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I don't use duct tape either. I like the fiberglass packaging tape that is stronger and has better glue. For writing/marking I use masking/painters tape.
I thought it be because of the amount of surface flesh you've lost using it for mythbusters. Haha used to work doing hvac and so many people tried to use duct tape. It never sticks. My problem with duct tape us that the vast majority of duct tape out there is cheap off brand crap.
I'll say this in the pinned comment so it might actually be seen. "duct tape" was originally duck cloth mated with an adhesive. Thus "duck tape". This then morphed in usage (because that's how english works) into "duct tape". But if you actually know anything about ductwork, duck tape is the absolute worst thing you can put on them.
as a janitor who's spent god knows how many hours scraping duct tape residue off furniture with a razor blade, i am so thankful you're speaking out on this issue
"Gaffer tape is like duct tape went to college and learned how to do it's job properly." I have never agreed more with a statement. Gaff tape for the win!!
Professional Gaffer here. I can 100% agree! The film industry runs on this stuff. I still carry around some Gorilla tape just in case I need something with more Adhesive power that can leave a residue. And a roll of the Cheap shit, in case someone wants to borrow it… in my experience the roll never comes back😅
It's such a weird thing but I'll say, I love that you keep your moments to compose thoughts in opposed to constant jump cuts. Also can tell you actually care about the things you make videos about, absolutely love it
You can tell someone is horrible at speaking when they need to rely heavily on jump cuts. There's some big UA-camrs that can't even get through a single sentence without stitching together 2-3 jump cuts. It's wild that after years of doing it professionally, they just never get good at talking to a camera.
Yesssss! I hate jump cuts, no idea why people think that is better than making little mistakes or thinking silently for a bit. All that stuff adds a real human feel, too much editing removes that feel.
Editor here: ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY There are times for cuts, but you should generally avoid them at all costs. I think the only thing I despise more than that shit is overlapping audio. I don't mean as a cinematic device. I mean like UA-cam videos where they are so over-enthusiastic about removing ALL SILENCE that the beginning of sentence B starts BEFORE the end of sentence A. Horrific.
@DANIEL DEWEESE Foil-tape is trash for flexible duct, but alright for hard duct. Shurtap/sealing tape is great for flexible duct. Whenever I see duct tape, it's usually all tattered and basically falling off.
I love how the one person I've ever heard say out loud that he hates duct tape, is the one keeping hundreds of rolls of the stuff in a sealed storage container.
Someone said below he did videos on it, so he probably goes over the history of it but any knife-shop in a mall in the 90s/2000s would have had one of those on display. They are very cool.
Duct tape is the "jack of all trades, master of none" of materials. It's never the best thing to use but it'll do the job until you can do it properly.
Which is what all tape is in all honesty. Tape is just never a reliable enough adhesive for anything even semi permanent, so I'll take the mediocre performance for ease of access and cheapness. No way I'm dishing for a more expensive tape that I inevitably won't get the most use out of
I think of it as a motor-sailer, which is a 1/2 motorboat 1/2 sailboat and it doesn't do either very well. But generally it'll get you where you need to go, just not very efficiently or gracefully. I wonder what Adam's take is on WD-40, which is the yin to duct tape's yang?
@@sleepdeep305 Some tapes are very good at sealing stuff. Like aluminium tape for making ducts airtight (as Adam mentions), or strong plastic tape for making the vapor barrier on thermal insulation airtight. These tapes are made and used for very specific purposes, and are expected to hold on for years. It's not meant to hold something together, or apply a structural force. But they're great for sealing in dry environments.
As a professional stage manager, there's never been a problem we couldn't solve in some way with gaff tape: ripped pants, broken props, set pieces that broke mid-show, re-soleing shoes....love the stuff.
I had a piece of black gaffer tape covering a rip in the cover of my instrument case. The bandleader managed to split the seam right up the middle of his trousers half an hour before a show, and I crudely patched the situation with a stapler and that piece of gaffer tape. I covered the hole when I got home and added another couple feet of tape where there was no particular need for it, just in case. Most (but not all) of it ended up drying out and leaving a mess, but I just covered the scar of scraping it off with another piece.
I repaired a broken plastic hinge on my vacuum canister with gaff tape. What was supposed to be a temporary repair job until the next weekend when I could do a more permanent repair, the bloody gaff tape “hinge” has lasted about 8-9 years. Still works to this day.
Interesting point of culture: when I was young (about 30 years ago), duct tape was basically unheard of in the UK awareness, gaffer tape was the taping solution people referred to. Duct tape really only entered my awareness somewhere in the mid-90s as the internet became more prevalent and US culture became imported faster, and I actually remember a conversation that went along the lines of “what’s duct tape?” “well, it’s basically gaffer tape for Americans”.
as a finn duct tape is often called gaffer's / roadie's tape and that term makes you think of the silvery stuff even tho proper gaffer's tape is still in vide use. the two are just seen as the same thing by common folk
Thank you for having subtitles, makes life as a deaf person so much more accessible and enjoyable. Mythbusters in the UK always had subtitles and was one of the only programs of discvoery that did.
Is closed captioning not common in the UK? Just about evey tv show and sports event has captioning here in US now. Even ten years ago, captioning was super common. Even old shows made before captioning was invented have since been captioned for syndication. Nearly all local news is captioned, usually just from the script vs real-time captioning of news, national news is always live captioned. Its quite handy at times for people who are not hard of hearing, noisy environment, or with the volume turn down. So you don't disturb others, but still want to follow along.
If I remember correctly, Adam himself has a history of hearing loss. I wonder if his personal history is part of the decision to have CC for this channel.
I used to be very pro-duct tape, until I worked for this one company that put on road races (marathons & 5ks and such). And they used 3M's 3903 vinyl tape for everything. It's incredible. Sometimes it's marketed as duct tape but it's not the same at all. It peels off completely clean, it has small parallel ridges so it's way easier to tear with your fingers, it comes in every color of the rainbow, you can write on it and it doesn't smear as much as duct tape, and it sticks pretty well to things that are dusty or dirty or cold. It's not that much more expensive than ordinary duct tape and you can get it at basically any home depot (or similar) store. Fantastic for labeling stuff, warehouse or pantry organization, color coding things, and anything outdoors. I would never go back duct tape. But I'm curious now how it compares to gaffer tape.
Compared to normal duct tape, gaff tape probably has a slightly weaker level of adhesion, but is way more user-friendly. It's easier to pull of the right amount and tear it without it sticking to itself. Once it's attached, the adhesive doesn't melt or slide around as much, removing it is way easier, and it leaves less residue when you do. Last but probably least, it's usually a matte black finish, which makes it easier to hide and/or paint over (good on a stage production).
Their desert island summary feels like it fits perfectly here "Duct tape is not the best solution for everything, but it is an okay solution for just about anything"
The thing is, unlike other staple poor solutions to vast numbers of problems (like zip ties, compressed air, or WD-40), duct tape is not the perfect solution for any problem, or indeed even a good one.
