More Random Chatter from the counter at the Duct Tape Diner
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More Random Chatter from the counter at the Duct Tape Diner Inspired to share your story? E-mail it to us. Read our submission requirements first. (most recent at top) |
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| Check out our New Duct Tape Sightings pages. Duct Tape Sightings from around the globe! | ||||
Camp Mouse-Away I go to camp in the summer, and our bunk was close to a wooded area, and we had a little problem with the mice in there. We weren't allowed to get any mouse traps or poison, so i grabbed my trusty roll of duct tape and taped all the holes shut. Lets just say we never saw any mice in there again, and our stashes of junk food were saved. --- Casey P, NY
Nasty-Toe Ogres? It was last winter, when my best friend and I wanted to go mudsliding in the rain. We had no good shoes to wear, and sandals fell off of our feet... So we lined our feet with the magical tape put some sandals on, strapped them to our feet with duct tape, and voila! we were ready to go. We had a blast but the only downside is that it took over a week to remove the sticky crap from our feet. So we looked like nasty-toed ogres for a while. --- JBear
Cosmetic Use I'm a girlie-girl who LOVES wearing make up. I have lots of colors of powdered eye shadow. The manufacturers of the stuff don't make the plastic powder holders very resilient. The things begin to crack and come apart while there is still a great deal of powder left. If it isn't covered then the powder starting flaking and the whole thing gets real messy real fast. I've found if I get out my trusty duct tape and place it over the top of the plastic holder it wil hold together until I've used up all my eye shadow. Maybe your female readers would like to know this little trick. --- Christina C.
Bouquet-Strengthener My sister got married in March and we used duct tape in her wedding. We were making her bouquet and realized we needed tape that would cover a large area to make it stable. I thought of duct tape. It worked perfectly. --- Amy J. Check out the Duct Tape Wedding click here.
Thumbbody got a Stronger Bandage? I cut my thumb washing dishes and it wouldn't stop bleeding and I used many bandages. Then I thought "well let's try this" so I wrapped it up in clean band aids and ... That's Right - Duct Taped it to stop the flow of blood. I walked around all day with duct tape on my thumb. --- Warren C., Burnaby BC
Blow-out Remedy I was riding my bike the other day and somehow I got two slices though my tire. But thanks to the good people at the Country Kitchen auto bay and several layers of duct tape, my tire was inflated and I made it to home(with a full tire of air, of course.) --- Kyle A., Auburn, Maine
Duct Tape on the Togs I enjoyed visiting your interesting site. I remember using duct tape way back in the 60s on scout camping trips to repair tents, equipment, etc. One hot afternoon we decided to ditch our boots and create some duct tape sandals. We called them "Moses Movers" and "Jesus Jumpers" because they looked rather Biblical. --- Charles H., Whittier, CA
More Footwear Applications Duct tape is used by wildland firefighters and other outdoors workers to prevent blisters. It is often difficult to find logging/hiking/work boots that fit well, and inevitably blisters form, even when wearing well-broken-in boots. Band-Aids, moleskin, and ace bandages wind up getting torn and bunch up in the boots, resulting in more blisters. Thin moleskin or bandages adhere much better with duck tape than with first aid tapes. A skilled duck taper can also make duck tape socks to prevent blister formation. Of course, duck tape also helps support sprained ankles, prevent ticks from getting in pant legs, etc. --- V. R. Walker, Fayetteville, NC
Support Can be Beautiful! I perform in local theatre here in Phoenix. Well, last weekend, I had a show, and my strapless bra just wasn't doing the trick! I have to wear a strapless gown in the second act of the show, and we do quite a bit of dancing. Needless to say, whenever I raised my arms above my head.... let's just say that things were just not quite secure enough!! So..... I had a BRILLIANT idea - I took two pieces of duct tape and taped the top of my bra to my chest/skin. Knowing that it would probably be a TAD uncomfortable removing it, I took a chance! Well, it was a HUGE success!! I was able to dance in complete comfort & security!! And, when it came time to remove the duct tape after the show, I had sweat just enough, and the tape just peeled right off - skin in tact! --- Debra Qualtire
Missile Tape Back when I worked in the test lab at Martin Marietta way back when, we tested missiles and other stuff. We used lots of the green rolls of duct tape, but back then it was called "missile tape". We used it to neatly secure & route wiring and cables on the test specimen. Please update your website to say "missile tape" in the aerospace industry. --- Ric W., Oviedo, FL Thanks, Ric. We've added Missile Tape to our list of other names for duct tape.
