Duct Tape Is A Guy’s Best Friend

duck-or-duct-tape

From fixing bothersome blisters to sealing a ripped bagpack, the sticky stuff is always useful. Here are a few fun facts you may not know about duct tape:

Duck or Duct?

Actually, both are correct. The sticky stuff was originally called “duck tape,” because the U.S. military used it to waterproof gear during Word War II. Soon after the war, clever folks began using the product to wrap air condition ducts, and the name “duct tape” was born.

Wearable Duct Tape?

Each year, Duck brand duct tape holds a contest, asking high-school students to create prom dresses out of duct tape. They might look ridiculous, but the winner gets a $3,000 scholarship for college. Interested? Click here for more information.

Fun Facts:

• That famous silvery color comes from powdered aluminum pigment.
• Springfield, Mo., is considered the duct tape capital of the world, selling more than any other city on Earth.
• The amount of duct tape sold each year could stretch to the moon and back.
• A single strip of duct tape, doubled over itself, is strong enough to pull more than one ton.
• Duct tape is made of three layers: plastic, fabric mesh and rubber-based adhesive.
• NASA used duct tape during the Apollo 13 flight. Now it’s a mandatory tool on all NASA flights.

Tips & Tricks.

Here are just a few of the ways that you can use duct tape in the outdoors:

• Repairing a crack, hole, tear or rip.
• Make a bandage.
• Make a rope.
• Make a belt, sling or harness.
• Use it to write a note.
• As a makeshift carabiner.
• Keep dry.
• Make a drinking cup.
• Mark a trail.

How Do You Use It?

Have an interesting or unique use for duct tape? Tell me about it in the comments section below. Submit your best duct tape tips and tricks, and I’ll feature the most inventive uses on the site.

Click here to learn how to make your very own duct tape wallet.

Want to win a duct tape wallet?

I’m giving away 20 duct tape wallets. If you want to win one, be sure to click here. You can enter once a day until the contest ends on Dec. 31, 2013. So come back tomorrow for another chance to win.

64 Comments

  2. A kid in school was selling them but i wanted one but the didnt let me buy one . It would meso much if i had one. ppplllaaaassseeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

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  6. when you first look in a rednecks tool box you’ll find ductape and a ductape wallet will last longer than a regular wallet.

    Reply

  10. Ok so y’all have had the problem of finding tape on a roll. After you find it get a pencil or pen and put it about an inch away from the end of the roll. This will help you easily find and peel the end of the roll.
    When making a wallet and just in case in the future you lose it you want to put an identification card inside. After finishing the wallet (with the instructions on boyslife.org) get a transparent plastic bag like a Ziploc bag. After you do that get a notecard and plastic bag and cut it to the size of the left pocket. Write your contact information on the notecard. first put the notecard down where you want it and put the plastic bag on top. Get thin strips of duck/duct tape and tape down the notecard and plastic bag. Voila! A water proof identification tag.

    Just for fun if you and your friends like to play with fake swords Get strong cardboard and lots of duct tape. Then cut the cardboard into long strips with pointed ends matching up. Then cut 2 strips about 8 inches long. Tape the long strips very tightly together and tape the 8 inch long strips about 6 inches tightly to guard your hand while fighting.

    Oh yeah you can also make daggers, shields, and spears.

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  14. I LOVE THIS KIND OF TAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

  16. Stick a piece of duct tape together (sticky sides together) then pull it apart quickly in the dark and you’ll see sparks of light!

    Reply

  17. My favorite use for duck tape is for pranks. You can use it to tape people to their cots at summer camp. However, on a positive note, me and my friend got our favorite counselor a camp tshirt, and wrote that they were a boss in duck tape on the back.

    Reply

  23. I use it to remove warts, fix my lunchbox, and waterproof boxes,kindling,and a lot of other things!!!I made wallets for all of my brothers and fixed a lot of toys and tools.

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  24. Hey here’s an interestimg fact about duct/duck tape: When duct tape was first introduced into the American market in the late 1940s it was a problem for retailers because the tape was so sticky that the rolls would stick together and be very difficult to separate. In the early 1970s the Manco Company began selling duct tape in shrink wrapped plastic and helped to widen the ability of retailers to sell the product

    Reply

  32. You can use duct tape to get out a splinter if you don’t have any tweezers. Put the duct tape on the area of your skin where the splinter is, and carefully peel it off.

    Reply

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