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Duct Tape Goes Minature
metal_llama writes "There is a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about a man, Christopher Blummel, who "has a vision for a better world - one where every man would carry in his wallet a small cellophane packet containing a product that can come in handy in an emergency. Duct tape." This is exactly what I've always wanted: an ever-handy supply of duct tape."
In their duct tape wallet?
In Soviet Russia, ducts tape you!
Is it just me, or did this guy just watch an episode of Macguyver and go "Hey..."
That being said i'll bet Richard Dean Anderson's ex-mullet is turning in his grave.
Cogito Eggo Sum, I think therefore I'm a waffle
My old childhood hero MacGyver has defeated entire armies with just a swiss army knife and duct tape.
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
I have a vision for every man, women, and child to carry around their own personal tin foil hate to ensure protection from alien mind control rays... we must defend ourselves!
Well the dad guy in the Hulk found duct tape useful in setting up his machine to make him a super-blob of energy, so this seems like a valid idea.
GopherMobile
So the everyman will then become an automatic suspect in kidnapping/rape/tortures?
I'm not sure what I'm more speechless about. That this guy got a patent, or that this made Slashdot.
Try miniature. Come on editors!!
"Duct tape is a lot like the Force... It has a dark side, it has a light side, and it binds the galaxy together...."
I can't remember who said that but man is it funny.
-Skrud
Duct tape is great stuff, if only because no othery type of tape is as strong, and I can really understand the need to carry it around for unexpected situations, but at the price he's trying to get for it, there's no way it'll catch on.
Of course, provided he wasn't granted a patent for it, 3-rd parties should be imitating it in no time, and selling it for a fraction of the cost.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
...is there really a need for this? I keep a roll or two of the regular stuff in my car in case something falls off and I need to re-affix it, but do I really need to carry this stuff around like a condom? (obligatory geek remark: not that most of slashdot's readers need condoms, mind you, but still.)
Rushing toward Entropy one iteration at a time.
If you can't duck it, f..k it.
A year or so ago we got a new clothes dryer and my wife gave me the job of connecting it to the existing ducting that exhausts the dryer air from the laundry to the outside world.
:-)
I sat down for a while and contemplated how I might make up an adapter flange to join the old ducting (4 inch diameter) to the new dryer (3.5" diameter).
After several hours walking around the workshop checking to see if I had enough metal and gas to weld up a flange, I spied the obvious -- my roll of duct tape.
Suffice to say that's the first (and it'll probably be the last) time I've ever used duct tape for taping up ducting.
Most of the time I use it to hold the gaping wounds together so they don't bleed to bad after a day in teh workshop. (Why are so many tools so sharp?
This is simultaneously both the most pointless and the coolest post ever to be on the front page.
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
on this man winning the nobel prize? Personally I think he is a shoe-in.
Are you secure enough in your masculinity to run 'man touch'?
But it can be a little hard (no pun intended) to get off (again, no pun intented). Still, in an emergency it's better to be safe than to either get a disease or breed.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
Red Green would be proud.
They forgot, however, to include in the instruction manual that it should NOT be used in conjunction with transmission fluid. You need the optional "baling wire add-on kit" to pull that off.
"Giving money and power to governments is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke
they can at least find you handy. Right? Or did I fall asleep while watching the Red Green show, and am now dreaming of the Red Green /. show? Quick, call Rothschild's Sewage and Septic Sucking Service, and get rid of all the trolls!
*GRIN*
Lemon curry?
So if the terrorists attack when you're on the go, you can simply duct-tape yourself into the nearest phone booth.
-a
If you can't use duct tape on ducting, it's time to start rethinking the whole DIY thing.
His wallet also comes with a plastic tent, opens his wallet, pushes a button and *whala*, an inflatable plastic tent (with it's own air supply) - Go Go Gadget-Biological safe egloo
Analytic & algebraic topology of locally Euclidean meterization of infinitely differentiable Riemmanian manifold
Why whould you say that?
He might have defeated a FEW soldiers with a setup like that, BUT there was never an episode depicting what you wrote.
Please stop spreading vicious lies
You can be swinging more pud than John Holmes.
Duct tape and WD-40.
If it does move, but it shouldn't, you use the duct tape. If it doesn't move, but it should, you use the WD-40.
What's this guy going to come up with next, a miniature spray can of WD-40?
Sorry!
