Duct tape
For instance, in the US sitcom Frasier, Martin Crane s beloved and ugly old armchair, complete with pieces of duct tape covering rips in the fabric, sat in the middle of an otherwise impeccably furnished room. The Wenner study was published in the March 2007 issue of Archives of Dermatology. The Duct Tape Guys (Jim Berg and Tim Nyberg) as of 2005 have written seven books about duct tape.(They defined duct tape as any fabric-based tape with rubber adhesive.) The testing done shows that under challenging but realistic conditions, duct tapes become brittle and may fail. However, metalized and aluminum tapes used by professionals are still often called duct tapes . Duct tape s widespread popularity and multitude of uses has earned it a strong place in popular culture, and has inspired a vast number of creative and imaginative applications. Duck Products annually sponsors a competition that offers a college scholarship to the person who creates the most stylish prom formal wear made from duct tape.
Their bestselling books have sold over 1.5 million copies and feature real and wacky uses of duct tape. The lunar module CO2 scrubbers started working again, saving the lives of the three astronauts on board. Keith Canfield, who designed the scrubber modification in just two days, said later that he knew the problem was solvable when it was confirmed that duct tape was on the spacecraft: I felt like we were home free , he said in 2005.
Added to that phrase in 1995 with the publication of their WD-40 Book was, Two rules get you through life: If it s stuck and it s not supposed to be, WD-40 it. One of Duck Products previous competitions was for vehicles covered in duct tape called Stuck in Traffic .
Another wide tape similar to gaffer tape is the US branded Gorilla tape, which is made on a cloth backing, but has a much stronger adhesive than either duct tape or gaffer tape. As might be expected from its widespread use, duct tape has featured in many references in popular culture. Duct tape is also called Riggers Tape , 100-MPH tape , or Hurricane Tape in the military - a name that comes from the use of a specific variety of duct-tape that was supposed to hold up to 100mph winds.
A workaround was made using duct tape and other items on board Apollo 13, with the ground crew relaying directions to the spacecraft and its crew. The title character of the television series MacGyver, also a master of improvised inventions, made frequent use of duct tape, a flattened roll of which he frequently kept in his back pocket.
It was also used to repair military equipment quickly, including jeeps, firearms, and aircraft because of these properties. In Canadian military circles, this variant is known as gun-tape , typically olive-green, and also known for its resistance to oils and greases. The MythBusters devoted an entire episode to Duct Tape by lifting a car with it, repairing and making a boat out of it, and creating a duct tape cannon. .
Another version attributes this to the fact that soldiers often refer to something that exceeds expectations as High Speed. In Germany the tape is most commonly known as Panzertape to express its general toughness by comparing it to a tank which is Panzer in German. It is commonly used in situations that require a strong, flexible adhesive, particularly when exposure to the elements is a concern. A more specialized product, commonly known as gaffer tape, is preferred in entertainment circles, as it does not leave a sticky residue when removed and is more easily torn into thin strips for precise application. Duct tape, in its guise as racer s tape , has been used in motorsports for more than 40 years to repair fiberglass bodywork. NASA engineers and astronauts have used duct tape in the course of their work, including in some emergency situations.
Their major conclusion was that one should not use duct tape to seal ducts (specialty tapes are available for this purpose). This duct tape is a 48 mm (1.9 in) wide PVC tape (usually silver in color) with no cloth backing and much weaker clear adhesive.
One such usage occurred in 1970, when the square carbon dioxide filters from Apollo 13 s failed command module had to be modified to fit round receptacles in the lunar module, which was being used as a lifeboat after an explosion en route to the moon. and by building codes in most other places in the U.S.
Increased interest in creating these novelty and fashion pieces (such as duct tape prom dresses and handbags) has given rise to designer duct tape handbags, wallets, belts and related items. A medical study announced on major news networks on October 15, 2002, stated that application of duct tape can be used as an effective treatment for warts. If it s not stuck and it s supposed to be, duct tape it .
The combination of WD-40 and duct tape is sometimes referred to as The Redneck Repair Kit. Many people also create bookbags, wallets, model houses, and less commonly, guitar straps out of duct tape. As a quick fix, duct tape can be used as a temporary bandage, until proper medical treatment and bandages can be applied to a wound. The origin of the term duct tape is the subject of some disagreement. One view Thus a fabric duck tape was available to which an adhesive could have been added. The other view is that duct tape is the original term, since there are many documented uses of that term which pre-date all documented uses of the term duck tape for the adhesive-backed product, and that there is no written evidence supporting the WWII story. In any case, whether it is an error or a preservation of the original usage, the term duck tape is sometimes used for the product today. Duct tape (sometimes called duck tape Permacel, then a division of Johnson & Johnson, used a rubber-based adhesive to help the tape resist water and a fabric backing to add strength.
The character Red Green, of the Red Green Show, sees duct tape as the answer to any problem, spawning a major motion picture called Duct Tape Forever. Its image is one of make-do , or cheap fix , and it is particularly associated with men.
3M sells a similar tape in the United States, calling it Electrical Tape . Duck brand cloth-backed tape in Australia is labeled as Power Tape (a purely promotional term), and other cloth-backed tapes are generally labeled as cloth tape or gaffer tape. Duck Tape is also a brand name for this product in some countries. The term duct tape can lead to confusion between people more familiar with the North American usage of the term and those from regions such as Australia and New Zealand, where a completely different type of tape is sold as duct tape, as shown right.
The number of uses to which duct tape can be put is a source of humor (many of these are collected in books by The Duct Tape Guys ). Entries included rabbits, a castle, a van decorated as Van Gogh s Starry Night (titled VanGo), and won by a truck called the Dragonracer - a half dragon, half two-toned race car. Some people enjoy making novelty items out of duct tape or decorating objects with it.
To provide lab data about which sealants and tapes last, and which are likely to fail, research was conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Environmental Energy Technologies Division. In 1994 they coined the phrase, It Ain t Broke, It Just Lacks Duct Tape .
Racer s tape comes in a wide range of colors to help match it to common paint colors. One thing a Southern boy will never say is, I don t think duct tape will fix it. Duct tape was also used aboard Apollo 17 to improvise a repair to a damaged fender on the lunar rover, preventing possible damage from the rooster tails of lunar dust as they drove. In a 2001 NASA manual for spaceflight operations aboard the International Space Station, duct tape is even called for in case of acute psychosis during a space mission; NASA procedures call for the use of duct tape to restrain the affected astronaut.
Their website features thousands of duct tape uses from people around the world ranging from fashions to auto repair. The use of this definition varies between Australians; many refer to duct tape as the same product as is sold in North America. Gaffer tape generally is coated with a different type of adhesive, so as to permit its use to hang such production items as lighting instruments from walls without taking off paint and wallpaper when removed.