Shower Caulk on a Roll My master bathroom has a serious humidity problem. Sub-contractors failed to secure the plastic shower stall to the walls properly and also used drywall for the backing instead of the standard greenboard. Needless to say, the humidity is preventing standard caulk to adhere to the plastic and base of the shower where the water seeps. We tried multiple versions of caulk, but it never seemed to work. During this whole process, the drywall beneath is becoming soaked and slipping causing the plastic shower stall to crack at various levels of the stall. Duct tape to the rescue! My SO (Significant Other) commented that some airlines use duct tape to stop
holes in planes, so I figured, what the heck! I use the duct tape as caulk! Not only does it keep the water from seeping in, as the drywall slips, I add a row of duct tape to any new cracks that appear, I have a interior design statement being made on the stall walls. Oh someday I'll gut the bathroom and replace everything, but for now, duct tape does the trick! --- Julie D., Hanover Park, Illinois
Plantransportation When transporting trees or plants in a trailer or a pickup truck in a position parellel to the bed of the trailer or the truck use duct tape over the entire round top of the large plastic containers in which you have the trees or plants. By covering the entire top of the pot with the duct tape you will prevent the spillage of soil. Be sure to have the plant or tree well watered prior to covering with the tape. Immediately after reaching your destination, remove the tape and check the soil for any need of water after setting the potted tree or plant in an upright position. We have done this several times and were very successful without loss of tree or plant. If you are transporting this greenery in an open trailer or pickup truck you will need to protect the limbs and leaves with a mesh covering. --- Rvingbaf
Censoring Device Another perfect use for duct tape. My new phone book has an ad for one of those personal injury attorneys across the bottom of it. One strip of duct tape placed directly onto the ad makes my new phone book acceptable in the office. --- Gordon L.
Flip Flops Two stories involving foot wear and red duct tape. I took a trip to England a few years back, and of course had my handy roll of red duct tape with me. On the first day there, my flip flops broke. So, instead of buying a new pair for $1 I decided just to fix them with tape. I did this for a year everytime they broke untill I had a full duct tape flip flop, incredibly comfortable too.
Another time it was a rainy day and I had to go to school. The only problem was there happend to be a huge puddle all the way accross the parking lot that I had to cross to get inside. So, I ran straight through soaking my shoes. Luckly i just happend to have my roll of red duct tape with me, and in one hour I had made a pair of shoes for me to wear for the rest of the day out of nothing but tape. --- Ben H. For more Duct Tape Fashions, Click Here
Community Theatre Helper I have seen duct tape used to mend holes in theater curtains! Dorchester Unity Players, a community theater group, uses the Cambridge South Dorchester High School for their biannual shows. The stage curtains have not bee replaced since the school was built in 1976--they are, of course, dry rotted--but we continue to duct tape the holes as a reapir, until such time as new stage curtains can be purchased. Of course, oftentimes, duct tape is holding the set and scenerey together also. --- Katie C, Cambridge, MD
Duct Tape Your Doberman Shown on the right is "Celeidh" whose injured foot was initially bandaged by a vet, but the bandage was too tight. So the owner rebandaged with an old sock and "Scotch Tape". Tthe transparent tape didn't hold (duh), so the bandaging material was upgraded to duct tape which held the sock in place with no problem. Obviously, Celeidh was proud of the duct tape and healed up just fine.
Duct Tape Lasso It was in December and I was decorating for Christmas Holidays. All I had left to do was to create my house display by putting lights on the roof line and in the trees that hang over the house. I got my trusty ladder all the lights and my roll of duct tape. The duct tape was meant to be used for sticking the lights to the eves of the house. As I was getting up onto the house my ladder fell and I grab to the roof and worked my way up onto the roof. After I regained myself I realized I was on the roof with no way to get down and no one was home so I decided to go ahead and put the lights up and someone would be home by then though I did try to wave someone driving by down to help but they waved back with a smile and drove on, an hour later I waved at the same person and got the same response. So up on the roof the lights were done realized no one was gonna help so I must take matters into my own hands, I thought I would shimmy down the drain pipes but did not like the idea, then I thought of jumping into the pool but thought this was December and even though it's Florida it was chilly out and if I bumped my head they wouldn’t find me until spring time. Then it hit me I was always told you could fix anything with duct tape, so I thought about this for a moment then the light came on. I unrolled about eight feet of duct tape left the roll on the tape got down on my belly at the edge of the roof and lassoed the ladder with the roll of duct tape and lifted the ladder and stood it up on the sidewalk and was able to get down off of the roof. I now always remember to take my duct tape wherever I go. --- Keith
Another Traveler Saved by Duct Tape Two weeks ago I was taking my kids on a five-hour trip from Raleigh to Charleston in my 94 Chevy Astro van when my upper radiator hose sprung a leak, which I noticed about an hour from Raleigh. It was about 9-9:30 on a Friday night so, with the help of a mechanic from Wake Forest who happened to stop at this same rest stop, we duct taped the hose covering the hole with about a 3-inch margin on each side (attached photo shows hose and remainder of small roll of tape). The mechanic warned me that although the tape adhered very well to the hose that it would only serve to get me to a town where I might be able to replace the hose or patch it with plumbing parts (i.e. splice and clamp over an inserted tube).