Litigious bastards
This should come in handy to protect oneself if confronted with terrorism on the road
I thought they just eat some donuts, laugh with eachother how stupid it is (if they actually read it, anyway), stamp approval, and collect the application fee?
for fuck's sakes man, just bring some bandaids if you need tape - at least you can use them on yourself, aside from posting presentations on the wall.
urgh. products designed by sales people. sigh...
My life in the land of the rising sun.
Because of the threads, you can tear a wide piece to be as narrow as you need.
http://yetanotherpoliticalrant.blogspot.com
Yes, because only in The Matrix can stupid ideas be held together in the mind.
when your bi*** is talking so much, you just take the duct tape out of your pocket and close her mouth!
use it at night coz you know she snores!!
ok,I got to go ; wife wants me to mow the lawn.Stargate: Scifi fantasy action show on cable/satelliet.
MacGyver: 80s TV show praised for its near documentary accuracy and depiction of real world uses of science.
Worlds apart friend. Worlds Apart
"miniature"... but apparently it is. 49 comments and no one's said anything so far.
Hammer? Screwdriver? Yeah, I can just see someone constructing those out of duct tape and/or WD-40.
Never leave home without duct tape and a bottle of tabasco sauce. It is the ultimate minimalist survival kit! =)
Just apply tape...and rip it off!
Prevents std's, pregnancy, and eliminates unwanted pubic hair!!!
I don't know about the rest of you, but with respect to Douglas Adams, I for one plan on keeping mine next to my towel :)
Understanding is a three edged sword. - Ambassador Kosh Naranek, Babylon 5
You also need to add:
1. A black ski mask
2. A firearm
3. One of those electric stun guns
..why the hell we call them "editors"?
I mean, "minature"? In the title, no less?
Come on.
That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze
Dear All,
One of my primary concerns as a sound engineer is to vigilantly keep my roll of tape out of the hands of musicians. One moment of carelessness and *poof* someone used up an entire roll to fix the plug on his keyboards.
This saves me from having to physically lock the roll. I can just carry around the tape in my back pocket.
Christopher, you are my hero!
Kees Jan
If anyone claims a patent on this, I've got witnesses that I've been doing this for years.
Sig:Why copyright isn't a fundamental human right
Thanks for the Duck Tape Uncle Sam!
www.bannination.com Two things float to the top he
This is standard practice in the military. And most survival books recommend wrapping duct tape around something other than the standard roll to make it easy to store and carry around. Now if he would have come up with an easy way to remove the crappy residue after it sits in the sun for 2 hours i'd be impressed.
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them
Everyone knows the MPAA only uses tranq darts.
I don't recall that I've ever owned or used a roll of duct tape. The stuff is a cludge, and there's almost always a better way to do something: glue, rope, wire, nails, rivets.
I just don't go for the cludgy/temporary fix; I'd rather take a few extra minutes and do it right. Duct tape is sticky, leaves a resudue, fails in high heat, deteriorates quickly and smells funky.
I still don't understand why it's called "duct tape" when ducting is the one thing you DON'T want to use it for.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Idiots. Unfortunately, someone mispelled the word and it ended up as: editors.
At least she knows how to get on slashdot...maybe she isn't all bad.
Seems like Richard Dean Anderson is going to have a tough time if everyone is using duct tape.
Duct tape:
It's like The Force, there is a light side and a dark side and it binds the world around us.
If ya can't Duct it, fuck it!
I was given something just like this, it was in a little package and called "Duck tape"
How can this guy get a patent for something that already exists and is sold?
Or will his patent just be denied?
if a packet of duct tape in my wallet is mistaken for a condom in insufficient lighting and the throe's of passion.
Oh wait, I never get any anyway, never mind, COOL! Emergency duct tape!
Beware blue cats moving at
When I was in the Army, my favorite way to carry extra duct tape (100 mile per hour tape, which is green and sticks better) was to wrap it around a credit card or something. (the only use I ever found for my "Army Values Card") (for those of you who know)
You start with a roll and take as much as you think you need with you. It's not hard folks.
There was a duct tape company (whoever makes that duct tape with the duck on it I believe)a few years ago who sold small rolls of duct tape wrapped around a small, flat cardboard card for the purpose of being able to stick it in your pocket. I don't think it exists anymore, at least I haven't seen it for a while (maybe 3 years or so).
Here is something worth taping up.
