpenters , so it only stands to reason that they would find a million and one uses on a daily basis for the stuff. However, my husband (now retired), was a practicing physician. The recipient of his ducttape treatment was none other than yours truly.
In 1988 I was working out every day and running 5 miles a day . My workout routine was not only running , but sit ups , side bends, etc. I decided to add holding 5 lb weights in each hand as I did my side bend exercises and that was really not a good idea. I injured several of the cartillages between the ribs and it was similar to having rib fractures . I could not sneeze, or cough or move without pain. I told my husband about this and that I felt that some rib support would help while my ribs healed. You guessed it, he got out his ducttape and proceeded to tape me from the center of my chest around to the middle of my back, down to my waistline. I was instructed to wear this for 3 weeks. ( I am an R.N. by the way and I went along with it)................DUMBEST THING I EVER DID ! When it was time for the tape to come off, I asked my husband to help me SLOWLY remove the tape that was getting loose at the edges anyway. He promised he would do it slowly and insted, with one big YANK , ripped off half a pound of ducttape skin and all. I truly resembled the Tazmainian Devil cartoon character with the spin I did as I was being striped of the tape. I lost three layers of skin that day, but gained alot of respect for the damage ducttape can inflict. It should come with a warning label not to be used in first aid unless under temporary and emergency circumstances!
My husband and I are still together and still in love, but I am very select in the medical help I ask him for now. I make sure that it can have nothing to do with ducttape as a cure! Hope you got a chuckle as I do now when I tell this story at gettogethers! --- TazziiJ

Long-Reach Cleaning Tool To clean your turkey baster and other hard-to-get-at places. Duct tape a toothbrush to a pencil or dowel. ( Also works well to brush you pet alligators teeth!) --- Tom C.

Phone Fix In Christmas of 2001, I was given a cordless telephone. However, it was a cheap model, and the mic was so sensitive that when I talked it came out of the speaker louder than the other person's voice. So, instead of spending money and buying a decent phone, I covered up the hole of the mic with a small strip of duct tape. Now it works great! I would have hated to not use a gift from my mom. Long live duct tape! --- Craig B.

Duct Tape Helps Guy Hold His Liquor We were in a bar after a Wisconsin Badger football game and had been drinking most of the day. One of my friends had had too much and was sitting in the middle of the bar on a barstool surrounded by patrons and was falling asleep. The bouncers came over and said that he would have to leave if he couldn't stay sitting upright (for fear of him falling and them being held responsible). Anyway, we went behind the bar, got some duct tape, and taped him to the wall, while still seated in his barstool. He had tape across his forehead, around his chest, around his legs, etc.. He slept through the whole thing, only to wake up an hour or so later, unable to move while still taped to the wall. Needless to say, Ten years later he still is referred to duct tape boy. --- Paul

Demolition Derby (right) Greg Arnold from Wisconsin covered his entire car with duct tape for a demolition derby race. The car amazingly (not to us) didn't lose one part! Greg came in third, though, due to a fire. Next time, duct tape a fire extinguisher in the cab.

Sticky Revenge I swim for the local USA swim team. Last year, the team traveled to Hawaii for a swim meet. I didn't go, but I heard fantastic stories over the phone from our coach...the boys and the girls were playing practical jokes on each other the whole trip. After the boys had done their fair share to the girls, the girls decided to get back. So during the night, the girls whipped out their roles of duct tape. They took pre-ripped strips of tape and duct-tapped one certain boy to his bed. They then put peanut butter in his hair and let him continue to sleep. Remind you he never woke up. But when he awoke in the morning, he found himself in a sticky mess of peanut butter and duct tape. --- Kate M.

National Parks Save Money with Duct Tape (left) The Loepkers spotted this duct tape sign modification at Devil's Tower National Park in Wyoming. Jim suggested that if other government agencies would look to duct tape to solve their problems, we'd be out of debt in no time! Thanks for the eagle eyes, Loepkers!

