Three Cheers For Duct Tape !!

I don’t want to start a debate here, but in my opinion “duct tape” is one of the greatest things ever invented.  And while it might be simpler in design than the automobile, less flashy than the electric light bulb, and more low tech than today’s electronic gadgets, it nonetheless exceeds almost everything in the number of practical uses it can serve.

Duct tape seems to be the red-headed stepchild of modern creations.  I spent time on-line trying to determine where it placed in the hierarchy of notable inventions, and it didn’t even show up in the top thirty or forty items named.  Frankly, I was shocked.  I mean, it must have some importance if I go through two or three rolls each and every year, and if entire TV shows have been aired with this versatile tape as the “star.”

I must admit, for years I looked down on those who called it “duck” tape, thinking it was just another example of how such unappreciative people further undervalued the product by getting its name wrong.  They made it sound like something one would use to bind the wings and feet of kidnapped waterfowl, or as a gag around the beak of that annoying bird that advertises for Aflac. But research informed me that it was indeed called “duck” tape when it was first invented for use in World War II to keep moisture out of ammo boxes.  Upon learning that, I felt a little less defensive about my silver-gray friend.
 

Let’s face it.  Anything as basic as duct tape that can fill four complete episodes of the Discovery Channel's “MythBusters,” has got to be impressive.  On those shows (listed below), it was used to do everything from lifting a car off the ground, to taping Adam Savage to the ceiling of the workshop.  Other projects included using duct tape to fashion a working sailboat, a  surfboard, a black powder canon that actually fired, a 100 foot bridge across a chasm, and various survival tools such as a temporary shelter, container to store water, and hats and footwear to protect oneself from the elements.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, the MythBusters also replaced the shredded skin of a light aircraft with this versatile product.   Covering gaping holes in its damaged fuselage and tail control sections with rolls of duct tape, they created a new “skin” that, while only meant to be temporary, allowed the plane and pilot to take off safely, and fly at low altitude above the runway.

Now, someone much wiser than me once said this: “If you can’t fix it with duct tape, you haven’t used enough.”  And that about sums it up.  Nothing is stronger, and nothing adheres better to just about anything.  That’s my personal assessment, of course, and like duct tape… I’m sticking to it!

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If you’d like to check out the Mythbuster duct tape shows for yourself, copy and paste the following address into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com  Then type “mythbusters/duct tape” into the search box, and you can easily find these episodes:  “Duct Tape 1,” “Duct Tape 2,” “Duct Tape Plane,” and “Duct Tape Island.”