Got Tape?????

The Results Are In .... Duck Tape Is Best Tool EVER!
from Forbes.com



Models use it to create cleavage. Sled-dog drivers use it to prevent frostbite. Athletes use it to support weak joints. Veterinarians use it to repair horses' hooves.
What's this wonder tool? Duct tape.
When Forbes.com compiled its list of the 20 most important tools of all time, we asked a panel of scientists, historians and engineers to look at the devices that have most impacted human civilization and shaped the course of history. The final list highlighted tools that have been around for ages: the knife, the abacus, the compass. But critics soon started raising objections. What about duct tape, the sticky silver stuff that can do just about anything?
Stuck on duct tape? Click here to see some of its many amazing uses.
"It's the ultimate power tool," says Tim Nyberg, a graphic designer from Minnesota, who, along with his brother-in-law Jim Berg, has sold nearly 3 million books and calendars as The Duct Tape Guys. "It's so strong people have used it to pull cars out of ditches, yet you can rip it with your bare hands."
Origins of The "Duck"
And while arguments like this didn't cause us to revise the list, they did push us to take a closer look at this 20th century marvel. Invented in the early 1940s by scientists at Permacell, a division of the Johnson and Johnson (nyse: JNJ - news - people ) Company, duct tape was built to fill the need for a strong, flexible, durable tape that could help the war effort, according to Avon, Ohio-based Henkel Consumer Adhesives, one of the world's largest makers of the stuff. Early versions consisted of medical tape laminated to a cloth backing, covered with polycoat adhesives and a polyethylene coating. It was colored Army green and nicknamed "Duck Tape" because it repelled water.
After the war was over, civilians started using the tape in construction, typically to hold metal air ducts together. So it was changed to a matching gray color and renamed "duct tape."
But consumers soon discovered the tool had applications far beyond heating and air conditioning. Duct tape's many positive attributes quickly made it one of the most-used items in any toolbox. Why?
It's easy, says Nyberg. "It's the quick fix. Whack on some duct tape and you're done." It's versatile. "It comes with no directions and no expectations as to how to use it." And, he says, it's simple. "Name any other tool that is totally self contained. With hammers you need nails, screw drivers you need screws."
Today, duct tape is a must-have tool. In 2005, Henkel sold enough of its "Duck Brand" duct tape to wrap around the Earth nearly 20 times. The company sells the tape in 19 colors and patterns, including clear, purple, pink, lime and two patterns of camouflage. Other companies selling similar tape include 3M (nyse: MMM - news - people ), Avery Dennison and Intertape Polymer Group (nyse: ITP - news - people ).
This Tape Can Save Your Life
The versatility of the product means it has taken a few star turns. Most memorable: Astronauts on Apollo 13 used duct tape to help put together air scrubbers to keep themselves alive. And in February 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advised Americans to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting so that they could seal their homes in the event of a chemical or biological attack. Hardware stores around the country reported a run on the product. Critics said the advice was silly, and after days of being mocked on talk shows and around water coolers, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge withdrew the advice.
Still, other uses persist. Online, you'll find directions created by devotees that allow you to make bags, wallets and clothing. For six years, Henkel has sponsored a contest that encourages students to wear duct tape formal wear to their proms. Nearly 2,000 couples have entered for a chance at $6,000 in scholarships.
It even cures warts. In 2002, doctors at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington treated a group of patients by having them apply small duct tape patches every day; the warts disappeared in 85% of those treated, making the therapy far more effective than freezing with liquid nitrogen, the standard treatment. The medical applications don???t stop there. Duct tape is widely used for first aid as a sort of temporary suture. The tape effectively closes up wounds until proper treatment can be found --although it's not fun when you have to pull the stuff off your skin. Some emergency medical technician handbooks even describe how to use duct tape to close up sucking chest wounds like gunshots.
Duct tape can save your life in other ways, too. In April of 2000, a man named Gemini Wink was hiking through the swamps near Tampa, Florida, looking to take pictures of alligators. As night fell, he realized he was lost, and decided to climb a tree to avoid being eaten. But he was afraid of falling asleep and dropping into the gator-filled water, so he duct taped himself to a branch. The night passed safely and he was found by sheriff's deputies the following morning.
Of course, for all its versatility, perhaps the most interesting thing about duct tape is also the most ironic: It's lousy for use on ducts.
In 1998, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory physicists Max Sherman and Lain Walker tested a variety of sealing materials on sheet metal ducting, then heated and cooled the ducts to simulate the aging process. They soon found that duct tape leaked air so badly much of the cooling and heating was wasted--and that the tape frequently shrunk, dried up or separated.
"It failed reliably and often quite catastrophically," said Sherman. "And nothing else except duct tape failed."
Stuck on duct tape? Click here to see some of its many amazing uses.