Duct Tape and Drumstick Tie Rod Repair Coming home from a concert in Seattle I broke a tie rod and the garage I called to come qouted me an estimate of $450.00 for the tow and repair. I bought a roll of Duct tape instead and tied the tie-rod in with a couple drumsticks and drove the 140 miles back to Yakima where I took it into a local shop and got it repaired for $39.00 plus the cost of a new tie-rod. Saved $350.00 thanks to duct tape. --- Walter and Lorraine M.

Star Gazing with Duct Tape (right) Sean G. made this refractor telescope using "massive amounts of duct tape." Click here to go to his site with more detailed photos and explanation of the project. Nice work, Sean!

CatAstrophy Avoided Have cats? Do cats get off tables, counter tops, favorite chairs, etc., put Duck Tape, sticky side up on the places you don't want them. Be sure to secure the ends with a little sticky side down tape, or you may come home to a really taped over cat, and a trashed House/apartment. It only takes a week or two (a month for the really bad offenders) to realize that they don't like stickyness on their paws, and they will shun the nasty areas, sometimes forever. Just repeat if they have a relapse. --- Marc B.

Lonesome in the UK Simon in the UK is hungering for communication with other UK citizens who love duct tape. Although we don't want to turn this into a Chat Room, we told Sean that we would post a link to his email address. So here is that link. Good luck, Sean - hope you get some duct tape companionship in the lovely UK.

Personal Surround Sound (left) I came up with the great idea one day while listening to my music through my portable speakers. I was thinking how great the sound was, when I realized that I could take that great sound with me wherever I went with duct tape! I duct taped the speakers to an old toboggan hat and went around all day with great sound. Mom says I'm reinventing the wheel. --- Joshua

Edmond Makes Sweeping Changes (right) Broken broom handle - what are you gonna do, buy a new one? Heck no! It ain’t broke, it just lacks duct tape! Edmond is a guy after our own heart. His granddaughter Martha tells us at age 77 Edmond has fixed nearly everything with duct tape.

Anchorage Anchored with Duct Tape Duct tape, how do I love thee? Let me count that ways... 1) I duct taped my headlight back on after I smacked into a concrete post in a parking garage. It held for 18 months until my husband fixed the light. 2) I wrapped an above-ground temporary water line with heat tape and insulation. It looked like a 200 foot pink python. 3) Hauling twelve foot long foam building insulation on the road to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, the bundles started blowing off the truck. So my husband tied down the load with duct tape. He managed to salvage 2/3 of the load. 4) Driving down the Alcan Highway in December it was so cold that the rubber molding around the windows pulled loose from the frames. Duct tape kept the wind outside of our truck. 5) Duct tape makes great emergency bandage tape when you're an hour away from the closest village. I could go on… --- Carol M. Anchorage, AK See Jim and Tim perform in Anchorage in Feb. 2002. See our calendar for our upcoming events.

Windshield Sealer One day driving my antique convertible to a car show 2 hours away from my home, it started raining hard. The space between the top of the windshield and where the roof meets was leaking profusely, getting the front seat occupants wet. One guy in the car says "hey, duct tape can solve this problem, pull into this convenience store!" So a strip of tape accross the top of the windshield, while instantly converting the car into a hillbilly heap, solved the leak problem! There was even a newspaper story about this particular event. --- Nick E., Allentown, Pa.

Duct Tape Stationery Duct Tape fanatics Melanie, Rachel, and Katie (from Richmond, VA) sent us notes on this lovely duct tape stationery (left) nicely sealed in Duct Tape envelopes. Once we figured out that the suspicious looking envelopes were anthrax-free, we opened them to find this stunningly designed stationery. They have also created duct tape shoes, backpacks, chairs... the list goes on. Thanks, gals - nice work!