I stopped at the nearest town but could not find a hardware or auto parts shop open at that hour, so I went to WalMart & bought golf tubes (couldn't find PVC or anything else that might fit inside the hose) and hose clamps to do the job. Since I wasn't greatly confident that the golf tubes could handle the heat for long, I decided to defer that effort until the duct tape leaked. I stopped every 1/2 hour and checked the tape for wetness, and added tape reinforcement every hour. This method got me all the way to Charleston, where I was able to properly replace the hose the next day. --- Wayne Van Nice
A story from "Old Hairless Shins"... I'm currently pursuing a Ph.D. in exercise physiology at the University of Southern Mississippi. In my spare time, I compete in a little known sport called powerlifting which consists of the squat, bench press, and deadlift.
Once per week, I methodically wrap my shins with duct tape. Yes, that's right! I wrap my shins with duct tape! At first sight, many people are shocked as I peacefully bend over to wrap each leg. This ritual is followed by the mist of chalk dust flying through the air as I rip hundreds of pounds of the floor of the local gym executing an exercise called the DEADLIFT. How ironic don't you think?
On a serious note, the duct tape provides the most convenient way to protect my shins from the weight lifting bar. I have competed in many local, state, and a few collegiate national championships since 1998. My training has always included the use of duct tape. --- Jim P., Sumrall, MS
U-Joint Salvation The most impressive display of Duct Taping skills I have ever seen was when I was four-wheeling with my buddies in my 1969 K-5 Blazer CST on a farmer's field. My buddy's Ford F-150 blew a driveline, and I mean flat dropped it on the ground. Well, he thought his four-wheelin' days were done, but, I remembered my dad's trick with the rubber raft, and decided to see if it would work on a driveline. I whipped out the roll of Duct Tape (one of the four I always kept in my Blazer), we put the driveline back up, and Duct Taped the heck out of the U-Joints. We used one roll on each of the two U-Joints. He wheeled the rest of the day and then drove it home! HONEST TO GOD TRUTH! --- Robert B., Salem, OR
Curling Helper (photo on left) I was recently in a curling bonspeil and I am a new curler. i did not have a slider, nor did I want to buy one for only one use, so my rink and I used duct tape. we taped the bottom of our shoe with duct tape and it worked perfectly. --- Becky M., Victoria, BC, Canada
Camper's Constant Companion I was camping up in the mountains with my step-dad. We decidied to go for a walk around the lake with our dog. As we hit a patch of tall grass, my step-dad and I took different routes. The grass was so tall that I was unable to see a knee-deep puddle of water that was directly infront of me, needless to say, I fell in, soaking my shoes. By the time I reached camp my feet had many blisters and my shoes were still soaked. Not wanting to walk around in wet shoes, I took a pair of socks, and my good friend, Duct Tape, and started making a new pair of shoes. The rest of the trip was fine, my shoes didn't dry out, but I didn't care because the Duct Tape shoes worked just as well if not better!
I have also used duct tape to combine tarps to make canopies while camping, fix interiors, notebooks, backpacks, inflata-boats, fishing poles, and everything else. Simply put: Duct Tape fixes EVERYTHING! (Even broken hearts, I gave my girlfriend a bouquet of duct tape flowers, she loved them!) --- Brandon H.- Salem, Oregon
Avoiding Germs You can easily use duct tape to pick up those used tissues your kids leave around during cold season without getting your hands dirty. --- Mike P.
