What Manly Things Did You Do Today?

Built a swing for the girls out of 18 feet of rope and a 12" length of PVC. Used black foam pipe wrap for the cushion, spiral wrapped with yellow duck tape. It looks hazardous.

 

Good will. When I bought it; it still had it's original advertisement tags and the old price sticker said 49.99 clearance.

 

I like calling it "duck tape" too......AF-LAC

 

A little product history here; “Duck tape” is actually a brand name, inspired by its water resistance. It’s generic name, “duct tape” is inspired by its usefulness in ductwork.

 

Well, I guess I needed THAT. Thanks. I used to be in AOL chatrooms, where I'd say "duck tape" all the time, just to be silly..No one explained what it really is.

 

I remember a friend (whose use of English is not her best quality) got a bit confused and described it a “goose tape.”

 

Most people haven't handled real "Duct tape" that is for duct work. It's like heavy gauge aluminum with adhesive on it. Very shiny and very sticky and seals heating or cooling ducts without falling off due to change in temperature.

Where as Duck or Gaffers tape is great for MANY uses including instant / temporary repairs, bind things together (pipes and lumber), and sealing things (loss of a car window).

In construction work I use both.

 

I sometimes call it Poodle Tape or Chihuahua Tape, for the really yappy, nippy ones.

 

I have a roll left over from a few years ago when I rednecked another year out of a shot muffler. With extra reinforcement it held up fine.

 

Gaff tape is very different from duct tape. Mostly because gaff tape is matte textured, can be slightly stretchy, and is cloth based (and the adhesive comes off of things if you take it off reasonably quickly). Duct tape has adhesive from hell, is slick, and doesn't stretch at all.

I spent years in theatre - you use both, for different purposes. Lots of people have come up with reasons for it being called 'gaff' tape, but oddly enough, nobody seems to have looked at the oldest, most obvious one. A 'gaff' is a long pole - for fisherman, it had a big sharp hook. In theatre, it was also a long pole, used to reset lights and other things in the infrastructure above a shoot. I think the tape predates theatre, and is named more after the fisherman's tool - cloth wrapped around the handle to make it easier to grip. (A gaffer is either an old man in the UK, or (now) a chief lighting technician).

That reminds me, I've had a roll of yellow gaff tape waiting in my 'to buy' list for a while, I should do that. I need something better than electrical tape to put in my network wiring toolbox.

 

"Here. Hold my beer."

 

Hey, it's no worse than when I fixed a woman's tailpipe with a coat hanger so she could get home.

 

I had a 96 Forerunner, that all the tailpipe hangers failed ... I used the heavy zigzag wire from a chainlink fence. It out lasted the Forerunner.

 

Is * that * what the kids are calling it these days?

 

In my neck of the woods, duct tape is the handyman's secret weapon.

 

Handy women too!

 

Yup - that's why my wife married me, I suspect.

"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
"If it ain't broke, you're not trying"

And, of course.
Quando omni flunkus, moritati.

 

Put a starter on a ‘99 4Runner. The Hanes manual, that is usually very helpful, said nothing about all the stuff you gotta take off to get to the starter. Hallelujah! It’s done!

 

I remember when starters were a 15 minute job and plugs were 20minutes. Now to change the plugs in my Tribeca they just about needed to pull the engine.

 

Hrmph . It used to be that oil pans could be dropped in less than 30 minutes, so it was worth doing if you let the oil change run a bit long. On a bunch of the GM cars, you had to lift the engine to be able to drop the pan. They put a crossbar directly underneath it. My Pontiac Vibe is a PITA to change the serpentine belt, but at least you can change the starter reasonably quickly.