😊👍 Immediately after I read this video's title, I predicted that Adam would mention aluminum foil tape(AFT from here onward). Also, I knew for certain that's what he was going to recommend as soon as he began criticizing duct tape's ineffectiveness at sealing ducts. I don't work in construction or HVAC, but I discovered AFT by chance in the mid 2000s, and I always carry a roll of it with me. AFT is not a "miracle cure", but its significantly better than duct tape in a LOT of applications. Anyone who's ever used regular aluminum foil knows that you can easily "mold" it to fit things. AFT is even better, because not only is it mold-able, its adhesive backing ensures that it remains tightly molded to whatever object its being used on. It does not dry rot and disintegrate like duct tape and its surface is impermeable. It comes in varying widths and thicknesses. I've even purchased AFT that had both thicker aluminum and MUCH thicker adhesive backing material, where the aluminum was 2 - 3x thicker than standard, AND the adhesive backing material was approx 2mm thick, rubberized, and with extra strong adhesive properties.
As an Australian I always thought that when MythBusters did a 'duct tape' episode they actually meant gaffer tape. It's a revelation to find that they didn't, as we don't even use duct tape for ducts. Gaffer tape is in the Aussie nomenclature as the go to tape.
Well, if I remember correctly from the first duct tape episode, that stuff was originally intended only to seal ammo crates against moisture. Which means duct tape was never intended as a long-term solution and wasn't intended for most of the things it is used today either, but only proved itself to be reasonably to quite useful over time for quick and dirty solutions for a number of problems when there are no tools available which were designed for those problems. That's why I always have a few rolls of duct tape in stock as well as gaffer and aluminium foil tape - because it's the best compromise for situations where you don't have the time to come up with a permanent fix, but just need to fix things for a short time until you have the time to come with a more permanent solution - and that's actually the job in which duct tape does quite well. For instance, last year I had to fix an air duct in my flat on a saturday evening, my supply of aluminium foil tape had run out and the hardware stores were closed until monday. So I improvised with DT and it worked well until monday evening when I had restocked on AFT and thus could replace my temporary fix. So, DT is a versatile tool which on one hand isn't a perfect solution, but on the other hand is good enough for short-term solutions that work until you can get your hands on the tools designed to do the actual job (i.e. AFT, gaffer tape, zip-ties, clamps or whatever).
Sorta, super cheap only had duct tape if I remember correctly but I don't know about repco or bunnings. Found a bunch of duct in the dumpster at a mates construction site too, after which was the first time I used it and I can say it absolutely shits on what supercheap sells (unsurprisingly) EDIT: also should mention I've never seen duct tape with thread in it
Americans don't use it for ducts either, it is against code. You have to use metal tape and/or a duct mastic (they call it "pookie" though no one who calls it that seems to know the origin).
Nobody (in the US at least) uses "duct tape" for actual duct-work either. (For that, that first roll of shiny aluminum-lookin' tape he held up is all that is used.) All it's ever used for here is as a general-purpose method of temporarily immobilizing shit that shouldn't move long enough to get the job done, basically. Dunno how the name shifted to "duct", but apparently the original name was in fact, "duck", and that was because the original backing material was plain cotton duck canvas.
I miss this energy and joy when you were on mythbusters. But I saw the joy and energy fade in the last episodes. I was kinda glad to see it end when I saw the heart and joy from the show was gone. And saw the money drive from discovery. It’s great seeing you explode with joy in these episodes again. That’s why I loved the show so much was your energy and passion. 👍
Someone needs to make a compilation of all the times Adam goes 'Oh wait! Hold on a second!!" And runs off screen to get something, and then edit in sounds of crashing and clanging and glass breaking as he looks for the thing as if he's digging through piles of junk to find what he's looking for. I think that'll be hilarious to see. Edit: I didn't think this would get this much attention. I guess I'll be the one to make it. I'm not sure how long it'll take but I'll do it and let all of you know when it's up. Thank you
Absolutely. But why don't they sell it in hardware stores? Only photography & production tech stores (and online). If Home Depot shoppers only knew what they were missing. Then again, maybe it's best they don't.
@@carlodave9 There are a handful of hardware stores in midtown Manhattan (and I'd imagine in Studio City in LA) that carry it - mainly because most of their clientele are industry professionals. Fun fact - it comes in all kinds of colors, not just the traditional black roll. I've used mahogany brown gaff to repair leather goods and florescent pink and yellow in tiny strips to spike set pieces.
@@carlodave9 I don't know whether this applies internationally, but usually it's accessable through larger music stores aswell. It's probably a tool that's seen as a specialty item for now, and if demand only comes from musicians, stage techs and people in film, than it doesn't make sense to distribute it outside of that market.
I always loved watching the MIT engineering challenges where multiple teams got a bag of identical stuff and had to accomplish a mission in the best way with it.
As a beekeeper, I adore that aluminum foil tape. Sticks great even on slightly wet surfaces, bees can’t chew through it, doesn’t fall off in hear, etc. I want an episode on this prince of tapes!
@@mitchellsidebottom9271 it's pretty awesome but it's not durable and the best applications are on things that won't get bumped, stuff slid over it or the joint/crack it's covering moves. Sticks amazingly though. Edit- it's also on the pricy side.
Lighting & audio tech here. You grow a hatred for duct tape after picking it off of XLR and DMX cables because some asshole decided to tape them down with copious amounts of the stuff, which proceeded to rot in the sun. I’ve discovered a love for both gaff tape and for isopropyl alcohol.
I have literally tossed cables like that in the trash because the effort to clean them was going to be more than the effort to make a new cable. I hate wasting crap, but sometimes I'd rather pull out the soldering iron and toss together a new cable with neutrik ends than have to spend hours cleaning off residue.
Man, IPA solves so many problems, and always cleans up more than I think it would. About every other time I try and use IPA for cleaning something, or removing something, basically "I wonder if IPA might do this", 1/2 the time it works perfectly.
And if isopropyl alcohol won't take the goo off then Zippo lighter fluid will. Generally I've found that once it degrades and comes off what is left behind isn't sticky, so I just leave it. Unlike electrical tape which is truly awful.
@@TheMijman IPA is awesome. If water won't dissolve it, IPA probably will. Chemistry nerd tangent: And if neither water nor IPA will dissolve it, then you're looking at acetone (nail polish remover) or hexane -- but at that point you're working with industrial degreasers that can permeate most gloves and are toxic to work with. What substance you use has to do with the hydrophobic and polar/nonpolar properties of the substance. Water is VERY polar, it has an oxygen atom and just a few measly hydrogens to counterbalance it. Hexane is entirely made of carbon and hydrogen, so it has no desire to interact with water but will play with grease. It'll also dissolve some plastics. But isopropyl alcohol -- that hits the sweet spot. It's still got the oxygen atom, so it can interact with water and water soluble materials. But it's also got three carbon atoms to even things out. Not enough to dissolve or permeate most plastic or rubber, but enough to wipe away most grease. IPA is awesome.
