101 Uses for Duck Tape

[nsherry61]

Have you successfully used duck tape in a creative way to solve a problem while camping or backpacking. Please post and share your inspiration. Videos and photographs are encouraged.

Maybe we can categories our duck tape inspirations by those things we have heard or thought about that sound great - "ideas", and those things we have actually tried - "tried".

Tried:
I made a great shoulder strap mounted cell phone case with duck tape that worked well until I bought a new and larger cell phone. Haven't remade a new one yet. I'll try and find the old one and take pictures.

I also made a shoulder strap map tube with duct tape using a toilet paper tube as a sort of mold. I holds rolled up maps for easy access on my shoulder strap. I'll also try to find or take some pictures it to post.

I've used duck tape many times for repairing ripped gear, but because the glue tends to soften and/or release over time, I generally remove the duck tape at my earliest opportunity and replace it with some of Gear Aid's Tenacious Tape (https://www.mcnett.com/gearaid/tenacious-tape#10691) which totally rocks and lasts amazingly well.

I've used duck tape in conjunction with a snow stake and a guy-line to repair a broken ski pole on a multi-day, back-country ski trip. It worked well.

I've used duck tape on my feet to cover blisters. It sorta works for me but not well. The glue along the edges sticks to other things like my socks and/or an adjacent toe and creates more problems. It also doesn't breath, so the skin under the tape gets sweaty and often doesn't hold onto the tape very well. I've had great success with climber's tape (just like athletic tape only a bit stickier) as blister preventative, blister first aid, and general first-aid tape.

Ideas:
I've heard duct tape can work well as guy-line and/or shoe laces. Never tried it. Anyone else?

[chknfngrs]

'cept it's called duct tape.

[jeffmeh]

Had a sole separate from the upper on a Vasque boot while hiking in the Whites. A bunch of wraps of duct tape kept it together long enough to complete the hike that day and the next.

[nsherry61]

'cept it's called duct tape.
Yeah, that's a common misconception. Better do your homework.

It is commonly referred to as both duct and duck tape. It's origin is apparently NOT taping ducts.
I chose to use duck. Maybe it would have been more PC to alternate duct and duck. Oh well.

I'm happy with creative insights using either name.

[nsherry61]

FYI: According the Wikipedia . . . Their new unnamed product was made of thin cotton duck tape coated in waterproof polyethylene (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene) (plastic) with a layer of rubber-based gray adhesive ("Polycoat") bonded to one side. It was easy to apply and remove, and was soon adapted to repair military equipment quickly, including vehicles and weapons. This tape, colored in army-standard matte olive drab (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_(color)#Olive_drab), was nicknamed "duck tape" by the soldiers.Various theories have been put forward for the nickname, including the descendant relation to cotton duck fabric, the waterproof characteristics of a duck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck) bird, and even the 1942 amphibious military vehicle DUKW (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DUKW) which was pronounced "duck".After the war, the duck tape product was sold in hardware stores for household repairs. The Melvin A. Anderson Company of Cleveland, Ohio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland,_Ohio), acquired the rights to the tape in 1950. It was commonly used in construction to wrap air ducts. Following this application, the name "duct tape" came into use in the 1950s, along with tape products that were colored silvery gray like tin ductwork.

[10-K]

Used a piece to patch a pinhole in a Nalgene canteen - still holding a few years later. Tenacious Tape is way better.

[chknfngrs]

No worries! Just pokin' holes in your tape.

[Dan Roper]

Years ago, a young man asked to borrow my Jansport external frame pack. By then, I'd been using that pack for about eight years and loved it very much. I generously but imprudently allowed him to use that pack (never let somebody borrow your pack!). He broke it, where the left shoulder strap attached to the lower side of the pack. He used a liberal amount of duct tape to effect a repair. And I continued to use that pack (without a single adjustment to his fix) until the other strap broke this summer just north of Vandeventer Shelter. That taught me the power of duct tape.

(P.S. I found a mint condition replacement pack on eBay a month ago. I now have replaced my beloved Jansport external frame pack.)

[MtDoraDave]

I have never heard of tenacious tape. How does it compare to Gorilla tape? That stuff is crazy.
.
What's strange - I have used plenty of duct tape over the years, but I can't think of a single clever use...

[nsherry61]

I have never heard of tenacious tape. How does it compare to Gorilla tape? That stuff is crazy. . .
Gorilla tape is like thick heavy extra-sticky duck (duct) tape.

Tenacious tape is very thin very tough plastic that comes as a film on backing paper. The glue is thinner and stickier than duct (duck) tape glue. The plastic stays flexible for several years and the glue holds for several years even with every day use and regular launderings.

