Lee Valley duct tape: Red Green joke?

[_firstname_]

In the recent Lee Valley flyer, they advertise heavy duty duct tape. I wonder how many people got the Red Green joke in there: "for patching a holed canoe". You remember, when Red Green and his buddies wanted to go out on the lake, and discovered that the canoe hadn't been stored behind the back stop at the gun range, instead it was the back stop! So it required some duct tape (the handyman's best friend) to repair the holes in it. Furthermore, they were out of duct tape (this is where it gets scary). And then, the last roll of emergency duct tape (stored in one of these fire-alarm style boxes with a glas front) turns out to have hardened to dust, at which point panic ensues.

Actually, I'm not even sure that this is a deliberate Red Green joke on LEe Valley's part; it might be a coincidence.

If the women don't find you handsome, they should atleast find you handy. And remember to keep your stick on the ice.

[f/256]

Red Green's Possum Lodge Man's Prayer:

I am a Man....But I can change.....If I have to....I guess

[Cherokee-Ltd]

for the Yankees thinking 'what the hell is he talking about..'

-Brian

[Swingman]

LV's catalogs most always have a humorous line or two ... you gotta pay attention, though.

[George]

We have television, don't you?

[Dave Hinz]

I'm still wondering what being a Yankee means in this context, and how that would change knowing about Red Green?

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Wednesday 19 Jan 2005 6:46 pm, _firstname_@lr_dot_los-gatos_dot_ca.us scribbled:

Not a Red Green joke or original idea for that matter. It's just common sense. I've always carried duct tape on any trip in the bush. Essential for any accident or temporary repair. While I have not personally used it to repair a holed canoe, not ever having holed a canoe, I do know people who have. But I have used it on tents, tent poles, tarps, to fix a backpack belt, shoes, etc.

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Thursday 20 Jan 2005 1:17 am, Silvan scribbled:

As far as 95% of the world is concerned, if you live north of the Gulf of Mexico and south of the Great Lakes, you're a Yankee. (North of the Rio Grande and South of the 49th parallel for those who are further west.)

You need to waste less time reorganizing your shop and, instead, spend it more constructively watching the boob tube.

Keep your stick on the ice!

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Thursday 20 Jan 2005 5:06 am, Owen Lawrence scribbled:

The guy at the local sheet metal shop said duct tape is good for everything except ducts.

[fredfighter]

buddies

Whenever I go out in a canoe I take a roll of duct tape along to patch any holes that 'appear' in the canoe while out and about. Uncle Red didn't just make that up.

[TaskMule]

Correct, has nothing to do with the RG show. Real duct tape or real gaffer tape is often used to patch canoes during river trips.

[Bob Haar]

While Red Green has lots of humor centered around the use of duct take, I am not sure that this is a reference to that particular one. I have been one plenty of canoe trips where we took duct tape for emergency repairs , and one where we really needed it.

[Dave Balderstone]

I was on a canoe trip in Grade 6 (a LONG time ago) and we had to make do with white bandage tape and the grease from the canned meat when we tore the canvas on one canoe. Oh yeah, tape, grease and bailing...

Duct tape would have been a blessing.

[Silvan]

I ain't no damn Yankee, but I was still wondering what the hell the OP was talking about. After looking at the link, I still am, really. It doesn't really tell much about what I presume to be a TV show. About all I could glean at a glance is that the CBC has a hand in whatever this is. Whatever the CBC is. (OK, I know what the CBC is, but you can't expect most Americans to get that reference.)

[Mark Jerde]

Most of the shows are better TV than "Teen Nudes on Ice." The early years especially had a very biting humor. During a recent "Best Of" as part of their 11-month "Friends of PBS 'Friend Raising'" event PBS aired some very early Red Green episodes. I watched in horror as Red attempted to cut a piece of ply on a tablesaw without a fence. He didn't get hurt because (IIRC) he was feeding from the backside.

I've only seen a few early shows. My impression is the early shows had "Knife in the Ribs" satirical humor. The later seasons settled down to "Men are stupid but we're great with duct tape" humor but still worth watching.

-- Mark

[Joe_Stein]

I'm a man, and I can change, if I have to, I guess. Joe

_firstname_@lr_dot_los-gatos_dot_ca.us wrote:

[Owen Lawrence]

The house I bought came with forced air heating, and I'm noticing with amusement that all of the duct tape the previous owner used to patch it with is drying out and coming off. I'll be replacing it with aluminum tape pretty soon. Maybe in the spring. In the meantime my workshop is nice and warm. :)

- Owen -

[put "RP" in front of the 774]

Ayup. A buddy and I turned his 17' Grumman aluminum canoe into a flattened banana shape in a rapid called "the Silos" on the New River in WV back in the 70's. Ripped a 10 inch gash below the water line and flattened the bow to the point I couldn't get my legs under the front seat anymore. We were some 15 miles to the takeout point. No duct tape. We shot the remaining 20+ rapids to the takeout leaning very heavily to the right to try to keep the rip out of the water.

We drove back to Athens, down to the middle school playground, unloaded it from the VW bug he used as a transport vehicle and stuck the damaged end into the playground sandpile. Judicious use of an

8 pound sledge on a hunk of firewood (obligatory wood reference to keep this on topic) pounded it eventually back into a canoe shape. We had the sense to drill holes at each end of the rip before starting this beating and pounding. You should have seen some of the looks we got from the passers-by. I guess it is not every day you see a couple of scroungy-looking college kids drinking beer on a school playground while seemingly taking turns trying to drive a chunk of firewood through the bottom of a canoe.

Anyway, we got the whole shebang back into canoe shape and slapped a hunk of duct tape on it. My friend sold it later that year when he upgraded to a Mad River canoe. The guy who bought the Grumman evidently graduated in a year or so and moved west. Years later my friend was visiting some other buddys in Bozeman Montana. As they stood talking on the street, here came a Grumman canoe down the road with an old Ohio registration sticker on it, and a very faded chunk of duct tape in the same area we had patched.

[George]

Original purpose was close to the canoe patch, IIRC. US Navy liked it because it would seal even when wet.

When those crummy headblock straps they sell (dearly) for backboards get lost or too bloody to consider using, I use duct tape to secure a patient's head. Slow peel doesn't even pull hair too badly.

[Swingman]

Apples and crabapples ... note carefully Michael's use of the all important adjective.