Ok, I might be paraphrasing a bit. Tim Vroom joined Slashteam in the last few weeks. Tim replaces Krow, who left us to go work for MySQL.
/. had to go 5 years without an html coder.
/. is the only site that has remained flaky for years.
/. avoided the y2k problem by avoiding yyyy altogether.
Congratulations Krow!
So Tim's first project larger than a few lines was reworking the left hand menu on all of Slashdot.
Wow, that must have taken all month.
In fact, this might be the largest change to Slashdot's homepage since mid 1998
I know, HTML coders are hard to find. It sux that
hof became Hall of Fame. I just got sick of people emailing me asking for a top 10 stories page when we've had one for like 5 years.
Improving the user interface...Taco, that's genius!
Provide login and subscription information on the left hand side.
Provide a login box that works plz k thx.
my personal opinion is that this is a dramatic improvement to Slashdot's layout and user interface. But it is still only a baby step.
Correct. My personal opinion is that smashing your face would be a dramatic improvement in your life, but still only a baby step.
There are still a variety of issues... like static pages (hof, about, faq) will ask you to log in, even tho you actually are.
See, this is what I'm saying...you guys can't write perl to save your careers. How about this: take slashdot down, learn how to write a login, then put it back up.
Thursday July 03, @09:59AM [ 3 Comments | #38227 ]
Would this be Thursday July 3rd in ahhhh.... 2003? I never can tell. Seems
"You're not an official slashteam member until an AC pisses on your work." --Jamie
"It's like shooting fish in a barrel." --AC
I run a StarWars RPG where Duct tape is dark on both sides by Imperial Edict just to pervent that joke
Ok.... Now that was the funniest comment I've seen on slashdot in months. Why oh why did I waste that mod point earlier??
The miniature rolls of duct tape will be great if you happend to come across broken miniature duct work. Of course, deferring to Red Green, when it comes to fixing duct work, he recommends masking tape.
BTW, there are better tapes for fixing small things...and they already come in small rolls, but this is not about using the right tools for the right job.
And we all know how important skin is to living.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
the glaring typo in the title!?
Minature? Wtf is that? Last time I checked it was miniature. Heh.
You'll never need to carry them bulky tampons, panty liners, feminine pads....Women everywhere have been liberated!!!!
I thought Red Green had already invented it
Okay, for a long time it was cool to point out how Duct Tape, the cheap old standby from when you were a kid, was so technically helpful and reliable and cheap and easy and etc.
I think we all get the point. Duct Tape is now very well established as a useful item. We all know it is useful. We don't have to keep on pointing out that something that we thought was a little useful was a lot useful.
Strangely enough, this reminds me of Johnny Cash. When Johnny Cash first hooked up with Rick Rubin, it was a big deal, and everyone loved the irony of this old guy going alternative. Now, 9 years later or however much it is, it is no longer really clever that Johnny Cash is doing Nine Inch Nails songs. If it was just a novelty, we would be tired of it by now. But it is the actual quality of the work, not just the joke.
I am sure that made PERFECT sense to everyone.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
Naptha (Zippo lighter fluid) will remove most types of adhesive tape and sticker residue, including the stuff that duct tape leaves behind. Just be careful with plastics; the naptha will attack some types and leave you with an even bigger gooey mess.
Loading...
You never know when you need to gag someone.
I mean some people, just talk and talk and they can't shut up. It's not like everybody has the time and patience to listen to someone just rumble about something or other of no interest. It's even worse when they start detouring from the subject of the whole thing like some 1950's valvule computer with one too many holes in the punch-card, i mean those things must have been a pain to program and all. Not to mention they were big. And hot. Which reminds me of that time i is was driving my van on the highway and *shraaap* *oooo* *oooo*
Adrian Wapcaplet: Aah, come in, come in, Mr....Simpson. Aaah, welcome to Mousebat, Follicle, Goosecreature, Ampersand, Spong, Wapcaplet, Looseliver, Vendetta and Prang!
Mr. Simpson: Thank you.
Wapcaplet: Do sit down--my name's Wapcaplet, Adrian Wapcaplet...
Mr. Simpson: how'd'y'do.
Wapcaplet: Now, Mr. Simpson... Simpson, Simpson... French, is it?
S: No.
W: Aah. Now, I understand you want us to advertise your washing powder.
S: String.
W: String, washing powder, what's the difference. We can sell *anything*.