@@tomc.5704 Well that's far too much in depth for me. I work in special effects/props, so use various thinners and chemicals now and then. But always have a little spray bottle of IPA on hand. I wish I knew enough chemistry to work out what will attack the base material I need to clean, I generally start gentle and crank it up through stuff I know wont eat into it. Reading up helps, but I wish I had the time to learn from scratch. Maybe I will some day.
Same here! I was so pleased to hear that Adam hates duct tape as well. I think it’s basically a universal thing if you’ve worked behind the scenes in film or theatre. You grow a hatred for duct tape after picking it off of things because it rotted.
Funny enough it wasn't even named for ducts in the first place. The term "duck tape" appears much earlier. It was originally named after "duck cloth" because it was made by applying a rubber adhesive to heavy cotton canvas.
I did a 'temporary' patch on my car with Gaffer tape when the roof was leaking that remained in place for quite a few years. The car finally died before I got around to doing a more 'permanent' fix. (Old Russian proverb: There is nothing as permanent as a temporary solution)
@@hughoxford8735 my front bumper is held on by 6 strips of gorilla tape. All the clips that held it on broke but one, the tapes taking like 90% of the bumpers weight no problem lol. Drive down the highway and in storms all the time too
I really appreciate seeing Adam take time to think of just the right words to say. Too many jump cuts between sentences is hard to coherently follow, and lots of vloggers speed through information faster than necessary and you don't feel what they're feeling when they're explaining something. Feels like I'm there listening to him talk to a bunch of people, keep it up
Cuts aren't hard to follow for normal people... It's audibly no different to not having the pause in the sentence, the only difference is the visual cut in the video.
@@cenciende9401 that's not true at all, most people edit out the breaths and force the sentences together, not allowing for pause of thought for the audience. If you don't notice it then you've gotten too used to a fast paced information world
@@Gowerrr I'm going to guess he didn't edit the video down because it was already short and it was less work. To each his own, but jump cuts don't bother me.
Speaking of that Aluminum tape, the apiarist (thank you Elizabeth Newell) reminded me of something else... That Aluminum tape stays in a locked cupboard at work so it won't disappear, because it is FANTASTIC for quickly and temporarily shimming up things. It's a consistent thickness, and you can stack layers and they won't compress much. It's the bomb for getting things going in a hurry, just don't expect it to last forever in a high-vibration situation.
I used duct tape to fashion an improvised wheel nut once, that was when I realised it’s not about how good duct tape is at what it’s meant for but how good it is when it’s all you have
Adam: *Makes a zombie net out of duct tape* Zombie: *breaks through the net without breaking a sweat* Adam; 'And that's why I made a second net out of gaffer tape'
Gaffer tape is my go-to as a musician, too. No residue from short-term use, great for holding down cables on the stage and also for attaching microphones to brass instruments without accidentally removing lacquer.
"Gaffer tape is like duct tape went to college and actually learned how to do its job" As a former stage tech and current G&E, this had me rolling... Wait, I'm not camera.
"Gaffer's tape is duct tape that went to college and learned how to do its job." I love that. I agree with your analysis of duct tape. I do use it on occasion, temperately. Gorilla is the best I've found.
His response to the question is a bit odd in that all these types and brands of tape material he mentions would really be considered sub-types of duct tape in common language by most people. He is really just highlighting that commonly available types and brands are inferior.
After putting up a display where we used a LOT of gorilla tape to hold black fabric against gridwall, I learned the hard way that gorilla tape adhesive is strong enough to remove your fingerprints.
@@talyrath I once made the mistake of dropping the loose end of a gorilla tape onto my hairy thigh. I have since switched to T-Rex tape. After I was done screaming, of course.
@@YTAG33 they aren't. Gaffers tape isn't duct tape. It's usually fabric backed, matt, and hugely more adherant What you're effectively saying is duct tape is a sub category of sellotape/scotch tape which I'm sure you'd agree, it still isn't.
I bought some Gorilla brand double-sided tape and put up a plaque on a painted cinder lock wall. When I removed the plaque the tape literally ripped the paint off the wall along with a chunk of the concrete. Gorilla doesn't play around with their products.
What Adam says makes sense but only from the point of view: - of someone working in a workshop - of someone wealthy enough to have all the type of glue / fixing tools he wants But if you are in a situation where the amount of tools you can have is limited, duct tape (or duck tape) is the way to go. I won't bore you with all the stories where duct tape saved the day, because I guess we all have lived similar ones. Some repairs I made with duct tape were permanent (usually with the tougher Gorilla Tape) and are still holding after many years; some others are temporary, they hold until it is time to make a more serious repair. In short duct tape is WONDERFUL and I love it despite being imperfect.
Well, Scotts position is mostly: yeah, you could and here is how, but mostly it's weird and probably unpleasent and depending on your breathing apparatus you could get a job done or not. I got the impression that he wanted to inform why you need spacesuits and can not use just a scuba mask or something like that.
As an industry tech professional, I still see red when I find a cable that someone has taped down (or worse, taped in a coil) with duck. I can feel the gooey mess it's going to leave on the insulation as I type this and just the thought of it is making me twitchy.
I'm a costumer and I personally use duct tape as a way to create patterns for any carved foam pieces that need to be covered with some sort of fabric. It's decently cheap and really flexible so it can get into corners and go around curves so much smoother then most tapes I've tried in the past. But I've never used it as actually tape lol.
This is my favorite episode yet! "We don't use duct tape, we're professionals, we use Gaff tape!!!" My boss at the first special effects company I worked for when I was 18 years old.
ain't just HS theaters either..."gaff tape isn't a permanent fix either..." I would put money on there being decade+ old strips of gaff tape holding SOMETHING together in most theaters across the world.
@@wobblysauce it's literally used everywhere from marking stages for actors to the most heinous crime I've seen of holding a full lighting fixture in place. H&S be damned, the show must go on (in defence, it did have a chain to hold it if it failed).
What I’ve always said is “Duct tape isn’t a great, long-term solution for anything. But it is a pretty good, short-term solution for just about everything.”
Duct Tape: Jack-of-all-trade, master of none Adam: I need none of that, I've got a shop full of masters of something. Me: I can't afford or even store even a fraction of this stuff, duct tape is pretty good!
Exactly! Duct tape is a great all-purpose tool for people who only need to make occasional temporary repairs (which is most of us). If I'm only going to have one kind of tape in the toolbox, it's going to be duct tape.
Exactly, for those of us who like to buy things in-store, we're SOL finding any of that specialty s*** while getting our groceries, or at the local hardware store.
As an architect, I'd recommend white artist tape. For modeling. Takes well to paint and a good modeling binder if you're careful applying it. But then the models we make are pretty fragile and don't take well to the rough and tumble of a prop or production set.
@@FactoryofRedstone Gaffer tape usually has a matt surface, so it's less visible. On most surfaces it doesn't leave a sticky residue, at least if you don't leave it on for too long. And it's usually not quite as sticky as duct tape.
