Emergency Duct Tape

[workinwifdakids]

I cannot for the life of me find the link, but I believe someone on our fine forum linked to a survival forum thread about duct tape. The author recommended wrapping duct tape around a credit card to reduce size, weight, and bulk by getting rid of that thick inner cylinder.

I did just that today. I bought a roll of duct tape 1.88in x 10yd (or 48mm x 9,14m for you rascally Europeans) for 99 cents, and found an old casino reward card. My wife convinced me to roll the tape length-wise around the card, and it worked quite well. The total package has nearly the same width, length, and height as my Motorola RAZR cell phone. In other words, 2" wide x 4" long x 0.75" deep, and about 3.5 ounces.

I'll keep one in each car and one in my backpack, and I think it'll serve me well. I hope this is useful for some of you.

[mekender]

McGyver used to carry some like that in his back pocket

[Windy Wilson]

The author recommended wrapping duct tape around a credit card to reduce size, weight, and bulk by getting rid of that thick inner cylinder.

Did you put the entire 10 yards on the card?

I wonder if that would be better for our spendthrift neighbors than freezing the credit card in ice?

[Cybrludite]

I ran across that trick over at Zombie Squad, and carry a roll that way in my belt-pouch.

[workinwifdakids]

The author recommended wrapping duct tape around a credit card to reduce size, weight, and bulk by getting rid of that thick inner cylinder.

Did you put the entire 10 yards on the card?

I sure did. I was pretty amazed at how compact and lightweight it came out.

[eocoolj]

you sure you want 99 cent duck tape in your shtf pack? I've given up on cheap tape, since I had a bad experience with dollar store electrical tape that completely failed on the first 90 degree day. It came totally unwound off the wire I had it on. My guess is the used a really cheap adhesive. I promptly went out and bought the best electrical tape my hardware store had, and though it cost like 5 times as much, its worth it for tape that actually holds. I'm not sure how good or bad cheap duct tape is, but it would suck royally to have it fail when you need it most.

[Combat Controller]

I may have mentioned it, but I didn't invent the idea. I use the military surplus tape, or 100 mph if you can find it.

[Catbird]

Gaffer Tape

Pros:
As strong or stronger than quality duct tape
Doesn't leave residue
Doesn't lift paint when removed
Available in many colors

Cons:
Costs 3-5 times as much as duct tape
Difficult to find in retail stores (photo and theater supply stores mostly)

[HTRN]

I promptly went out and bought the best electrical tape my hardware store had, and though it cost like 5 times as much, its worth it for tape that actually holds.

Lemme guess - 3M?


HTRN

[Dedicated_Dad]

It's VERY easy to pull the cardboard core from inside the roll - then you have no card to carry. The card has to take up as much space and weight as a little bit of paper residue on the last inside wind...

??

DD