S: Good. Well I have this large quantity of string, a hundred and twenty-two thousand *miles* of it to be exact, which I inherited, and I thought if I advertised it--
W: Of course! A national campaign. Useful stuff, string, no trouble there.
S: Ah, but there's a snag, you see. Due to bad planning, the hundred and twenty-two thousand miles is in three inch lengths. So it's not very useful.
W: Well, that's our selling point! "SIMPSON'S INDIVIDUAL STRINGETTES!"
S: What?
W: "THE NOW STRING! READY CUT, EASY TO HANDLE, SIMPSON'S INDIVIDUAL EMPEROR STRINGETTES - JUST THE RIGHT LENGTH!"
S: For what?
W: "A MILLION HOUSEHOLD USES!"
S: Such as?
W: Uhmm...Tying up very small parcels, attatching notes to pigeons' legs, uh, destroying household pests...
S: Destroying household pests?! How?
W: Well, if they're bigger than a mouse, you can strangle them with it, and if they're smaller than, you flog them to death with it!
S: Well *surely*!....
W: "DESTROY NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF KNOWN HOUSEHOLD PESTS WITH PRE-SLICED, RUSTPROOF, EASY-TO-HANDLE, LOW CALORIE SIMPSON'S INDIVIDUAL EMPEROR STRINGETTES, FREE FROM ARTIFICIAL COLORING, AS USED IN HOSPITALS!"
S: 'Ospitals!?!?!?!!?
W: Have you ever in a Hospital where they didn't have string?
S: No, but it's only *string*!
W: ONLY STRING?! It's everything! It's...it's waterproof!
S: No it isn't!
W: All right, it's water resistant then!
S: It isn't!
W: All right, it's water absorbent! It's...Super Absorbent String! "ABSORB WATER TODAY WITH SIMPSON'S INDIVIDUAL WATER ABSORB-A-TEX STRINGETTES! AWAY WITH FLOODS!"
S: You just said it was waterproof!
W: "AWAY WITH THE DULL DRUDGERY OF WORKADAY TIDAL WAVES! USE SIMPSON'S INDIVIDUAL FLOOD PREVENTERS!"
S: You're mad!
W: Shut up, shut up, shut up! Sex, sex sex, must get sex into it. Wait, I see a television commercial-
There's this nude woman in a bath holding a bit of your string. That's great, great, but we need a doctor, got to have a medical opinion.
There's a nude woman in a bath with a doctor--that's too sexy. Put an archbishop there watching them, that'll take the curse off it. Now, we need children and animals.
There's two kids admiring the string, and a dog admiring the archbishop who's blessing the string. Uhh...international flavor's missing...make the archbishop Greek Orthodox. Why not Archbishop Macarios? No, no, he's dead... nevermind, we'll get his brother, it'll be cheaper... So, there's this nude woman....
The article says he has a patent pending. What? Is "a method by which to make duct tape available on a smaller roll to facilitate easier carrying" now innovative and non-obvious?
*sigh
My
Limekiller
DIdn't I read (on SLashdot? Maybe Fark?) that putting duct tape on warts makes 'em go away?
p.s. superglue works better for cuts than duct tape.
Vote Quimby!
The process can take two to three years, Corr has said.
During that time, the U.S. Patent Office will search for like products and will decide whether Pocket Duct is different enough to merit a patent.
Of course, we all know how good a job they do at that. His patent will fit right in: duct tape IS a type of "software."
Red Green would be so proud...
SecondPageMedia - Wha
Generally when I find I need duct tape, I'm gonna need more than I'd be able to fit in my wallet...
But I guess some duct tape is better than no duct tape, right?
...or vertically challenged people or whatever the PC term is. Why waste a normal size duct tape on a little mouth when you're trying to shut them up?
Back in the bad, old days, it was a rubber in your wallet [immortalized by The Extras in the song "Circular Impression"].
Now, it's duct tape in your wallet.
WWMWA? [What Would Mae West Ask?]
"Is that a (fill in the blank) in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
I can imagine the slashdotter who says "wait a minute, I've got this duct tape"...
Okay, this is stupid. As someone who has really tried to use duct tape for similar purposes, I can attest to the fact that it is an overrated product.
Taking some examples from the article:
1) Lint removal: it leaves more glue behind than it removes lint, can even rip fabric. Wide cellophane tape is better.