My great grandmother lived through the invention of the automobile, the airplane, the computer, the internet... and her very serious opinion was that the greatest invention of her lifetime was duct tape.
I was lucky enough to get to know my great great grandma who was born 1905 or 1906 (don't exactly remember she passed around her 100th birthday). Talking to her, it was just so hard to imagine, she was around 20 years before sliced bread! Literally! she got to grow up seeing the beginning of cars being commonplace. Honestly, while there was a lot of bad things in the last century, I think based on technological advancement alone, it was probably one of the coolest times to live through, although Im sure our great great grandchildren will say the same about us.
Yeah, my go to tape as a construction worker is actually Stego tape... Stuffs kinda... Pricy, but you can tape concrete chucks together and they stay with that stuff
I was wondering if I'd see a Red Green reference. I was just thinking "no one show this to Red, he will drive down from Canada duct tape you to his van, then bring you back to the lodge and feed you to Moose Thompson."
House wrap seam tape is the most underrated tape. It's super strong but stretchy non-woven fabric with adhesive that literally won't come off without ripping either the tape or the substrate. It sticks to basically anything as long as it's clean. It's weathertight, and works great to fix small holes or rips in jackets, tents or tarps.
A great tip I learned from a newspaper photographer years ago was to wrap some gaffers tape around your every day pen. Having just a few inches of tape for a quick repair or just to hold down some paper can be invaluable. Take the roll when you know you will need it, but just a few inches around your pen can make the difference when you are on the road and in a tight spot.
It's uncanny that you and Scott Manley would both upload videos about duct tape in less than an hour of each other. I watched his video first and thought to myself "Scott and Adam should have done a collaboration video about duct tape."
Oh, thank god! Now I know I 'm not the only one. And you even included 2 of my favorite utility tapes in this video, aluminum tape and gaffers tape. If you want it to stop leaking use aluminum tape, if leakage isn't an issue use gaffers tape. Thank you for telling the world that there are superior tapes out in the world. Sure, most of them don't have quite the range of usability as duct tape, but I'm so glad that a professional has revealed to the world that duct tape is, was, and always will be the worst tape to use for the purpose it was originally intended for; ducts. Gaffers tape is just as good in most cases, and it is so much easier to work with.
The irony of the Swiss Army knife in the background while Adam goes on a diatribe about duct tape is hilarious. If there were a McGuyver reference in this clip it would have been perfect
Ok, so Adam is not best friends with Jamie, and he doesn't even like duct tape. Next he'll tell us that, in fact, he DOES NOT reject our reality and substitute his own. Everything we know about the entertainment industry is a lie!
I hate to try to explain something to Adam Savage but the intended purpose for Duck tape was not for duct work. It was invented in WW2 and made from cotton duck cloth and it’s excellent abilities at water resistance ( like water off a duck’s back) earned it the colloquial term of Duck tape. It was just a general purpose tape and even went on to be used heavily by the Navy to temporarily patch small hull breaches in smaller craft. Most notably the amphibious DUKW or “Duck” which has also been given as the origin of the product and name, though incorrect as well.
CC: "The thing it's the worst at is literally its name Ducks it is horrendous on ducks don't ever use it for ducks... You want to seal up a duck?..." *runs away*
@@BrunodeSouzaLino It's actually duck, not duct, since it originally was made of a cotton duck fabric. Never was intended for use with ducts. I think most people just assume no one would tape ducks but do need to tape ducts so they assume duck is a mispronunciation when its actually the intended word...
Throwing in the blueish-grey 3M stuff too. I don't know if they make the product anymore, but I went through tons of the stuff as a kid. It didn't leave residue as easily, had WAY better UV resistance over time, stuck to literally anything, was like 3+ layers with a super slick abrasion resistant backing. Came in a roll over two inches wide for good coverage. Good stuff, hardly "duct tape."
Iron Force too. I like the Frogger Duct tape but the flaw of that stuff like Gorrila is the stuff will not come off. Iron force is actually a gaffers tape.
@@suicidalbanananana Yes and the best of these Gaff Tape and stuff that is marketed as as Duct Tape but is Gaff Tape is Iron Force, since it never leaves much of a residue unlike most Gaff Tape leaving a residue Which Iron Force does not do nor dose get stuck to its self or stupid sticky with odd grip when it is left in a hot car like some/most Gaff tape labeled as Gaff Tape. The next best of the Gaffer style Duct Tapes after Iron Force is Frogger or T-Rex. Flaws are in a hot car T-Rex gets stuck to its self as one roll and Frogger Duct Tape gets odd sticky in a way that is different from normal way Frogger tape acts.
It’s true that everything that Duct Tape can do, can be done better by another product. However, Duct Tape can do so many things well enough, that it’s an absolutely essential resource for most households. If you don’t anticipate many problems that would be better solved by a specific alternative to Duct Tape, but are likely to encounter many different problems that could be solved with Duct Tape, then Duct Tape is a very useful tool.
One of the best bits about gaffer, is that it comes in colors. You can mark cases or cables by what they're for. The bright yellow is great for marking suitcases.
True, but then again, so does duct tape. My niece used to use some ungodly bright pink duct for making friendship bracelets. I also carry a spool each of red, green, yellow, and black for field training exercises - unlike the triage tags and ribbons that tend to disappear because the mock victims can't stop playing with them, a good tight application of red duct tape tends to stay in place until we're done with them :)
@@HariSeldon913 Cotton Duck (from Dutch doek,"linen canvas"), also simply duck, sometimes duck cloth or duck canvas - commonly called "canvas" outside the textile industry - is a heavy, plain-woven cotton fabric. There is also linen duck, which is less often used. Duck fabric is woven with two yarns together in the warp and a single yarn in the weft. Common uses of Duck include: shoes and sneakers tents sandbags homemade artist canvas for paintings aprons totes backpacks duffel bags handbags etc....
Alternately just read the first two sections of the wikipedia article (apparently initially it was just strips of cotton duck) and some later variations had adhesive added. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape
I remember on I think the one day build with Vsauce Michael, he goes on basically this same rant and it stuck with me. Duct tape is bad at sealing ducts because it doesn't take thermal cycles well and gets brittle. It was originally called duck tape for its water resistant qualities.
In decades as an outdoorer I was never disappointed and could always rely on those things: a reliable companion, a good knife, Paracord and - Panzerband. It’s so reliable, so versatile, so easy to handle and so hard to break or destroy. Panzerband replaces a lot of other materials and even tools. It fixes everything but relationships and heartache. But I'm sure they are working on that matter. Guess the genius that has invented the wheel was the same that later on invented Panzerband. Don’t know if it’ld work for Adam’s purposes but it’s for sure the multitool that should be found in every tool box no matter how small or big.
@@kittiekat1236 Yep, that it is: "Okay, it's not pretty and won't work in the long term, but we need something for a quick and dirty fix _right now_ until we get our hands on the stuff we actually need".
