Not your daddy's Duct Tape

[HeyBub]

"3M's Performance Plus Nuclear Grade Duct Tape. It doesn't appear to be particularly radiation resistant, but it does feature clean removal indoors and outdoors after up to 6 months. It's waterproof and you can write on it..."

It also cures bee-bites, repels sharks, restrains mad pit bulls, replaces towing chains, cures cancer, and can be used to craft wedding gowns. It does more than the Republicans claim for tax cuts.

It is The Force (with both a light side and a dark side).

[woodenhead]

I still swear by aluminum tape the real duct tape

[Oren]

But, the 2009 Duct Tape Page-A-Day Calendar* can help.

Without a life preserver you can tape Styrofoam around your body.

[Davej]

I don't see the word "nuclear" on the package label. As the other guy said give me the real aluminum tape.

[aemeijers]

For HVAC work on clean metal, aluminum wins. For other applications, especially where you need a lot of it, not so much, due to the high cost of the metal tape. I wish civilians could easily buy Gaffer Tape, which is more like what the gray cloth duct tape used to be like. The modern 'easy tear' gray stuff in the stores isn't nearly as sticky as I remember from my youth. I understand the military used to have a cloth tape called '100mph' tape, which was highly thought of, but I have never seen it personally.

-- aem sends...

[George]

It looks just like the pre big box quality cloth duct tape that you brought along on your camping expedition and could successfully use to tape your canoe back together or for many similar uses.

And the article is also particularly lame because the metal duct tapes are designed and appropriate for higher temperature applications.

[Red Green]

Davej wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The pic shown is for #8979. There is also a #8979N Nuclear Grade. Probably defined in the UL ratings in the data sheet. All moot though. There's no stamp of approval by the Possum Lake City Counsel which means it ain't no better than that stinkin' Mainstays Duck Tape crap.

[Red]

I think they downgraded it to 90mph. I'd like to see/try the NASCAR tape that holds fenders and other body parts on at 200mph.

Red

[Pete C.]

Gaff tape is readily available, just not at Home Depot. Just check your local yellow pages for theatrical lighting supply places, they'll have plenty of it for sale.

[George]

You can buy quality tape just not at big box. My buddy built an airplane and used cloth duct tape for the fairings etc that he didn't yet fabricate in order to do testing. I was over my other buddies the other day and he retrieved some bundles that had been sitting behind the garage for many years that had been taped together with good (not big box) cloth duct tape and the tape was almost like new. He had used the tape we used to bring when going camping. You could almost repair anything with it.