2) Radiator leak: Duct tape does not work well at all on damp surfaces. Even if it were not damp, you'd still have to put multiple layers on to stem the pressurized dripping. A pocket size is not enough.
3) Presentations on a wall: sure, if you need a destructive method to stick up a piece of paper. Removing some of the paint or stucco goes over well with a client. Again clear cellophane, or even colored electrician tape would be better.
Now if he had a pocket size variant of clear wide cellophane tape, he'd have a better product.
Maybe we could just wrap this guy in some of his own product. But, darn, it still isn't even enough to tape up his mouth...
]$ ispell @(#) International Ispell Version 3.2.06 08/01/01 word: minature how about: miniature
I almost never keep duct tape around. Because while it might seem like the appropriate thing for a temporary fix, it leaves behind such a messy glue residue when you're ready for the permanent fix that it often does more damage than good.
In general when something has been repaired with duct tape, it indicates an amateur has been at work maintaining it. Equipment at yard sales, etc. which have anything resembling duct tape attached should be avoided at all cost.
Black electrical tape is much the same. Nobody with an interest in quality regarding electronics uses it for anything. Like it says in Horowitz and Hill, black electrical tape is strictly amateur. Use Heat Shrink Tubing.
How well does it speak of the product that the miniature duct tape was unable to hold the "i" in place in the headline?
./ ?
(Ok, it didn't come out as funny as I thought it would. Mod me pretentious.)
Is there any spellchecking on
-- What I don't have in intelligence, I make up for in a lack thereof.
Hamsters beware!
main(char O){O++&&(((O-291)*O+27788)*O-868020?1:putchar(O++
Duct Tape
When I was younger (ages 9 thru 15), I was a ski racer. Now, anyone who's owned a pair of ski boots knows that if they're front-entry, they have little vent in the toe area. The vent is stoppered up with rubber.
I don't know if technology has improved or if maybe I'm just hardened to it, but I no longer have to do something that we ALL did back then: put a big piece of duct tape over the vent. On a cold day, it would keep your foot warmer. On a rainy day, it would keep water from seeping into your boot. It worked especially well on boots made by Lange.
The problem, of course, was having a big roll of duct tape around. One day, my young self turned to my dad and asked, "hey dad, wouldn't it be a good idea to run a little stand near the lodge of a ski resort that sold little 8" lengths of duct tape?" Dad just smiled and shook his head, but I really thought it would be a good idea!
Intercarve Networks, LLC
Backpackers have been doing this for years. Just wrap a couple of feet of duck tape around a pencil or straw and put it in your repair kit. I'm always looking for items that can be used for more than one purpose, but I won't be buying this dude's "invention.
Who or what authority has control over our patent office? Maybe Congress? I don't know, but this crap with patenting the obvious has to end.
The sad thing is that there are a lot of people out there who will buy anything. I've even seen shareware that does the exact same thing your operating system already does. And people buy it! Go figure.
I wouldn't mind having a wallet-sized strip of duct tape
But i'd save it for events when i can't bring my Backpack, which has the full roll in it.
No, duct tape is not suitable for every job. However, I'm in Boston and was there for the fireworks last night with 2 plastic chairs, 2 ordinary (small) umbrellas, one roll of duct tape, and a 6'x4' piece of cloth, and we were one of the only groups not getting torched by the sun as we staked out our spot on the esplanade. And A lot of people had duct tape envy, but we're nice, and we share. The glue rubbed right off the metal and plastic surfaces.
There are, as noted in other posts, a LOT of places not to use duct tape, and one of them is any situation involving heat. Or ducts, for that matter. But another is any place that you need a real, permanent solution. (stress on the word need. If you need a permanent fix on something in the home, fix it right the first time. But the best use i've recommended it for on a short term basis is rodent control- in the sense that is someone before you got to the building left gaping holes next to the pipes, cover them with duct tape until i can get to them. We have well-sealed hardwood floors, the glue will come off when we're done, and i can't be everywhere at once. If they can't find a way in- and the least folks can do is close off the obvious- i buy time to get to the store and get supplies.
(and for that crack about women and wingnuts, well, may you end up making a comment like that at 4 in the morning by the side of the road when a female mechanic is your only hope... )
"I'd say 'Have a good time,' but arson is still illegal.
3M has recently come out with Transparent Duct Tape. I haven't repaired anything with it yet, but it looks and feels like a big roll of medical tape.
This stuff is better than Transparent Aluminum!