Smart Birds and Strong Tomato Plants We all laughed at my dad last spring when he rescued my tomato plants with duct tape. I, of course, didn't have any twine in the garage, so while my mom babysat the kids one weekend, my dad staightened all my Big Boy Tomato Plants with Duct tape. If that wasn't funny enough, one of the local birds with an eye for the sticky substance decided to steal a piece from the garden while designing this nest. We all love Duct Tape. --- Daniel F.
Snare Snaffu's Salvation I don't know if you guys will be doing another DUCT TAPE book, or if this miraculous use has ever been documented, but this actually happened last night at my band's gig at RODEO nightclub in Cottage Grove, and I immediately thought of you guys. I even referenced and quoted you in my snappy "between catastrophes" banter. Here's what happened: We've got about 1,000 people (near capacity crowd) at this place, and as we're tearing into our very first song of the night, the drummer just SHATTERS his snare drum head.
He has NO REPLACEMENT drum head. No snare drum. This is a really bad thing.
Naturally, being the brilliant one in the band, I immediately yelled for DUCT TAPE! Within SECONDS, my drummer had a roll of it in hand. He began applying it to the outer rims of his snare head, while securing every flap in the center of his shattered snare drum head to the DUCT TAPE. To everyone's amazement (but my own, of course) THE DUCT TAPE WORKED! Not only did the DUCT TAPED snare drum head hold up through four hours of "Gino Ruberto and Durango" jamming through our special brand of high intensity country and southern rock, it sounded BETTER than a normal snare drum! I don't know the scientific explanation, but somehow, the DUCT TAPE gave it a warmer and more robust sound. --- Gino Ruberto
Swingin' with Duct Tape I held my children's swingset together with duct tape! It was the main top bar and the two sides that go into the ground. It lasted a whole play season (here in Chicago). The following spring my parents got the kids a new set. But I know it would have lasted a long long time. --- Colleen
Duct Tape Dad Sent Off with Duct Tape Duct tape to my family is a huge "inside-joke". My Dad said you could fix ANYTHING with duct tape - and in fact, he did. It's hard to say, but we just lost him March 18th to cancer, but even in his death, he found a way to make us laugh.
He had his "yard" shoes that were many years old, but he didn't want to part with - so what did he do? DUCT TAPE THEM. When that wore thin, he'd just add more. In fact, he is wearing them now. I still go through the house and laugh whenever I come across something that has been duct taped.
We told the pastor of the parish we belong to about all of this, and he in turn wrote that into his homily at the funeral. He came down from the alter with a roll in his hand and gave us each a piece of tape to take with us to hold our hearts together. --- Maryan H. O., Chicago, IL
Scorpion Smash Sticker As spring approaches, so do the crawly critters, such as scorpions. I use duct tape to capture them. Just pull the tape back on the roll, stick it to itself, then roll it over the scorpion. You now have him belly side up and stuck tight to the tape. I crush his head, clip off the tape and throw it in the garbage. --- L. Allen
Tent Patch Last year at girl scout camp, we were sleeping in tents that had been eaten by numerous creatures. The camp hadn't figured this out until the day we arrived, so they had to order new tents. They were backordered. Lucky us, we got to sleep in holey tents. The next day, as we were unpacking, one of the girls I was sharing a tent with pulled out a roll of duct tape. We taped up the holes so fast... The entire tent was covered in the stuff. That night, it rained. We stayed dry, while the other three tents were soaked. Thanks Duct tape! --- Jenna
Paintball Time-Saver I go paintballing every weekend, and sometimes when I change my barrel or replace my CO2 tank, I need to re-chronograph my marker (adjust the speed of my paint). However, I need to use a small allen wrench to adjust the velocity, and sometimes I have to run back to the truck to get it, which can be annoying. Sometimes I even miss the beginning of the game because I need to keep adjusting it. So, I just duct taped the wrench to the inside of the CO2 tank and BAM! it's always there for me, and in the middle of combat it won't fall off because I use Duck Tape brand duct tape. --- Shaun Diaz Or, you could just duct tape the chronograph deal in place so it doesn't move in the first place.
Cubicle Helper We are very space constrained at out office and last year we had to give up our Dilbert-like cubicles and move into even smaller cubicles. That was bad enough, but the smaller cubicles also come with lower walls, only 3 feet high instead of the 4 feet of wall height than the larger cubicles had. As a result we no longer even had an *illusion* of privacy.
