Duct Tape: Don't Leave Home Without It

If you are a DIY kind of person who likes to take shortcuts, using duct tape may be a daily occurrence. You may never leave home without it and particularly count on it when you are camping. In fact, you may believe you can use it to fix about anything. Duct tape is one of the handier tools to have at your disposal.

General Uses

Duct tape is seldom a good permanent solution, but it makes an excellent emergency fix. For instance, if you have a leaking pipe under a sink, you may be able to use duct tape to stop or slow the dripping flow until a plumber can arrive. If your favorite sneakers are falling apart, you can use duct tape to hold them together until you get around to buying a new pair. Clear duct tape makes a good DIY laminate for your social security card or another document that you want to protect. If you live in an area that is prone to serious wind storms, you can use duct tape to make an X over your window glass. Your windows will be less likely to break if you do, and if they do break, they will come away in bigger pieces instead of shattering. Some people have even constructed prom and wedding dresses out of duct tape.  In short, the uses of duct tape are mostly limited by your imagination.

Camping

If you are going camping, you should never leave home without several rolls of duct tape. If your tent springs a leak, you can use duct tape inside and outside on the tent material for a quick repair. If your support poles start to bend, you can use the tape to bind sticks around the weak spots. Buying brightly colored duct tape can make things visible in the dark for those times you have to leave the tent at night. You can also use duct tape to repair weak spots in fraying rope. When you are packing a survival kit, duct tape is an essential item to include.

Duct tape is one of the items that has made daily life easier. It is the go-to material when something needs a quick and secure "patch." Unfortunately, people do get carried away with duct tape and try to make it do the impossible or improbable. Obviously, the strength of duct tape is limited, so you shouldn't try to use it to attach a car bumper or to fix anything subjected to a heavy weight. However, duct tape is almost a miracle material and can hold many things together in a pinch. You would be wise to carry some with you wherever you go. For more information, contact companies like Urban Preparedness.