Here's a link to 3M's website: http://www.3m.com/us/office/scotch/transducttape/
Miniature?
Coghlan's, a Canadian camping supply company, has been including a 12 inch folded strip of duct tape on a removable backing in their Survival Kit in a Can since before he applied for his patent.
I found that my army values card was adept in bypassing office door locks in most military buildings. (just flexable enough to slide around the jam, but stiff enough to push in the nub that held it shut)
I used to have a cool sig, back when I cared
Is it Duct or Duck?
We don't want you to be confused, so we will explain. The first name for Duct Tape was DUCK. During World War II the U.S. Military needed a waterproof tape to keep the moisture out of ammunition cases. So, they enlisted the Johnson and Johnson Permacel Division to manufacture the tape. Because it was waterproof, everyone referred to it as "duck" tape (like water off a duck's back). Military personnel discovered that the tape was good for lots more than keeping out water. They used it for Jeep repair, fixing stuff on their guns, strapping equipment to their clothing... the list is endless.
After the War, the housing industry was booming and someone discovered that the tape was great for joining the heating and air conditioning duct work. So, the color was changed from army green to the silvery color we are familiar with today and people started to refer to it as "duct tape*." Therefore, either name is appropriate.
Today, Duck® brand Tape is manufactured by Henkel Consumer Adhesives. After thoroughly familiarizing ourselves with the hundreds of duct tapes on the market, we have found Duck® brand Tape to be the most consistent in quality. And, we are delighted with the large array of colors that they manufacture (including camo tape and new "X-Treme Tape" which comes in hot day-glo colors).
http://www.duckproducts.com/
...is that the geeks carry duck/duct tape in their wallets, and the swingers carry a condom.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Manco had been selling this idea for years! and you get 3yd instead of 18".
a tid=1&subid=1&plid=8
http://www.duckproducts.com/products/detail.asp?c
as far as i can tell, this guy is just jumping on the bandwagon of patenting anything even if they didn't invent it.
I tend to have a roll of duct tape handy where ever I am. I have a roll that I generally keep in my truck, and often in my backpack. If I go camping, I might as well bring a roll or bring no tape at all. If I'm anywhere else (ie: the city), I couldn't imagine being more than 5 minutes from a roll of tape - because I've got a roll at home, in my truck, or in my backpack (which comes everywhere with me.) Except maybe an airplane... I was going through security once, and they wouldn't let me take my roll on the plane - it can be used as a restraining device. I asked them if they wanted my shoe laces too.
"...a radiator leak on Highway 80 heading out to Moline..."
He should have a roll of tape in his trunk to begin with.
"...presentations where I needed to put something on a wall."
Briefcase or backpack. A roll of tape is just another piece of equipment you should be toting around with the rest of your presentation materials and hardware.
Really, for the price, it's a waste of money. If you really want to carry miniscule amounts of tape around then buy a roll and put a few strips on some wax paper.
-kidlinux.
It was stretchy, self-sealing, could form sterility-preserving seals. It was acid/base/alcohol/corrosive-resistant, we used it to wrap bottletops before placing them in the autoclave, and god knows how hot it got in there. Heck, we used it to seal unfinished beers.
I actually took to carrying around a few sheets of it with me everywhere, and I undoubtedly found uses for them. I took a few sheets with me to summer camp, and on the night of the big bonfire, the bigger (and less geeky) children swooped down upon the field and managed to snag all of the long sticks for marshmallow-toasting. After 20 minutes of scavenging, all I could find were a small pile of 6-inch-ish twigs. Parafilm to the rescue! I bound these twigs together into a trifurcated, flame-resistant monstrosity that noone could argue with. Sadly enough, my popularity was not much improved by this feat.
Appreciating the merits of duct tape may have been a clever observation once (e.g. in the 70's, it wasn't carried in all hardware stores, much less every retail store, pharmacy and gas station) but now it's cliche - the stuff of stand-up comedy routines that *everyone* understands, even if they are completely 'tape incompetent' (We've all seen it). I see a wide array of uselessly cheap shiny grey plastic (or even paper) so-called duct tapes, because manufacturers know that most people are aware of its reputation, but not its properties and use, and will buy anything that looks similar.
