Best Tool Ever
The indispensable tool that works on everything... except ducts.
When I was in high school, my favorite teacher taught me my most important lesson: duct tape can be used to fix, mend, or build anything. The most important piece of kit I have in my radio producer's bag (after the microphone and the mini disk recorder) is duct tape. I can't even list the number of times it has saved me out in the field. I think the entire Baghdad bureau is constructed of it (although the duct tape you get in Iraq sucks).
Forbes.com recently ran a series on the 20 best tools ever. It's got the predictable ones: the knife, the abacus, the rifle... etc. But apparently once Forbes posted its favorites, critics clamored for duct tape. Among the amazing uses for duct tape they list:
"It even cures warts. In 2002, doctors at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., treated a group of patients by having them apply small duct tape patches every day; the warts disappeared in 85 percent 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."
Oddly enough they say that duct tape isn't any good for one thing... ducts. Fails all the time.
Duct Tape: Pesky Irish Dancers
Yeah, I run into those pesty Irish dancers all the time. I think the Lord of the Dance works in the next cubicle. So that's what he keeps in that fanny pack, huh? I was just wondering how creative the Red Hot Chili Peppers could be if asked to incorporate some duct tape into their act.
Duct Tape: Moleskin
I learned from a friend to use it in lieu of moleskin, when hiking or backpacking (to prevent blisters). To keep our pack weight down, we wrap the duct tape around our water bottles and use it as necessary throughout the trek.
Duct Tape: Split Seams
In 2001 my wife and I were on a bicycle tandem tour through the countryside of the South of France. As we carried all that we brought on our bike, we took a minimum amount of clothing. The second day out my brand new pair of bike shorts split at the rear seam creating an embarrasing situation. Duct tape provided the solution. Applied on the inside of the shorts, it was barely noticeable and not too uncomfortable. The duct tape held for four days until I found a tailor in one of the small villages to repair my shorts.
There is always room in your bike bag for duct tape. Never leave home without it.
Duct Tape: Big Toe
My daughter's pediatrician recommended duct tape for the large ugly wart on her big toe, after the usual methods to get rid of it failed. It worked as promised!
Duct Tape: Irish Dancers
Here is a use you many not know about: Irish dancers use duct tape on the soles of their shoes to keep from slipping while dancing. Check the dance bag of any Irish dancer and youll find one or two rolls of duct tape.
Duct Tape: Warts...
I'd heard of using duct tape to close up wounds temporarily, but warts..? That's a new one.
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