Tenacious tape doesn't have the fabric in it like duct tape, so I wouldn't try to do things structural with it, but it's fantastic for fabric repair/patching. They may now make fabric backed tenacious tape for more color and texture matching repairs. I'm not sure about that. I always just use the clear plastic Tenacious tape.

[Maui Rhino]

On a hike this summer, I managed to get a pinhole in my hydration bladder very close to the seam. I used a small piece of tenacious tape to cover it... Not a drop leaked for the rest of the week! Great stuff!

[nsherry61]

Here's an article from AppalachianTrials (http://appalachiantrials.com/8-best-uses-duct-tape-backpacking/) about uses for duct tape.

[nsherry61]

Here's a video from Backpacker Magazine (http://www.backpacker.com/view/videos/skills-videos/10-ways-use-duct-tape/) about using duct tape.

[Bronk]

The most ingenious thing I've done with duct tape is when I realized that I was carrying way too much weight and that a full roll of duct tape just wasn't necessary. At the next shelter I wrapped most of it around the broom handle...I figured I would get rid of some weight, nobody would care if the broom handle had tape on it, and later if somebody were in a bind they could take the tape off and use it.

[Maydog]

I have a 3 ft piece of duck tape wrapped around a 3 in piece of tongue depressor that I keep in my first aid kit. The tape can be used to hold a splint in place, to help close a bleeding wound, repair gear, etc. The tongue depressor could be used as a finger splint.

[eabyrd1506]

Not to Hijack the thread but Bronk and Maydog above got me wondering; How do you carry your duc(k/t) tape / Tenacious Tape with you?

[phicker]

I put my duck tape around my trekking poles and replace it once a year or it sticks together. But one question I have will Tenacious tape stick to Silnylon duck tape will not stick?

[MuddyWaters]

Crushed a beer can pot
Un-crushing it cracked the al on crease below waterline
Taped it.
Tape held for 2 weeks
Baked on firmly

[nsherry61]

Tenacious tape is backed with release paper, so I just carry a length of it along with lengths of my athletic tape and duct tape that I cut into about 8" sections and attach to recycled release paper. Then I carry all my tape strips flat in a plastic bag with other repair and first-aid supplies. I've quit carrying my duct tape in roles or rolled onto other gear because it's harder to work with pulling off of roles and it doesn't stay in as good a shape as it does on release paper and I pretty much never need pieces longer than 8 inches. I generally carry 2-4, 8" pieces of duct tape. I always worry I'll be sorry I don't have a 3' piece of duct tape, but, I never used that much when I carried it, so I quit.

[Dogwood]

Yup, its called duct or duck tape. Just like that utility knife is called a sheetrock knife, stanley knife,...

With both duct and duck tape wrapping it around a aluminum SIGG or plastic Gatorade bottle onto itself if it gets left there through wide temp swings(I think it's the temps?) the tapes mesh adhesive layer can separate from the rest of the tape leaving tape that is no longer tape but a strip of top material without adhesive that stretches and a gooey gummed up other layer with mesh strings still attached to the rest of the unpeeled tape on the bottle. Maybe you have the solution to prevent this with the release tape. :-?

[Bronk]

I believe that "duct" is the type of tape and "Duck Tape" is a brand name.

[Sarcasm the elf]

It is correctly called Ducked tape due to how well the roll can be thrown at the guy who's screwing around in the shop. :D

[greensleep]

Try Googling "The Red Green Show", for the true duct tape connoisseur.

[rocketsocks]

Snoring hiking partner, remove if they turn blue.

[H I T C H]

I use duct tape or electrical tape to keep the diameter of my cord uniform after cutting it.

-Wrap tape around the cord where you wish to cut it.
- Cut through the cord in the center of the tape.
-Sear the end of the cord with the tape still in place.
-Remove any 'mushrooming' by trimming with your knife.
-Remove the tape.
-Repeat for the other cut end of the cord.

You should now have a cord with a sealed end that is the same diameter as the cord and not a huge glob of melted gunk

[theinfamousj]

I have the good fortune of having a friend who is a formulation chemist for an adhesives company. I bring strips of various tapes attached to silicone release paper. I also have some duckt tape (see, I solved it for everyone! :P) wrapped around a faux credit card that was sent in some junk mail.

I use Leukotape on hot spots and other skin stuff. I use 3M micropore tape to hold on small gauze pads. I use tenacious tape and and other gear repair tapes to repair gear. I use KT tape to reinforce my tendons against tendinitis. And I have used duckt tape to put together a splintered tent pole segment.

Nothing terribly creative yet. But I will keep everyone informed of that changes.

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[swisscross]

Glow in the dark ductk tape works great on discs for glow rounds....but better than glow discs.