Too many of the posts sound like "Level 1 geek wannabes" Top quality gaffer tape (for example) may run up to $20 a roll, but it's still pennies per job and it'll handle jobs the plastic stuff won't (including things you wouldn't expect - it's often better for sealing leaks than duct tape, which studies have shown to be the worst option for sealing ducts) I carry top notch gaffer tape in my house and car, not duct tape. I also keep countless other plastic tapes (packing tapes, stranded tapes, etc.) that have greater strength and other properties. Nowadays 'moving' and packing supplies are widely stocked.
Every geek should be able to improvise, true, but they should also have a fine understanding of the fine points of common tapes. It's the difference between success and failure for those who actually improvise instead of imagining doing it. 95% of the time, a top quality gaffer tape will beat the pacts off duct tape, but the guy in the article knows the duct tape mystique will sell where genuine gaffer tape quality won't.
The one true advantage of duct tape is that it is somewhat more widely available, in the stores and in your friend's closets. In the 70s, masking tape was everywhere and the duct tape crowd knew masking tape would quickly fail, if it worked at all, for most jobs where duct tape works great- but geek-wannabes and kids used masking tape for every job, and considered themselves clever. A slight edge in availability does not make it any better or less ignorant a default choice. Today, duct tape occupies the place in the market that masking tape once did: a passable cure-all for those who don't know better options exist or can't be bothered to think ahead and stock them.
I carry about a 25 cm of duct tape in my wallet, wrapped around my credit card. Besides being useful in the case of an automotive hose burst or embarrassing pants-split (on the inside of the fabric, dum dum), it also discourages me from using my credit card. Which is a good thing.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
... carrying it around in your wallet won't destroy it. That's gotta be worth something.
Freedom: "I won't!"
Real professionals [like myself] always use plumbing strap. No residue, not sticky, holds in high heat, stays strong forever, and no smell.
It also looks much more attractive than duct tape. I should know: in our VERY professional office, we have it holding the telephone to the wall, the chandelier in the meeting room from crashing down (well, just on the side near the door -- the other side is strong enough), and reinforcing the customer's chair, which is right below the chandelier.
Oh, and did I tell you I work at the NEWEST branch of the US Government, the DHS? We got all the budget we wanted, and we chose plumbing strap. That should tell you something.
Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
He's wasting his time, you can already buy a pocket roll of duct tape in hardware stores. The last time I saw some it was in Staples. It's made by Duck brand duct tape and looks like this.
If he'd bothered to google for "pocket duct tape" he would have saved himself a lot of effort on his obsession.
First we miniaturize the duct tape, next we make it self-replicating. This is the nanotech we've been warned about. Picture the goo as it takes over, binding everything into one super-tough little gray ball.
When watching the Indy 500, I saw pit crews sealing up the (bent) cars with "200 mph racers tape".
Now what NASA needs is 600+ mph racers tape, for the shuttles.
Eastern Mountain Sports has been selling flat "rolls" of duct tape to the backpacking crowd for years.
Why does this biznatch think he is so special?
I also love how intently he looks as he peels this peice of tape of the backing.
You would think he's showing the world pocket cold fusion.
Expecially involving the transport of a pentium 1 on a bike. ;P
http://68.9.22.140:8080/datafox/COMPBIKE.JPG
Duh! Just goes to show the intelligence of Slashdot editors....
When I was doing serious caving exploration, I rolled waaay more than 18" of duct tape around a toothpick for emergencies. The roll was only 1" thick, so it took hardly any space in my cave pack (a cavers life support system underground).
It was a damn good thing I carried it too, because on one caving trip one of my heavy duty boots blew out at the sole about three difficult hours, and 200 vertical feet from the entrance. Of course, it had to fail in the front, so when I stepped, it dropped down about 7" to catch on any breakdown in the passage, making it extremely difficult to walk safely.
Hardcore caving is really rough on clothing and equipment, and my heavy duty leather hiking boots failed because the stiching was completely worn through from scuffing on the passage floor, and walls as I crawled through.
So I opened my cave pack and unrolled a whole bunch of my trusty duct tape and wrapped it around the front of my boot, and I was back in business. Duct tape is tough, but I still had to stop one more time before I got to the entrance and apply even more tape because the cave ate it up pretty fast.
I'll tell you, it saved my ass. Duct tape rules!
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
If you've used sliced bread for the above purposes, you'd know what I mean.
its sitting in my toolbox right now (my little electronics toolbox, doesn't have space for the whole roll). And yeah, 18"? What the hell can you do with that?