AC guy here. We use mastic tape. Common term is pooky tape. It’s Nashua 322. Basically it has a rubber glue 2mm thick on the back. It works better than foil tape. We use flex ducts vs old school metal piping so we use big zip ties to attach the duct (there’s a tool called a strap gun that tightens them up far more than you could by hand, don’t worry they aren’t coming off.) we then paint over it with mastic paint. It’s water based. It seals those up. Edit: we really only use duct tape to wrap copper line sets with Rubatex. You’d cut a slit down one side, slip it over the line, and tape it back together
I once saw an image macro of the Red Green guy, where WH40K space orks had taken a liking to this strange humie who could work miracles with the strange silvery material. Apparently he got on famously with them because they appealed to his 'DIY' spirit.
It works great for securing shipping boxes. The residue and rot issue isn't really an issue unless you're using an old roll. It sticks real well to cardboard and gives the box a little extra strength. I use it to reinforce the outside edges. It's overkill for sure in more situations but the people receiving the boxes sure appreciate the effort.
1977, we were in the car hauler heading home to Richmond from the drag strip in Redding. On 505, literally in the middle of nowhere, "What's that noise?", "I'm going to go with bad u-joint". Sure enough, out-put yoke on the transmission. Three coat hangers and some 3M brand duct tape later we were able to limp her home.
I'm so glad you brought up gaff tape. I work in a theater and people who rent our stage often bring in their own rolls of duct tape. We confiscate every single roll we find. I've ripped up entire 50ft lines that bands have come in with just to replace the duct tape with gaff. It is just so much better in every reasonable way.
I was working in film industry for 15 years. And it's so true! All film industry is running on a gaffer tape! Everything might be gripped with a gaffer tape! 😂
It still works well enough for my job... as a temporary solution. Long term it doesn't have that many uses. The heat from the machines I work on can weaken the grip of it, but it can sometimes still hold something if it's more remote and doesn't get too warm, but not if it's got too much load on it, or if it's too dusty (and our machines do get dusty).
@cold media - *Dan Rather voice* The duct tape industry suffered simultaneous collapses due to using their own product to repair their buildings and equipment. It turns out that the tape in question was only holding together due to luck and not being looked at. As soon as people stopped believing in it and looked everything fell apart. As if Schrodinger's Cat was made of duct tape and we opened the box to look.
I use gaffers tape at work all the time and it is much better than duct tape. But, as Adam said, it will leave a residue and it will eventually become a gummy dried out mess. But it generally takes more time or heat to do that than duct tape does on the order of weeks or months rather than days. Even being diligent in our cable care, we still go through lots of Goo Gone cleaning off tape residue. Whenever possible we use Safcord, a canvas strip with Velcro on the underside. Works great on carpet and for some semi-permanent uses on hard flooring with a few strips of the other side of Velcro stuck down on it. That aluminum HVAC tape Adam mentioned is also great for all kinds of crafts. Stick a length of that on a cardboard box, poke a hole in it and you've got a pinhole camera.
As a musician, Gaff Tape has helped me out of a difficult situation on more than one occasion. It is so ingrained in the industry that when I was studying music production, you would fail the course if you couldn't rip it with just your fingers.
You are a first class musician for that. As an ex-audio technician, I could always spot the beginners when they asked for duct-tape. Or, god forbid, brought it on stage.
I just realised that I have masking tape, electrical tape, regular sticky tape, and that sealing tape that plumbers use, but no duct tape. I don't think I've ever bought it at all.
Years ago I heard a phrase that seared itself into my memory. Perfect is the enemy of good. For me Duct tape isn't perfect for anything, but it is good enough to usually get the job done. And it isn't as expensive as some brands out there. Now that I am older I am slowly changing my opinion on what "good" is. But Duct tape is a non-permanent fix to things that I need a temporary solution for. So yes while I use alumininimum tape for duct work. Duct tape still has a place in my junk drawer for quick fixes. Yes I know about the typo, but I tend to say it that way from time to time, so what's a guy to do?
@@SianaGearz can never recall a single time ive ever had to use duct tape and thought "But it will leave a residue..." was always more like "Hopefully that will hold it till we get home!" Pluss its cheap enough that you wont feel pressed to be stingy with it, and likewise wont feel wasteful for using allot of it.
my favourite is masking tape, it's strong enough for most household stuff, soft enough that it won't damage anything, lasts a while, can write on it so it's a cheap label.
I use gaffer tape for just about every application now, except electrical. I do keep a roll of gorilla duct in my car, because it is strong and robust enough to hold together body panel, etc.. Gaff, electrical, aluminum, "Denso", and medical are staple tape. Duct has it's place, but not in first-line applications, most of the time.
His comment about different people coming up with different solutions with the same material made me think of Junkyard Wars. And how PERFECT Adam would be as the host of a reboot for that show.
"You can have it fast, but it won't be pretty or permanent. You can have it pretty, but it won't be fast. You can have it permanent, but it won't be fast. If you want pretty and permanent it's really, really not gonna' be fast."
I know I shouldn't be surprised considering Adam's experience, but I always find it enjoyable when someone knows the difference between duct and gaffer tape
I could seriously watch this guy explain anything and find it interesting. Besides his smarts, its a god given gift. The ability to make anything sound interesting.... its just mind boggling, im seriously baffled. He could explain something as boring as tape, EASY HALF A MILLION VIEWS. SAY WHAT? WHO GOES VIRAL EXPLAINING DUCT TAPE? mythbusters would've never worked without him. I ENJOYED MY MYTHBUSTERS WHEN GROWING UP.... THANKS FOR ALL THOSE HOURS OF QUALITY CONTENT.
I think the appeal of duct tape is that it’s just versatile enough to solve basic problems in a pinch when the correct material is unobtainable or unavailable.
I think the reason ducttape has become so popular is because its pretty much the cheapest most readily available thing to fix anything in the heat of the moment. And by "fix" I really mean patch up just well enough to proceed with whatever it is that you need to proceed with. Fun fact. Here in The Netherlands duct tape, was referred to as "theater tape" for the longest time. Because of its populairity among theater technicians and stage builders to patch or secure things during a play. You see, if there's a wardrobe malfunction, or a set malfunction, or a technical issue and you quickly need to secure some cables or something, before the next act starts or whatever, duct tape is GREAT. You don't need to fix it forever, just untill the play is done.
Here’s the thing, its not like they ever tried to hide this fact. It’s mentioned many times in the show that they aren’t really friends, and it used to be a bigger part of the show.
@@harrytodhunter5078 I think people take that revelation too far the other way. They seem to think that because they're not friends that they must actively dislike each other. Yet, despite not being friends, when Jamie was approached about Mythbusters he recommended including Adam as part of the show. They may not be friends, but there's clearly a mutual respect there, given how much fruitful collaboration they've done over the years.
Back in highschool I went to the Thespian Festival every year, as a tech theater kid, and a gaff tape company had a display of damn near every color in the rainbow. Something like 30 or 40. And every width too. The actors didn’t even look at it, but we thought it was amazing.
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I don't use duct tape either. I like the fiberglass packaging tape that is stronger and has better glue. For writing/marking I use masking/painters tape.