Whatever Keeps them in the Air A couple of years back, I am flying Northwest from Montréal to Detroit. It is 7 in the morning and the plane is not leaving the gate as scheduled. From my window seat, I can see a groung crew member from Northwest looking up under the wing, scratching his head. A few minutes later, the pilot comes out and does the same. Then another Northwest employee repeats the same steps. Finally, a pick-up truck parks under the wing, budy pulls a roll of duct tape from his toolbox, tears a couple of 6 in. lengths, applies the tape the to the wing. Et voilà! Yes, duct tape can fly airplanes too! --- Pierre L., Québec

Tush Cush My dad (Merv W.) up in Fergus Falls, MN received a cushy toilet seat for Christmas one year and he immediately put it to use. While visiting this last Christmas I had noticed he had duct taped it all along the inside edge of the seat. When I inquired if he wanted a new one for Christmas his answer was, "No, I initially taped it to cover some cracks, but it holds me in place so much better now so I don't want a new one." Duct tape the "better gripper". --- Jeffro

Duct Tape “Eyes” I have a friend named Richard who is totally blind and likes to play backgammon. He marks the pieces with duct tape so he can tell which color is which. Just another creative way to use the versatile duct tape. --- Steve

Parrot Poop Patrol I got you guys' book for Christmas, and just recently discovered another use for that wonderful stuff - making a box smellproof to conceal the odors of a four inch pile of African gray parrot poop that I'm sending to my friends. I guess you guys can put that in your next edition. --- MarQ Sounds like a good practical joke to us - check out our other Duct Tape Practical Jokes.

Duct Tape Giant Scissors (left) Ben R. of Arden Hills, MN made this giant scissors out of duct tape for a college roller-skating party. Apparently his parents never told him not to run (or roller skate) with scissors.

Insight Heater Booster I used the yellow Duck® brand tape on the front of my Honda Insight. With less than a gallon of coolant in my car the warm air runs out fast when using the heat and the engine takes a long time to warm up in cold weather. I taped the area between the bottom of the hood and the top of the bumper to decrease the amount of air flow through the radiator. This has worked out very well and I do suggest this to the rest of the Insight owners. Thanks Ducktape Guys. --- Thom

Gun’s Site Improved with Duct Tape? (right) I was Elk hunting in November, 2001 and broke the scope mount on my Gun. So, I did what any other red-blooded male would do - I DUCT TAPED it. The best part is, I shot an Elk with that duct taped gun!! One shot, on my knee, 215 yards, as she was trotting away from me - that's a one in a million shot! --- George L.

No More Creepy Crawlers If it weren't for Duct Tape, I would never have been able to enjoy our river property. I probably used 1,000 rolls of Duct Tape to tape up holes, cracks and crevices in an old mobile home that we stayed in until we had our house built. Duct Tape kept every crawling creature (which I am terrified of), filthy rodent and even one black bear out of this trailer. By the time our house was built, my Duct Tape was even holding up the trailer walls! This is no joke! --- Trab

Musical Applications Instead of going out and buying the paper to make CD covers, I simply just cover the front with duct tape, and then use markers and white out pens to decorate it the cover, according to what the CD is. One CD I have is a Charlie Parker CD, so I drew a bird on it since that was Charlie Parker's nickname. My saxophone teacher LOVES IT! I make the covers for CDs he makes for us to play with, and whenever I bring them to lessons, he loves looking at them!
My other use I have is some of the music I play is three plus pages long, longer than my music stand. So, last night I took some cardboard, covered it in duct tape to keep it sturdy, and attached it to my wire stand - and it works great! --- Jason C., Ephrata, PA

Duct Tape Ear Warmer Knowing good 'ole Michigan, the weather suddenly turned bitterly cold and windy one night during marching band practice. My ears get terribly achy in cold wind, so when we were given a break, I whipped out my duct tape and stuck 2 3" pieces to my ears. Girls beware, long hair in the wind won't come out of duct tape nicely if you don't have a high tolerance for pain. Lucky enough for me only a few lil strands were caught- as long as you're cautious enough to keep it out of the way and apply tightly. My inner ears kept toasty warm and free of pain. --- Nina

Tree Savior Our lemon verbena tree broke in a storm and we fixed it successfully with duct tape. --- Jeanne R., San Francisco, CA

Deer Leg Stabilizer I do venison processing and when I received in a deer with a broken back leg and needed to find a way to fix the leg to make it easier to hang and pull the hide duct tape saved the day. As you can see by the picture it worked like a charm. Doesn't get much better than that! --- Michael R.