In a slightly related subject, I *used* to carry a duct tape wallet around in highschool (a dual fold with space for 6 credit cards), and even made about a dozen for friends and family. But nowadays I've switched to Manco's neon gaff tape. It holds up about 4x as long, doesn't get nearly as sticky, and its neon bright orange! I've also switched to a tri-fold model that holds 9+ credit cards.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
When I saw Macguyver use duct tapes to fix things and tie bad guys' hands, I said, "hey, that's pretty useful." Throughout jr. high and high school, I carried duct tape wrapped around a poker card in my wallet. And I used it, too, and had to refill now and then, and the pesky part was trying to figure out whether I wanted to empty out the card before refilling or just refill right over it. I can't believe some guy is gonna get a patent for commercializing such a simple idea.
So if you don't like the customer, you snip the strap, and then blammo! No more annoying customer.
I'm comforted knowing people at the DHS have a sense of humor.
there's way too much prior art out there. I'm pretty sure I saw this described in a military handbook available at www.therangerdigest.com/. (I don't remember which volume, but it's in there)
Do people often tell you that you are a cocky asshole?
Criminys. Somebody better tell Red Green (aka Steve Smith) about this. Assuming he makes another movie like 'Duct Tape Forever,', this would be a good addition to it.
;-)
Remember... Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati!
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
wd-40 is the only other thing that is nearly as useful as duct tape. I swear, w/ both of them you can fix anything.
I carry at least a couple feet of duct tape wrapped around a dowel rod that I cut to the appropriate length. Far more compact and convenient than what he's proposing, and very simple to rewrap from a full-sized roll. And besides, don't they already sell stuff like this at Wal-Mart? I coulda sworn I'd seen some overpriced short flat rolls of duct tape...
Former US House candidate, TN-5
While duct tape has it uses, I prefer this stuff, JB Weld, lightyears more useful. I have used it on everything from solar panels, to shoes, glasses, radiators and just about anything that needs to be stuck together.
Scienticians have done it again, providing us with a new adhesive material material that may one day rival duct tape's utility.
Apparently, a single glove covered in this stuff would suffice to suspend a person from the ceiling.
Girl (obviously blind or has some repressed hangup), "Ok! but did you bring protrection?"
Nerd Guy, "Oh... um, no... But just a second," *RRRIIIPPP!* "heh, I got the next best thing! Check it out!"
Girl, "Oh my!"
Nerd Guy, "See, it's even textured!"
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
...is that duct tape will be confiscated before you board a plane at an airport.
One more use you hadn't thought of: Cutting Edge Fashion.
There are some situations where heat shink tubing can't be used. If you're going to use electrical tape use something good like Scotch 33+.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
About as cosmic as I get...
best regards,
buck
As for how I found out the same thing about oil of wintergreen. . . must have read about it on slashdot. Obviously. Do I seem like the kind of pervert who. . .
Tech Public Policy stuff
Your mention of oil of wintergreen as a substance to avoid applying there sounds like something the brother of an ex of mine experienced.
My ex had discovered that just a teeny tiny dab of Flexall 454 on his hand for when he was performing "personal attentions" enhanced the experience. He shared this intelligence with his younger brother, who decided that if a little was good, more must be better.
I don't think that anyone who is familiar with the properties of menthol, and the sensitivity of certain male body parts, would be at all surprised at the scene that followed, which, I was assured, was legendary.
No lasting physical harm was done, but my ex's little brother was not in the least happy about the proceedings, and my ex has a cherished, if somewhat wince-inducing, example of his little brother's sheer cluelessness.
Screw making duck-tape smaller... Make a pocket for duck-tape rolls! Heck, make a carrying bag for duck-tape. Wear a gold neck chain and proudly display your roll. Heck, put a roll of toliet paper on there too. Get some plastic sheeting, and you're ready for anything!
The biggest trick the devil pulled was letting lawyers become politicians so they can write the laws.
I have always mourned the fact that a roll of duct tape is too large to fit into the pocket of my cargo pantss. I do keep a roll of electrical tape, but when what you need is duct tape, which is constantly, electrical tape is a poor substitute. I'm not the only one who has made this observation, but nobody had thought to put the duct tape onto a small foldable backing. This is a true innovation, that will benefit all of the engineers/Eagle Scouts/geeks like me out there.
This is absolutely news for nerds. I'd buy this stuff by the crate. Seriously.
The enemies of Democracy are