@@peterpopp48
Furze*
I thought it be because of the amount of surface flesh you've lost using it for mythbusters. Haha used to work doing hvac and so many people tried to use duct tape. It never sticks. My problem with duct tape us that the vast majority of duct tape out there is cheap off brand crap.
Hi Adam, oh no fighting words, lol j/k thats my level just use duct tape your better then me, lol
I'll say this in the pinned comment so it might actually be seen. "duct tape" was originally duck cloth mated with an adhesive. Thus "duck tape". This then morphed in usage (because that's how english works) into "duct tape". But if you actually know anything about ductwork, duck tape is the absolute worst thing you can put on them.
as a janitor who's spent god knows how many hours scraping duct tape residue off furniture with a razor blade, i am so thankful you're speaking out on this issue
Alcohol and a rag do wonders.
There's got to be a better way of doing that.
🐐
@@WhereMyPants Also acetone (nail varnish remover)
There's special liquid meant for stickers you can get and it should work. J leave it on for like 5 minutes come back, and it wipes right off easy.
"Gaffer tape is like duct tape went to college and learned how to do it's job properly." I have never agreed more with a statement. Gaff tape for the win!!
Professional Gaffer here. I can 100% agree! The film industry runs on this stuff. I still carry around some Gorilla tape just in case I need something with more Adhesive power that can leave a residue. And a roll of the Cheap shit, in case someone wants to borrow it… in my experience the roll never comes back😅
Yeah, real gaffer tape is amazing and so useful.
So true
@@dominikhaberstock I was just gonna say my gaff usually walks away and never comes back. give em the crappy one !! 2 thumbs up there lol
Shoot.... I've always referred to both as just duct tape...
It's such a weird thing but I'll say, I love that you keep your moments to compose thoughts in opposed to constant jump cuts. Also can tell you actually care about the things you make videos about, absolutely love it
Jump cuts are horrible.
Legal Eagle can't go more that 8 seconds between jump cuts, and once you see it, you cannot unsee it. It's *so* jarring!
I came across your comment as he took a moment. Such perfect timing. Jump cuts I agree are annoying
You can tell someone is horrible at speaking when they need to rely heavily on jump cuts. There's some big UA-camrs that can't even get through a single sentence without stitching together 2-3 jump cuts. It's wild that after years of doing it professionally, they just never get good at talking to a camera.
Yesssss! I hate jump cuts, no idea why people think that is better than making little mistakes or thinking silently for a bit. All that stuff adds a real human feel, too much editing removes that feel.
Editor here:
ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY
There are times for cuts, but you should generally avoid them at all costs. I think the only thing I despise more than that shit is overlapping audio.
I don't mean as a cinematic device.
I mean like UA-cam videos where they are so over-enthusiastic about removing ALL SILENCE that the beginning of sentence B starts BEFORE the end of sentence A.
Horrific.
I know from experience that it's terrible at patching up ducks too!
...Adam's still mad he didn't get to do the "disguise yourself as a pumpkin and drag ducks underwater" myth, isn't he...?
@DANIEL DEWEESE Foil-tape is trash for flexible duct, but alright for hard duct. Shurtap/sealing tape is great for flexible duct. Whenever I see duct tape, it's usually all tattered and basically falling off.
You just need to be more careful with your ducks! Lol
That I would have payed money to see!
hahahahaha!!!
I love how the one person I've ever heard say out loud that he hates duct tape, is the one keeping hundreds of rolls of the stuff in a sealed storage container.
Who else would know better?
That's why he's not unsealing them.
He's trying to keep them from escaping
Gaffer-tape
How else to best torture a product than to not use it?
i'm just mesmerized by the giant, mechanized swiss army knife in the back
Oh what have you done now I can't stop looking
He did two episodes on fixing that, which I enjoyed. The intro to the second one was quite surprising🙂
Someone said below he did videos on it, so he probably goes over the history of it but any knife-shop in a mall in the 90s/2000s would have had one of those on display. They are very cool.
woah, didn’t even see it
there's a outdoor supply store in Cambridge Massachusetts that has one of these in the window
Duct tape is the "jack of all trades, master of none" of materials. It's never the best thing to use but it'll do the job until you can do it properly.
Which is what all tape is in all honesty. Tape is just never a reliable enough adhesive for anything even semi permanent, so I'll take the mediocre performance for ease of access and cheapness. No way I'm dishing for a more expensive tape that I inevitably won't get the most use out of
It is very versatile and that is it's strength.
I think of it as a motor-sailer, which is a 1/2 motorboat 1/2 sailboat and it doesn't do either very well. But generally it'll get you where you need to go, just not very efficiently or gracefully.
I wonder what Adam's take is on WD-40, which is the yin to duct tape's yang?
@@leucocephala WD-40 is white lithium grease.
@@sleepdeep305 Some tapes are very good at sealing stuff. Like aluminium tape for making ducts airtight (as Adam mentions), or strong plastic tape for making the vapor barrier on thermal insulation airtight.
These tapes are made and used for very specific purposes, and are expected to hold on for years. It's not meant to hold something together, or apply a structural force. But they're great for sealing in dry environments.
As a professional stage manager, there's never been a problem we couldn't solve in some way with gaff tape: ripped pants, broken props, set pieces that broke mid-show, re-soleing shoes....love the stuff.
I had a piece of black gaffer tape covering a rip in the cover of my instrument case. The bandleader managed to split the seam right up the middle of his trousers half an hour before a show, and I crudely patched the situation with a stapler and that piece of gaffer tape. I covered the hole when I got home and added another couple feet of tape where there was no particular need for it, just in case. Most (but not all) of it ended up drying out and leaving a mess, but I just covered the scar of scraping it off with another piece.
I repaired a broken plastic hinge on my vacuum canister with gaff tape. What was supposed to be a temporary repair job until the next weekend when I could do a more permanent repair, the bloody gaff tape “hinge” has lasted about 8-9 years. Still works to this day.
Some make entire shoes from it...
Can you fix bad acting with gaff tape?
@@Icehso140 no, just loud actors 😉🤐
Interesting point of culture: when I was young (about 30 years ago), duct tape was basically unheard of in the UK awareness, gaffer tape was the taping solution people referred to. Duct tape really only entered my awareness somewhere in the mid-90s as the internet became more prevalent and US culture became imported faster, and I actually remember a conversation that went along the lines of “what’s duct tape?” “well, it’s basically gaffer tape for Americans”.
as a finn duct tape is often called gaffer's / roadie's tape and that term makes you think of the silvery stuff even tho proper gaffer's tape is still in vide use. the two are just seen as the same thing by common folk
I recently watched some Taskmaster and they kept mentioning “gaffer tape”. I just figured it was duct tape for the Europeans XD
The Canadian sitcom The Red Green Show might have something to do with that 😂😂😂
Thank you for having subtitles, makes life as a deaf person so much more accessible and enjoyable. Mythbusters in the UK always had subtitles and was one of the only programs of discvoery that did.
