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Stuck on you
Its hard to find someone who doesnt appreciate duct tape
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Drew Brock holds his grandfather’s duct tape-covered wallet, which he has cherished since it was given to him at his grandfather’s funeral. - photo by Tom Reed

What is it about duct tape?

It can close up boxes, keep diapers tightly fastened and remove warts. It can keep handles from falling off, pants from ripping and car bumpers from falling off.

The possibilities, it seems, are only limited by your imagination. The only exception, it seems, is fixing actual heating ducts.

"It usually comes loose. It’s not as good as the metal duct tape, in my opinion, said general contractor Rick Lovell of Gainesville. "We usually carry the metal tape around (for duct work). Duct tape does pretty good in a lot of applications, but it’s not really made for that."

But that doesn’t stop homeowners from owning at least one to two rolls of duct tape, according to market research done by the Henkel Co., which produces Duck brand duct tape.

Bethany Schmotzer, product manager for Henkel Co., said many people can find at least one roll in their house at any given time. "And it’s cool because it’s not really a guy product," she said. "Everyone can use it, young and old. You don’t have to figure it out, you don’t need anything else with it, you don’t need scissors.

"It’s kind of become an American icon, like apple pie."

Today, you can find duct tape in about two dozen colors, including neon and camouflage green made by the Duck brand, as well as green and red plaid available through L.L. Bean. It’s come a long way from the original Army-issue green it was originally made in, as a product used by the military during World War II.

The original purpose for duct tape, said Schmotzer, was an all-purpose adhesive to be used on airplanes.

"They needed something that would be durable enough in World War II," she said, adding that duct tape comprises three layers: An adhesive layer, a cloth layer and a plastic layer made of Polyethelyne.

"They found out it was waterproof and kind of reminded them of a duck," she said. And while it was first called duck tape because of this waterproof quality, the name changed to duct tape during the housing boom following the war, according to Ducttapeguys.com. That’s when the color of the tape changed from green to silver and its use in the home became more widespread.

Tim Nyberg, who, along with his brother-in-law Jim Berg, runs Ducttapeguys.com and performs a duct tape comedy routine at home shows around the country, said duct tape and WD-40 are two tools nobody should be without.

"If it’s not stuck and it’s supposed to be, duct tape it. If it’s stuck and it’s not supposed to be, WD-40 it," said Nyberg, who has also written seven books on duct tape. "I firmly believe that there isn’t a soul out there who doesnt’ know someone who has used or abuses duct tape, if not themselves. I think it’s just kind of a common household item that everybody is familiar with.

"It definitely has a cult following."

Brett Farmer, 11, has gotten an early start in this fan club. His letter about his "redneck pumpkin" won him one of our duct tape prizes. His mother, Gaye, said duct tape is the first thing he’ll reach for if something’s broken.

"Every time we go through the line at Wal-Mart, if he sees a roll of duct tape he says, ‘Mom, can I have a roll of duct tape?’ And I say, ‘You’ve got 14 of them at home!’"

Recently he’s been duct taping toothpicks to the front of his toy tractor to make a fork, she said.

And that’s the appeal of the tool, said Tips, Tools and Tricks columnist Tim Thompson. Because you can use it for so many things, it holds an almost universal appeal.

"There are certain products that do so much more than what their original intent is, like WD-40, duct tape, foam pipe insulation, rubber shelf liner — these are just some of the products that you can do so many things with it, and everybody has a story where they use one of these things to do something unexpected," he said.

"The old story is, it’s not broken until the duct tape falls off," he added. "To me, that’s the appeal."

Schmotzer said her company gets constant calls and letters from customers relaying stories about how they used duct tape. Her favorite, however, was one man’s use of duct tape in the Florida Everglades.

"Somehow he got stuck down there and it was turning into nightfall and he had to climb into a tree (to escape roving alligators), but he didn’t want to fall out," she said. "So he duct taped himself into the tree so he wouldn’t fall out."

That’s the beauty of duct tape, Nyberg added.

Along with being inexpensive, he said, duct tape is "readily available, and comes with no directions. Which is good because it doesn’t limit your creativity."