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."

Would they carry the duct tape...

In their duct tape wallet [rpi.edu]?

Re:Would they carry the duct tape...

I'm seriously surprised the editors didn't sneak in a shameless link to ThinkGeek's Duct Tape Wallet [thinkgeek.com], I mean talk about a perfect product tie-in story, geez.

Macguyver envy?

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.

don't knock the idea...

My old childhood hero MacGyver has defeated entire armies with just a swiss army knife and duct tape.

Wait a minute.

This guy wraps a business card with 18" of duct tape and got a patent?

I'm not sure what I'm more speechless about. That this guy got a patent, or that this made Slashdot.

Re:Wait a minute.

He hasn't officially gotten it yet. It's patent pending.

Re:Wait a minute.

No it's not. He'll get the patent. Nobody doesn't get a patent. "Patent pending" just means "waiting for the rubber stamp." As long as you pay the filing fee, you'll get the patent. Even if it an unpatentable type of creation, even if it's already been done, even if it's already been patented, and even if it violates the laws of thermodynamics. The patent office will take the money, hand out a patent, and let the federal courts handle the lawsuits that result. If a court throws out a patent, the patent office doesn't have to give the money back. Everyone wins except those not in the government.

Re:Wait a minute.

what's so suprising?

This is a pretty interesting story (what geek doesn't splooge for duct tape?)
This is new news... I haven't even read it before
The summary was pretty well written without typos
People seem to be reading the article before posting... i'ts just another day at slashdot

wait...

Duct Tape

"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

Re:Duct Tape

Carl Zwanzig

Very cool idea, but WAYY too expensive...

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.

Re:Duct tape is like industrial 'skin'.

I gets used as actual human skin as a matter of fact.

If you ever watch a 100K marathon, you'll see that, by 1/4 through, just about everyone has duct tape covering their feet. This is due to the blisters that have formed on their feet after rubbing against their shoes for so long.

Yes, duct tape is a quick, strong, and painless skin graft.

while being quite geeky...

...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.)

Re:while being quite geeky...

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...?

No, but it sounds like you need a new car.

I was really, really, really, geeky.

In the 9th grade, some many long-n-odd years ago, I started working at a molecular biology laboratory, as a lab-tech. There, I met Parafilm [parafilm.com], and fell in love. It was like thick, translucent Saran Wrap [dow.com], but so much more bad-ass (as far as a geek like myself could perceive bad-ass-ness).

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.

I think he'll do better if

He markets this as a condom repair kit.

If you can't duck it, f..k it.

Duct tape --- of course!

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? :-)

Re:Duct tape --- of course!

Actually because of the kind of glue used as an adhesive in most duct tape it isn't very good for sealing ducts. The glue degrades in the presence of heat and moisture, both of which are in abundance in a most ducting situations. Instead a flexible plastic hose with metal ring clamps should be used.

Mind Boggling, really...

This is simultaneously both the most pointless and the coolest post ever to be on the front page.

If the women don't find you handsome,

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*

Now all we need is some miniature plastic sheeting

So if the terrorists attack when you're on the go, you can simply duct-tape yourself into the nearest phone booth.

-a

for thos unexpected biological attacks..

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

As a handyman, you only need two tools.

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?

not (intentionally) to be cynical

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.

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...

Useful things for the interstellar hitchhiker

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 :)

Homemade instructions

If you want to carry duct tape with you everywhere...

• Take an ordinary roll of duct tape. As you will observe, it is too large and round to conviniently fit in a pocket or similar. Take a small knife and carve a ring around the inside, putting maybe half an inch outside it. Don't cut all the way around; just pry apart the adjacent layers and pull.
• In order to do this, you will need to break the inner cardboard. This can be done by brute force.
• Pull the outer shell off the inner. Cut the single layer of duct tape that still attatches them.
• Squash the outer ring so that it is linear, with 180 degree folds.
• Stick it in your pocket, or wherever
• profit?

If anyone claims a patent on this, I've got witnesses that I've been doing this for years.

First Duck Tape... Then the Internet...

Another fine offshoot product of the US military.

Thanks for the Duck Tape Uncle Sam! [ideafinder.com]

Am I the only one?

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.

Duct tape can be very useful

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*

hmm

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?

The origin of Duck (Duct) Tape

At one time I was misled by the term "Duct" tape. The original name is "Duck: tape, and the orignal purpose and manufacture I heard on the radio awhile back and is repeated here: Duct vs. Duck [octanecreative.com]

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.

Transparent Duct Tape

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! [slashdot.org]
Here's a link to 3M's website: http://www.3m.com/us/office/scotch/transducttape/ [3m.com]

The difference between Geeks and Swingers...

...is that the geeks carry duck/duct tape in their wallets, and the swingers carry a condom.

why not just carry a roll?

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.

I am HORRIFIED! You call yourselves'geeks'?

Look, I've loved duct tape since I first encountered the stuff in 2nd grade (my folks are not what you'd call 'handy'), but by age 12, I realized it was just a cheap widely available common denominator for many types of tape with better properties. It's usually not even the best common denominator. The best cloth gaffer tapes are stronger, more durable, tear more neatly, mold better, have better/longer lasting adhesive, and clean up with much less residue.

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 [consumerenergycenter.org]) 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.

Already got some, thanbks...

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.

Forget duct tape what is needed is racer's tape

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.