Is closed captioning not common in the UK? Just about evey tv show and sports event has captioning here in US now. Even ten years ago, captioning was super common. Even old shows made before captioning was invented have since been captioned for syndication. Nearly all local news is captioned, usually just from the script vs real-time captioning of news, national news is always live captioned. Its quite handy at times for people who are not hard of hearing, noisy environment, or with the volume turn down. So you don't disturb others, but still want to follow along.
@@marcusdamberger It seems the communications act of 2003 made subtitles on all nationally broadcasted television required.
If I remember correctly, Adam himself has a history of hearing loss. I wonder if his personal history is part of the decision to have CC for this channel.
Things have gotten much better fortunately.
@@jaymzwooten that history might include explosives?
You could totally open up that crate of duct dape, sign each one, and sell them to fund a big project
Or donate the money to charity. I'd totally buy a roll signed by Adam. I don't think he'd wanna sign the tape tho lol
" I hate DuckTape, Adam Savage"
@@graph77 Lol, might be the only "Good" thing to do with Duct Tape is auction it off and donate the money to a good cause.
Totally.
Most anything is better than having it age in storage (and having to pay for the storage).
I used to be very pro-duct tape, until I worked for this one company that put on road races (marathons & 5ks and such). And they used 3M's 3903 vinyl tape for everything. It's incredible. Sometimes it's marketed as duct tape but it's not the same at all. It peels off completely clean, it has small parallel ridges so it's way easier to tear with your fingers, it comes in every color of the rainbow, you can write on it and it doesn't smear as much as duct tape, and it sticks pretty well to things that are dusty or dirty or cold. It's not that much more expensive than ordinary duct tape and you can get it at basically any home depot (or similar) store. Fantastic for labeling stuff, warehouse or pantry organization, color coding things, and anything outdoors. I would never go back duct tape. But I'm curious now how it compares to gaffer tape.
3M literally calls it duct tape lol
@@Helladamnleetthey mentioned that in the comment... two years ago
Compared to normal duct tape, gaff tape probably has a slightly weaker level of adhesion, but is way more user-friendly. It's easier to pull of the right amount and tear it without it sticking to itself. Once it's attached, the adhesive doesn't melt or slide around as much, removing it is way easier, and it leaves less residue when you do. Last but probably least, it's usually a matte black finish, which makes it easier to hide and/or paint over (good on a stage production).
Their desert island summary feels like it fits perfectly here "Duct tape is not the best solution for everything, but it is an okay solution for just about anything"
And adam isn't the kind of guy who wants okay solutions
The thing is, unlike other staple poor solutions to vast numbers of problems (like zip ties, compressed air, or WD-40), duct tape is not the perfect solution for any problem, or indeed even a good one.
What’s your profile picture from?
@@primeoetzand
Can you guess where my profile pic comes from?
😊👍 Immediately after I read this video's title, I predicted that Adam would mention aluminum foil tape(AFT from here onward). Also, I knew for certain that's what he was going to recommend as soon as he began criticizing duct tape's ineffectiveness at sealing ducts. I don't work in construction or HVAC, but I discovered AFT by chance in the mid 2000s, and I always carry a roll of it with me. AFT is not a "miracle cure", but its significantly better than duct tape in a LOT of applications.
Anyone who's ever used regular aluminum foil knows that you can easily "mold" it to fit things. AFT is even better, because not only is it mold-able, its adhesive backing ensures that it remains tightly molded to whatever object its being used on. It does not dry rot and disintegrate like duct tape and its surface is impermeable.
It comes in varying widths and thicknesses. I've even purchased AFT that had both thicker aluminum and MUCH thicker adhesive backing material, where the aluminum was 2 - 3x thicker than standard, AND the adhesive backing material was approx 2mm thick, rubberized, and with extra strong adhesive properties.
As an Australian I always thought that when MythBusters did a 'duct tape' episode they actually meant gaffer tape. It's a revelation to find that they didn't, as we don't even use duct tape for ducts. Gaffer tape is in the Aussie nomenclature as the go to tape.
Well, if I remember correctly from the first duct tape episode, that stuff was originally intended only to seal ammo crates against moisture. Which means duct tape was never intended as a long-term solution and wasn't intended for most of the things it is used today either, but only proved itself to be reasonably to quite useful over time for quick and dirty solutions for a number of problems when there are no tools available which were designed for those problems.
That's why I always have a few rolls of duct tape in stock as well as gaffer and aluminium foil tape - because it's the best compromise for situations where you don't have the time to come up with a permanent fix, but just need to fix things for a short time until you have the time to come with a more permanent solution - and that's actually the job in which duct tape does quite well.
For instance, last year I had to fix an air duct in my flat on a saturday evening, my supply of aluminium foil tape had run out and the hardware stores were closed until monday. So I improvised with DT and it worked well until monday evening when I had restocked on AFT and thus could replace my temporary fix.
So, DT is a versatile tool which on one hand isn't a perfect solution, but on the other hand is good enough for short-term solutions that work until you can get your hands on the tools designed to do the actual job (i.e. AFT, gaffer tape, zip-ties, clamps or whatever).
Sorta, super cheap only had duct tape if I remember correctly but I don't know about repco or bunnings.
Found a bunch of duct in the dumpster at a mates construction site too, after which was the first time I used it and I can say it absolutely shits on what supercheap sells (unsurprisingly)
EDIT: also should mention I've never seen duct tape with thread in it
Plenty of duct tape in OZ. And yes it is mostly disappointment.
Gaffatape is so much batter.
Americans don't use it for ducts either, it is against code. You have to use metal tape and/or a duct mastic (they call it "pookie" though no one who calls it that seems to know the origin).
Nobody (in the US at least) uses "duct tape" for actual duct-work either. (For that, that first roll of shiny aluminum-lookin' tape he held up is all that is used.)
All it's ever used for here is as a general-purpose method of temporarily immobilizing shit that shouldn't move long enough to get the job done, basically.
Dunno how the name shifted to "duct", but apparently the original name was in fact, "duck", and that was because the original backing material was plain cotton duck canvas.
I miss this energy and joy when you were on mythbusters. But I saw the joy and energy fade in the last episodes. I was kinda glad to see it end when I saw the heart and joy from the show was gone. And saw the money drive from discovery.
It’s great seeing you explode with joy in these episodes again. That’s why I loved the show so much was your energy and passion. 👍
Someone needs to make a compilation of all the times Adam goes 'Oh wait! Hold on a second!!" And runs off screen to get something, and then edit in sounds of crashing and clanging and glass breaking as he looks for the thing as if he's digging through piles of junk to find what he's looking for. I think that'll be hilarious to see.
Edit: I didn't think this would get this much attention. I guess I'll be the one to make it. I'm not sure how long it'll take but I'll do it and let all of you know when it's up. Thank you
"Adam Savage out of context" 😄
@@ogelsmogel yes!
This comment needs more attention, so here's a comment for the algorithm
Yes please.
The banging and crashing is usually already included.
Absolutely. "Gaff tape is the tape of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as duct tape, but a more elegant tape for a more civilized age."
