Mankind's Greatest Invention- Duct Tape

[packman]

It's been to the moon and back -

[northoftheborder]

1. Glad you spelled it with original usage!

I have been told it was originally invented to seal air conditioning ducts at the seams. Now it seems to be spelled Duck Tape, which doesn't make any sense!

Useless Factoid Day !

[Brother Buzz]

6. Wrong, wrong, wrong

It was invented during the second world war, and there were two reasons it call duck tape; it was made from cotton duck, and it was water resistant (repelled water like a duck's back).


It wasn't used to seal ducting until the housing boom following WW11, and duck tape is the worst thing to use to seal ducting. Caltech did a study that determined there was a 100% failure rate using duck tape to seal ducting in a few short years. One-hundred percent failure!

Today, engineered duct tape is a specialty item that is pretty expensive, but it doesn't fail over time.

[northoftheborder]

13. Thanks for correcting my mis-understanding of the history of this product!!! I was TOTALLY wrong!

[CincyDem]

2. Two laws of mechanical engineering.

If it moves and it shouldn’t. Get duct tape.
If it doesn’t move and it should. Get 3-in-one.

[mitch96]

7. The way I heard it was if you want it to stop use Duct tape if you want to make it go WD40 nt

[CincyDem]

10. haha - yeah. That's another good version. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. The two most important inventions are duct tape and WD-40.

If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. I just used duct tape to tape up my broken little toe.

[Brother Buzz]

8. Engineers totally get it

[2naSalit]

4. The tape or the car?

There's joke but I can't remember it right now..

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. Hey, you're not giving the bailing wire proper credit**

Not visible but it's holding the body to the frame........


** Representing the American Society of Bailing Wire Engineers.

[mitch96]

9. I was riding cross country and dropped my motorcycle in Spearfish SD. Broke the plastic mirror cover

and cracked a bit of the faring..Went to Walmart and got some red duct tape, JB Weld and did a parking lot repair.. Held up fine for the rest of the trip and when I got home I ordered the parts to make the repair..
As a little aside, years ago I met one of the engineer/chemists that worked on the WD40 formula. He told me WD40 stood for "Wet or Dry, 40th try"... I guess it stuck.... oh wait.. that's duck tape.
More trivia.. In Vietnam the helicopter mechanics had a HD version of duct tape they used on the shot up Huey's. If they did not have time to make a "proper" repair they got out the HELICOPTER tape.. Just a fancy more durable version of duct tape... Necessity is the mother of invention...
m

[CincyDem]

12. Helicopter Tape - reminds me of Magic Water.

Lived in London for a while and would go to local club rugby games. Guys would get hurt in the game and come rushing off the field to have someone pour some Magic Water on it before they ran back into the game. Magic Water was pretty much anything wet that didn't have alcohol in it. lol. Sometimes these guys would come running off with a torn up elbow or a broken finger, screaming for the Magic Water.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. The WD-40 Story Is In Error

The name comes from the search for an effective lubricant, especially in cases where water collection was involved.
The formulas were intended to be water insoluble, or sparingly soluble, with a density the same or higher than water. (Most oils are lower density.)
These formulas were intended to lubricate and displace water.
It was the 40th try, but the WD stands for Water Displacement.
They intended to call it WD, Formula 40. But, marketing staff got rid of "formula" and added the dash. It made for bigger font on the can.
What you were told is consistent with the intent of the development, but it was not for Wet or Dry.
Why do I know.
They've got a display with a history board in the lobby of their place in San Diego.
I was there helping development of a sanitizing carpet cleaner. Was at my company's site in SoCal, and West Coast Sales manager asked me to take a day to drive down there.
A pretty clean facility.

[mitch96]

26. We agree to disagree. I would tend to believe the engineere/chemist

that actually worked on the product. We all know "back in the shop" we call it what we want and the suits in the front office do the marketing...YMMV
m

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Hilarious!

As if I got my version from "the suits".
You should try your hand at stane-up!

[mitch96]

28. Ouch! feel better now........ nt

[mitch96]

31. Noticed how I used the conservative ploy of playing the victim

Then I used the kellyAnn Conway ploy of a pivot to change the narrative...
I'm learning
m

[sl8]

30. They must have given up on making it denser than water.

The company says that the specific gravity of WD-40 is 0.8 - 0.82.

https://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf/wd_40tec16952473.pdf

[ProfessorGAC]

32. I Know

Their history board said that, but I see it float on water.
Maybe it just worked like they wanted and decided it wasn't an important parameter.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. That was probably what's called speed tape - used for temporary aircraft repairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_tape

[LastDemocratInSC]

11. If we didn't have duct tape

Each episode of the "Red Green Show" would be only 12 minutes long.

[packman]

14. Loved that show

[LastDemocratInSC]

15. The "Mens' Prayer" at Possum Lodge:

I'm a man, but I change, if I have to, I guess.

[Kaleva]

16. Edgar Montrose. His solution to every problem was to blow it up with dynamite.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. LOL The Handyman's Secret Weapon!!!

haven't seen Red Green for a while.

[Wolf Frankula]

17. Duct Tape is the Force

It has a light side, a dark side and it holds the world together.

Wolf

[Totally Tunsie]

18. Wish I had duct tape when I blew through a hose in the engine of my

Chevy while driving up Stowe Mtn. a few years back. A search of the trunk turned up an Ace bandage that nicely wrapped the hose, got me home from VT to CT, and let me drive until I could get a garage appointment. The mechanic "lost it" when he opened the hood!

[Stuart G]

21. Please, Please & Please...NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF DUCT TAPE.....NEVER!!!!!

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Check Out This Dress

Scholarship contest for best fashion use of duct tape.
Saw this on WGN news, but here's a CNN link.
Quite impressive, and topical.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/duct-tape-dress-coronavirus-trnd/index.html

[Stuart G]

23. i would argue that the greatest invention of all time is...The Indoor Toliet...with plumbing!!!

Yes, you flush and it is gone...GONE, GONE, AND GONE...

where it goes..well does it matter??...what matters is.... GONE, GONE AND GONE...!!!!

(my opinion only...certainly not up to duct tape, but of a different class and kind of advancement...)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. I vote for the automatic ice maker.

[sarge43]

29. Duct tape and my beater

Had the left front fender crunched. Luckily the warranty was still in effect, so managed to get the Grey Ghost to the dealer. Mechanic took a look and said, "Better get some duct tape before that falls off." So he brings out a roll the size of a semi tire and wrapped the fender and hood in about 10 yards of tape.

"That ought to do it."

In my best Granitehead voice, "Ayup. Duct tape, it holds Nu Hampsha tagetha."

[Amy-Strange]

33. The greatest invention isn't duct tape, but...

-

all the stuff it's used to tape together, because after all, what's the use of having it, if there's nothing to tape?
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