Duct Tapes anyone?

I make a miniature roll of duct tape by wrapping about 10 feet around a piece of paracord. I leave about 6-8 inches of the paracord off one end so I can tie it to my back pack. I also keep one tied to my computer bag.

Ric
 
I use dozens of rolls a year in my work. Quality of the adhesive and backings vary widely. Some adhesives are thin and some thick. Some turn to goo when hot and some harden and become brittle like stone when cold. Each has it's preferred application. For the most demanding work, I use mil-spec duct tape and for casual short term use where strength is not essential and it needs to be removed soon and not a lot of heat is present, I use discount brands. Duct tape and bailing wire (now called "tie wire" as it is used to tie steel rebar concrete renforcement) will fix a lot of things temporarily.
 
I just spent a week in Coloardo. Used Duct tape to mark our gear, fix a tent pole & I saw one of our river guides patch a raft with it.:eek:
 
LG&M said:
I just spent a week in Coloardo. Used Duct tape to mark our gear, fix a tent pole & I saw one of our river guides patch a raft with it.:eek:
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It will make a great temp repair on a leaky plastic, aluminum or fiberglass canoe.
 
I roll it around a cotter key. same principle as the paracord, but more substantial of a core, to roll on & off of, and readily snaps into a carabiner.
 
I keep some rolled around a credit card in my hiking pack, all my packs actually. Awhile back my wife and I were hiking back from Abrams Falls in the Smokeys when we encountered a fellow hiker who's boot had separated. He had tried to rig it by wrapping the laces around the sole to hold it together till he got back to his vehicle with poor results. I mentioned that I had some duct tape and asked if he might like to try it. I thought he was going to hug me. He made a few wraps around the boot and sole and off he went, almost as good as new.
 
It makes a good fire tender as well as keeping fine tender from scattering while you beat it with your knife and fire starter.
 
I just remembered on the same trip I used it when my hatchet cut through it's sheath. Think I will make a kydex liner.
 
I always thought that every cloud had a silver lining, then I discovered it was duct tape.

Ric
 
I've had this stuff on my wishlist @ a big online company for awhile, and I thought I'd look at my local walmart tonight for it, and lo & behold! They had it in stock. I haven't tried out it's stickiness yet, but I did get a glow shot with a 3 sec charge from my fenix pd20. Think it might replace my current roll in my pack. however, at $5.77 for 10 yards, it's by far the most expensive duct tape I've ever bought!
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The best stuff that I've ever used for repairs on my outdoor gear is Gaffa Tape made by BCB Int. I think it's marketed by Proforce. That's how they spell it, not gaffer.
 
I'm thinking of stocking some Gorillas tape. How does the duck tape fare in this?

$5.77 for 10 yards !
 
Duct tape comparison

I use Gorilla tape when I need the adhesion, but I still use Duck brand a lot because it's often good enough at half the price. Besides, it comes in colors.

I use the 1" wide Gorilla tape more than the 2".
 
Something else worth looking at is sailmakers tape. I think it's used to repair sails (duh!), and maybe putting numbers etc on sails. I use duct tape for general repairs, but if I need to fix something that needs to remain flexible, I keep a little sailmakers tape in my fixit kit. I repaired one of my sleeping bags about 5-6 years ago, and it's still holding together. I patched the elbow of one of my favourite jackets about a year ago, and it's doing well despite being in use constantly.
 
Duct tape comes in many forms, and so many people seem unaware of how nice some brands are, and how crappy others are. Scotch/3M is the worst. Shurtape makes some that's awful and some that's nice, making them risky. Duck brand is all decent.

My personal favorite, after using hundreds of rolls of the stuff to fabricate everything from blackjacks to medieval armor, is Nashua. Home Depot and Costco both stock various types of it. Costco seems to have started selling the really high quality 60 yard rolls with the 12 mil thick adhesive (Gorilla tape is 13, so Nashua comes very close. Stuff like 3M is 8-9.) It's by far the toughest and longest lasting stuff I've used, and it's a lot easier to work with. Some tapes try to curl up and get stuck together when unrolled, but Nashua won't. It also splits into thinner strips of tape without shredding or coming apart.

Generally though, any duct tape that claims a adhesive thickness of 11 mils or higher is gonna be quality.
 
As I said, it comes from a large group of manufacturers for a wide variety of applications. The "best" (strongest, most waterproof, greatest tensil strength) is Polykin 231 military grade. It meets or exceeds ASTM D 5486, US Military - Mil Spec PPP-T-60E, Type IV, Class I. It is a polyethelyne coated cloth backing with a rubber adhesive and comes in two or three inch wide rolls, olive or black. 50# inch tensile strength, 95 ounce inch adhesion to steel. but for most uses, it is overkill. There are times when the cheap stuff from a discount store will do.
 
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