# Duct tape on NASA'S Space Vehicles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535 "2004-04-17T16:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/21 "2004-04-19T22:16:31Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > [Yet another heroic episode of “Duct Tape in Space”.](http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/NASA/) Re the third story on that link: Why, exactly, would you need a table in zero G? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/22 "2004-04-19T23:15:50Z")
> [@harmless](#): > > Nope, I researched it. > [That brand is expressly used on ducks.](http://www.galleryone.com/images/bullas/bullas%20-%20duck%20tape.jpg)😃 Interesting. So it’s “used on”, not “made of”? 😃 Q: When does a duck’s quack not echo? A: When it’s made of duck quack tape. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/23 "2004-04-19T23:17:33Z")
On second thought, that should have been: A: When it’s made of quack duck tape. Get it? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/24 "2004-04-20T00:35:45Z")
> [@robgruver](#): > > Being an Air Conditioning Contractor, I have acutally used Duct tape, on ducts. Being a pervert, I have actually used Duck tape, on ducks. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/25 "2004-04-20T04:09:16Z")
**Jenny Haniver** , For all of the reasons you mentioned, I use Gaffer’s tape when securing equipment. Especially accessories attached to a rifle. It doesn’t melt to the barrel, it isn’t shiny, it doesn’t leave sticky nasty residue. One draw back is that it isn’t quite as sticky as Duck/Duct tape, or 100mph Tape (Yup another tape similar to duck/duct tape but different) Actually when I think of “Duct” tape, I think of that sticky roll of alluminum that is used to secure insulation to AC ducts… ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/26 "2004-04-20T12:40:42Z")
PEOPLE! This is the SDMB… you need an epiphany! **Duck Tape** is the stuff we are all familiar with. It has many uses, from holding Nascar bumpers on to hoilding your vinyl car seat together. **Duck** tape does it all. \*\*Duct tape \*\* is a shiny more foil like product used on heating and cooling ducts. While **Duck** tape is actually not recommended for these HVAC applications. So, the product with a bajillion uses is Duck Tape. The foil like tape for HVAC use is **duct tape.** ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/27 "2004-04-20T12:49:55Z")
Duck (or duct) tape and super glue are two true icons of the latter half of the 20th Century found in most workrooms and junk drawers across the country. So it was interesting to talk to the company that developed the tape as a consumer product and is also a prime marketer of super glues. Henkel Consumer Adhesives (Henkel CA) sells both Duck Tape® and Loctite® brand super glues in the United States. We started our conversation by asking Valerie Stump, advertising manager at Henkel CA, to tell us about the origin of the famous super-sticky silver tape and clear up the Duck or Duct question. “It was invented during WWII by the Johnson & Johnson Company as a military tool,” explained Valerie.“GIs would use it to waterproof their artillery cases and it got the code name Duck Tape because water flowed off it … like water off a duck’s back. After the war, during the housing boom, ex-GIs realized the tape had a multitude of applications around the home for general repairs. It then became very popular for use on ductwork and that’s when the name was changed to duct tape. _Eventually there were a lot of other types of tapes that were better for ductwork, so ductwork is not synonymous with its use anymore_.” …the founder of the company (then called Manco) decided to brand its own version of duct tape as Duck brand. It was marketed as a more consumer-friendly brand, so they adopted the duck mascot and logo still featured today on its packaging. As Valerie noted, “It became one of the items people pick up at the store, even if they’re not always sure at the time just how they’re going to use it.” [http://www.woodworking.com/articles/index.cfm?fa=show&id=1260](http://www.woodworking.com/articles/index.cfm?fa=show&id=1260) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/28 "2004-04-20T12:53:09Z")
So… Do you think **Duke** tape will hold the monarchy together? I use **Dunk** tape when snarfing coffee and donuts. **Dump** helps you keep your shit together. ---
**Author:** ![robgruver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@robgruver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robgruver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/29 "2004-04-20T16:34:01Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I read somewhere that the stuff is great on practically any application; except ducts. Was this BS? Or maybe they meant heat ducts, and not A/C. Its BS. We use duct tape to attach ducts to the collar at the plenum (the big grey box at one end of your furnace), the vents and to connect ducts together. Back in the old days of grey duct tape and metal ducts that might have been true, but nowadays we use some really good stuff that sticks for a long time. > [@Philster](#): > > Duct tape is a shiny more foil like product used on heating and cooling ducts. > > While Duck tape is actually not recommended for these HVAC applications. Actually the foil tape (that we call… foil tape) is not really good to use in attics, especially in the South. After a while (less than a year), the constant heat will melt the glue to whatever you have it stuck too, and the foil part will fall off. We also use another kind of tape we call “Gummy Tape” which is a foil tape with a 5mm thick run of some sort of VERY, VERY sticky substance. Isn’t “Duck Tape” a name brand though? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535/30 "2004-04-20T17:54:59Z")
Am I the only person who grew up calling it “grey tape”? And no, Grey tape \<\> Gaff tape. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/duct-tape-on-nasas-space-vehicles/240535.md?page=1)