# Duck tape and plastic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705 "2003-02-17T20:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nocktober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de053/32.png) [@Nocktober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocktober)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/1 "2003-02-17T20:17:24Z")
Would they do any good in a terrorists attack? They don’t filter the air. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/2 "2003-02-17T20:18:25Z")
It’s “DUCT” tape. Like in heating ducts. Not for use on mallards 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3ec8ea/32.png) [@vertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertigo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/3 "2003-02-17T20:20:28Z")
The plastic is used to enclose your home so air from the outside doesn’t get in. The Duct tape is used to seal cracks and tape down the plastic. About as useful as the old “Duck and Cover” routines during the cold war, me thinks. ---
**Author:** ![Nocktober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de053/32.png) [@Nocktober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocktober)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/4 "2003-02-17T20:33:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vertigo \* > \*\*The plastic is used to enclose your home so air from the outside doesn’t get in. The Duct tape is used to seal cracks and tape down the plastic. > > About as useful as the old “Duck and Cover” routines during the cold war, me thinks. \*\* Vertigo, that’s the way it struck me, too. Q.E.D., I knew it was duct tape, but my family always called it duck tape so I’m “stuck” on that name. Didn’t Cecil do a column that said “duck” had some relevance? ---
**Author:** ![Felonious\_Mink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Felonious\_Mink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Felonious_Mink)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/5 "2003-02-17T20:38:36Z")
Erm…there is a product called “Duck Tape”…nothing to do with mallards either! ---
**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/6 "2003-02-17T21:05:47Z")
My naïve search of the SD archive didn’t turn up any “History of Duct Tape” type material. I have heard it said that the tape was invented as a water-proof sealing tape, and was indeed originally called “duck tape.” This sounds too good a story to be true, so I’m skeptical. But it is certainly true that one brand of duct tape is called “Duck Tape.” It looks like the veracity of this story has been debated in the past [right](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=128773) [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=106377) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/7 "2003-02-17T23:14:16Z")
For the record, I have not purchased any duck tape, nor any duct tape thanks to Homeland Security’s scare campaign. I wonder. When you rip off a piece of duct tape real fast, does the sound echo? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/8 "2003-02-17T23:35:41Z")
I wonder how much 3-M stock John Ashcroft owns? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/9 "2003-02-17T23:56:39Z")
Considering how well sealed modern homes are, where will adding another barrier layer make a difference? More to the point, how is it _supposed_ make a difference? ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/10 "2003-02-18T01:29:36Z")
Oh what an industry the media has created.The people that ran out to buy duct tape are the same people that stockpiled water and soup during the Y2K fiasco and they are also the people that race to the grocery store and buy 7 gallons of milk because snow is predicted. Sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/11 "2003-02-18T02:11:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*I wonder how much 3-M stock John Ashcroft owns? \*\* Probably none anymore, I would have sold all mine by now if I had any! ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/12 "2003-02-18T02:16:15Z")
Its to keep the tinfoil hat firmly attached to your cranium so no mind rays can leak in the side… Duh! ---
**Author:** ![Nocktober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de053/32.png) [@Nocktober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocktober)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/13 "2003-02-18T03:17:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ltfire \* > \*\*Oh what an industry the media has created.The people that ran out to buy duct tape are the same people that stockpiled water and soup during the Y2K fiasco and they are also the people that race to the grocery store and buy 7 gallons of milk because snow is predicted. Sheesh! \*\* Okay, I confess – I bought bottled water prior to y2K. Am I the only one here who took steps? I don’t stock up before snow predictions, though. Primarily because of all the t.p. left over from Y2K. (kidding.) ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/14 "2003-02-18T03:28:15Z")
Errg. Its simple - there is a company that makes duct tape - DUCK BRAND duct tape. Thar’be the source of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/15 "2003-02-18T03:30:38Z")
Count me among the people who suspect that someone in the Bush Administration owns stock in 3M. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/16 "2003-02-18T03:48:32Z")
I might add that I am quite familiar with the tactic of using plastic to seal up windows. My parents used to do this every winter in an effort to keep out a nasty chemical known as “cold drafts.” It never worked. Eventually, new windows freed us from this yearly exercise in futility. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/17 "2003-02-18T04:08:04Z")
The only use I can see the duct tape and sheeting. . . If you saw a terrorist, ran up behind them and knocked them unconscious with your flashlight(another rather stupid item), then you could wrap them in the plasitc and the tape. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/18 "2003-02-18T05:05:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aahala \* > \*\*The only use I can see the duct tape and sheeting. . . > > If you saw a terrorist, ran up behind them and knocked them unconscious with your flashlight(another rather stupid item), then you could wrap them in the plasitc and the tape. \*\* Like this ?!?!?: [http://204.255.212.10/~jthorsse/asuiy123/mpbucks.jpg](http://204.255.212.10/~jthorsse/asuiy123/mpbucks.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Coilean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@Coilean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coilean)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/19 "2003-02-18T05:39:23Z")
I caught an NPR broadcast the other day with a call in doctor discussing the efficacy of the whole Duct tape + plastic thing. The interviewer, asked the doc. doing her best to spook up a story, had this undertone of urgency in her voice when asking about how this 3M plan will unfold. The Docs response (as best as I can remember): “Oh please, if you’re really that concerned about your health you should quit smoking and exercise more.” What a quote! ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705/20 "2003-02-18T05:46:20Z")
Someone interviewed on CBC radio the other day said that the idea of barricading yourself inside with duct tape and plastic is foolish… apparently a handful of Israelis have asphyxiated in their homes for trying similar things. I can’t remember which program it was, but I think it was The Sunday Edition the other day… sorry I can’t be more specific. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duck-tape-and-plastic/155705.md?page=2)