Well, enter duct tape to the rescue! I went to my local Home Depot and bought a bunch of styrofoam "boards" and with my duct tape taped these boards on top of the existing cubicle walls, adding an extra foot of height and giving back some privacy. As a bonus you can even use push pins on the styrofoam to tape up important papers. And with the duct tape holding it in place the walls are almost as sturdy as the original walls of our larger cubicles were.
My move was so popular that most of the people in department followed suit and borrowed my duct tape to add stytofoam walls of their own.
Admittedly it may not look the most professional but, heck, if the company is not going to provide us with decently private working conditions on their own then they have to put up with what we come up with. One co-worker got especially creative and duct-taped a large picture in a frame to the top of her cubicle wall. Somewhat nicer looking than the styrofoam most of us have. --- Debbie Cusick
Green Ash Repair I have been using this method of tree repair for years. The green ash that I have growing in my backyard splits vertically along the trunk every year when the leaf growth is at its heaviest. Thank goodness for duct tape. --- John S., Hartland, WI
Wrap Your Head in Duct Tape… The Glen Beck Show, a syndicated AM talk show regularly runs a sweep that goes something like this: "Instructions for listening to the Glen Beck Show: Wrap your head in duct tape so when your head explodes, you'll at least have all the pieces" --- submitted by Julius Farkas
And now we PAWS for this short story… My wife and I used to live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to working normal jobs, we occasionally house-sat and dog-sat for friends when they went on trips. One such occasion found me at a co-worker's house looking after his two Jack Russell Terriers, Roscoe and Watson. As I'm sure you know, that breed has a great deal of energy.
Anyway, Santa Fe is in the high desert, which means that most yards consist of landscaping other than the usual grass and shrubs. A cheap fix is rock. My friend had such a yard with a token 5 x 5 foot square of sod to practice his chipping game.
Those dogs loved to play in the yard, chasing frisbees and tennis balls. Very playful and again, LOTS of energy. So, one day after work, I headed to my friend's house to play with the dogs and meet my wife for dinner there. Now, I had been by there during lunch to let the dogs out and played some fetch in the back yard with them.
When I opened the door and went into the house, I thought I had walked in on a mass murder. There was blood everywhere, I mean, everywhere. The carpet, tile, walls, sofas, chairs, just streaks of red like someone had sprayed paint with a splattering gun. Once I regained my composure, checked for Jason Vorhees and after many expletives and such, I noticed the dogs weren't around.
Oh god, I thought, what had happened? I started running through the rooms looking for the dogs, screaming their names. Fortunately, they came bounding out of a closet within a minute or so. I started to clean the place up as best I could, trying to figure out the source of the blood.
Then, as Roscoe jumped in my lap after I sat down, I discovered the problem. He had worn through ALL of his toenails to the quick from running around on the rocks in the yard and blood was pretty much free flowing from all four paws.
I frantically searched the house for something to dress the wounds, but, to no avail. It was readily apparent that my friend was no boy scout. However, I carry a first aid kit in my truck, so I rushed outside to get it. While I was rooting through its contents, a thought came to me. Beside the kit lay my several rolls of duct tape (never fewer than three in the truck).
I grabbed a roll and a towel and headed back to the wounded dog. I tore the towel into four strips and grabbed Roscoe. Now, he was a wily devil, being a Jack Russell and KNOWING that something was amiss. After five minutes of struggling to keep him down and still, I managed to secure him in between two cushions on the couch and my foot. Oh, he was not happy, despite the bevy of milkbones I kept feeding him.
Once stationary, I went to work wrapping each of his paws up in the strips of towel and duct taping over them to keep the bandages in place. Thirty minutes later, I released Roscoe, who was now sporting what looked to be moon boots on each paw.
He immediately tried to eat off the booties, but, the duct tape held fast, so he gave up. At this point, it was too late to go to the vet. So, that night, I entertained myself and Watson (Roscoe's brother) by playing fetch with them in the house on the slick saltillo tile, watching poor Roscoe try not to slip everywhere, which is what he did. Much like a deer on ice, to draw an analogy.
All ended up well for Roscoe, as his paws were healed by the next day. And, in the process, I picked up a useful tool which I still use today on my own dogs, two black labs, whenever we head to the beach, where oyster and clam shells litter the ocean floor and pose a serious threat to unwary, unprotected feet or paws.
I hope this adds to your enjoyment of tales involving duct tape. It certainly has to my family and two Jack Russell Terriers in Santa Fe, New Mexico. --- Fred Parker, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
