Hi, we're the Duct Tape Guys. We're Duct Tape Evangelists spreading the Gospel of Duct Tape. We believe that, while duct tape has been an important commodity in the lives of Americans (and enlightened individuals around the world) since its inception in the early 1940s, there's never been a moment in American history when duct tape is as necessary as it is right now.

We are in the midst of an economic recession - some call it a depression - the likes of which our generation has never seen. Our parents were brought up during the "Great Depression." They came out of that time with frugality etched into their beings (along with the necessity to finish all of the ketchup that you pour on your plate and the idea that you should never tip a restaurant server more than the full 10%). Frugality is once again in order as we pull ourselves up by our designer bootstraps and buckle down to weather out the current economic storm. And nothing says "frugal" better than duct tape.

First, let's examine the wisdom behind the government's $700 billion bank bail out of 2008. First of all, you don't bail out a bank, you bail out a boat (unless of course, the hole in that boat was repaired with duct tape - in which case, you'd be sailing along your merry way with no need to remove extraneous water). Secondly, you don't award executives that have made poor business decisions with multi-million-dollar severance packages (aka "Golden Parachutes"). Heck no! At most, you give them a silver do-it-yourself parachute (a roll of duct tape with a pattern for making their own dang parachure) and a swift kick in the butt out of the door.

What did the American public get from this great bail-out? Not a dang thing except more debt that we (and our grand kids) will have to pay off. We just sit like dumbfounded chumps as we watch Citibank execs fly off in their newly purchased corporate jet and pee in their newly remodeled multi-million dollar executive bathrooms while we can't afford to fill our cars' gas tanks much less a pot to pee in.

Okay, enough of a rant about the past. Suffice it to say (unless there are some bank executives or shareholders that are reading this) we've all been screwed. And now we have to deal with it. And what better way to deal with it than to...

Bring out the duct tape.

Here are a few ideas to get you through these hard times. (All require that you have duct tape on hand. If you already have some, go out and buy some more - right now.)

1. Control spending. Tape over your credit card with three yards of duct tape. This will create a handy little pocket pack of emergency tape that you can always have on you for instant repairs (see #2). Plus, the duct tape will render the credit card absolutely useless - so you won't be ringing up more unpayable debt. Your savings (assuming you've taped over your spouse's card as well) will be $3,000 or more per month.

2. Don't buy new when repair will do. We've always maintained, "It ain't broke, it just lacks duct tape." If you don't find yourself handy with tools, for a quick fix there's no better tool than duct tape. It requires no instructions, you don't need any other tools to use it, it's gender neutral - gals can use it equally as well as men... Heck, duct tape is the ultimate power tool.

3. Save gas and cut polution. Gas prices have gone from $4 a gallon to under $2. But that doesn't mean that they'll stay that way. And, you'll be lucky to afford 49ยข per gallon gas when your job disappears. Learn to save gas the Duct Tape Guy way: Make a wadded-up sticky-side out ball of duct tape and adhere it to your front bumper. Pull up behind someone traveling in your direction, give them a little bump to adhere your bumper to theirs, flip your car into neutral and turn off the engine. When they get to your turnoff, simply step on your brake to detach your car, start your engine and drive as you normally would. You'll save gallons of fuel and cut your contribution to global warming at the same time.

4. Reinforce your apparel and accessories. It might be a while before you can afford a new pair of designer jeans, a new purse, a new wallet (like we have anything to put in our wallets... We suggest that you use duct tape (in all of its wonderful array of colors) to reinforce, repair and create your own apparel and fashion accessories. Click here for inspiration. Duct Tape Fashion is quite popular with the teenagers, and if you check where the bulk of your clothing dollar goes, you'll quickly see that your teenage kids are devouring most of it. Buy them a few rolls of duct tape and have them create their own wardrobe for pennies on the dollar.

5. Adjust your television viewing habits. Watching corporate media's inept news coverage has misinformed us into confusion, frustration and eventually apathy. Duct tape your remote control to your ceiling to prevent you from habitually flipping on the tube and expecting the corporately-owned networks to deliver unbiased information. Rather, pay attention to what's going on around you, search for the root cause, and then get on the phone and tell your elected officials what's important to you (for instance, a full tax credit for any duct tape purchases).

6. Become a community organizer. If you're like us (and we know are), you'll find a lot of stuff in your community that can be fixed with duct tape. Create a "Duct Tape Squad" to roam your neighborhoods and city streets looking for stuff that needs fixing. Then speed-fix it with duct tape. At an average cost of $4 per roll, duct tape is a lot cheaper and quicker than waiting for your city council to sift through and award project bids.

7. Become familiar with the ultimate duct tape information resource. To date, we have written seven books, twelve Page-a-Day Calendars and our massive web site (DuctTapeGuys.com) which offer a wealth of information and ideas about what you can do with duct tape. A great place to start is our Duct Tape Diner - where people from around the world share their resourceful duct tape ideas. Then truck on over to our Duct Tape Pro Shop to get our books and other duct tape evangelism resources (like inspirational t-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, caps and the like).

Take heart! Together with duct tape at our sides, we WILL make it through these economically hard times.

Thank you for your time. May the Tape be with you. - Jim and Tim, the Duct Tape Guys