Gaff tape is like the force. It has a bright side and a dark side, and it binds the universe together.
The secret to 90% off movie and stage magic: gaff tape and black fabric.
Absolutely. But why don't they sell it in hardware stores? Only photography & production tech stores (and online). If Home Depot shoppers only knew what they were missing. Then again, maybe it's best they don't.
@@carlodave9 There are a handful of hardware stores in midtown Manhattan (and I'd imagine in Studio City in LA) that carry it - mainly because most of their clientele are industry professionals. Fun fact - it comes in all kinds of colors, not just the traditional black roll. I've used mahogany brown gaff to repair leather goods and florescent pink and yellow in tiny strips to spike set pieces.
@@carlodave9 I don't know whether this applies internationally, but usually it's accessable through larger music stores aswell. It's probably a tool that's seen as a specialty item for now, and if demand only comes from musicians, stage techs and people in film, than it doesn't make sense to distribute it outside of that market.
I always loved watching the MIT engineering challenges where multiple teams got a bag of identical stuff and had to accomplish a mission in the best way with it.
"GT is like DT actually learned how to do its job." That sir, is priceless, and 100% true.
And t rex tape is even better
The "went to college" part stung a lil
honestly, in this era, it's more like it went to a reputable trade school.
And it costs like it went to college. 😅
@@IanWard Fucking tell me about it! Crazy shit
As a beekeeper, I adore that aluminum foil tape. Sticks great even on slightly wet surfaces, bees can’t chew through it, doesn’t fall off in hear, etc. I want an episode on this prince of tapes!
Bees…have teeth?
@@Redfern962 just mandibles
We make blocks for native bees and we use it to seal the cracks!
@@mitchellsidebottom9271 it's pretty awesome but it's not durable and the best applications are on things that won't get bumped, stuff slid over it or the joint/crack it's covering moves.
Sticks amazingly though.
Edit- it's also on the pricy side.
@@mitchellsidebottom9271 try cleaning the surface with some isopropyl alcohol first
Remember when people used to use colorful and patterned duct tape to make wallets and things? Good times.
Multiple couples at my high school did matching duct tape prom dresses and suits
They still do
Lighting & audio tech here. You grow a hatred for duct tape after picking it off of XLR and DMX cables because some asshole decided to tape them down with copious amounts of the stuff, which proceeded to rot in the sun. I’ve discovered a love for both gaff tape and for isopropyl alcohol.
I have literally tossed cables like that in the trash because the effort to clean them was going to be more than the effort to make a new cable. I hate wasting crap, but sometimes I'd rather pull out the soldering iron and toss together a new cable with neutrik ends than have to spend hours cleaning off residue.
Man, IPA solves so many problems, and always cleans up more than I think it would.
About every other time I try and use IPA for cleaning something, or removing something, basically "I wonder if IPA might do this", 1/2 the time it works perfectly.
And if isopropyl alcohol won't take the goo off then Zippo lighter fluid will.
Generally I've found that once it degrades and comes off what is left behind isn't sticky, so I just leave it. Unlike electrical tape which is truly awful.
@@TheMijman IPA is awesome. If water won't dissolve it, IPA probably will.
Chemistry nerd tangent: And if neither water nor IPA will dissolve it, then you're looking at acetone (nail polish remover) or hexane -- but at that point you're working with industrial degreasers that can permeate most gloves and are toxic to work with.
What substance you use has to do with the hydrophobic and polar/nonpolar properties of the substance. Water is VERY polar, it has an oxygen atom and just a few measly hydrogens to counterbalance it. Hexane is entirely made of carbon and hydrogen, so it has no desire to interact with water but will play with grease. It'll also dissolve some plastics.
But isopropyl alcohol -- that hits the sweet spot. It's still got the oxygen atom, so it can interact with water and water soluble materials. But it's also got three carbon atoms to even things out. Not enough to dissolve or permeate most plastic or rubber, but enough to wipe away most grease.
IPA is awesome.
@@tomc.5704 Well that's far too much in depth for me.
I work in special effects/props, so use various thinners and chemicals now and then. But always have a little spray bottle of IPA on hand.
I wish I knew enough chemistry to work out what will attack the base material I need to clean, I generally start gentle and crank it up through stuff I know wont eat into it.
Reading up helps, but I wish I had the time to learn from scratch. Maybe I will some day.
As a theater tech I was screaming about the joys of gaff for years, thanks for the vindication !!
Raymond Holt: VINDICATION!
Same here! I was so pleased to hear that Adam hates duct tape as well. I think it’s basically a universal thing if you’ve worked behind the scenes in film or theatre. You grow a hatred for duct tape after picking it off of things because it rotted.
Gaffers tape is fantastic.
Nashy 357 for life baby
Same ! people don't know how bad duct tape is until they learn about gaffer.
Funny enough it wasn't even named for ducts in the first place. The term "duck tape" appears much earlier. It was originally named after "duck cloth" because it was made by applying a rubber adhesive to heavy cotton canvas.
I did a 'temporary' patch on my car with Gaffer tape when the roof was leaking that remained in place for quite a few years. The car finally died before I got around to doing a more 'permanent' fix. (Old Russian proverb: There is nothing as permanent as a temporary solution)
This is me, right now wondering how long I should really keep it on there! Guess I shouldn't worry about it 😅
The reverse also tends to be true "nothing is as temporary as that which is called permanent"
My wing mirror has been held on by Gorilla tape for about 18 months. It's fine.
Let me just say that I am politically a Centrist. But Milton Friedman once said....
Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.
@@hughoxford8735 my front bumper is held on by 6 strips of gorilla tape. All the clips that held it on broke but one, the tapes taking like 90% of the bumpers weight no problem lol. Drive down the highway and in storms all the time too
I really appreciate seeing Adam take time to think of just the right words to say. Too many jump cuts between sentences is hard to coherently follow, and lots of vloggers speed through information faster than necessary and you don't feel what they're feeling when they're explaining something. Feels like I'm there listening to him talk to a bunch of people, keep it up
Cuts aren't hard to follow for normal people... It's audibly no different to not having the pause in the sentence, the only difference is the visual cut in the video.
@@cenciende9401 that's not true at all, most people edit out the breaths and force the sentences together, not allowing for pause of thought for the audience. If you don't notice it then you've gotten too used to a fast paced information world
@@Gowerrr I'm going to guess he didn't edit the video down because it was already short and it was less work. To each his own, but jump cuts don't bother me.
@@cenciende9401 "normal" 🤮 ableist
YEAH! Exactly, like they edit out them even breathing!
Speaking of that Aluminum tape, the apiarist (thank you Elizabeth Newell) reminded me of something else...
That Aluminum tape stays in a locked cupboard at work so it won't disappear, because it is FANTASTIC for quickly and temporarily shimming up things.
It's a consistent thickness, and you can stack layers and they won't compress much. It's the bomb for getting things going in a hurry, just don't expect it to last forever in a high-vibration situation.
I used duct tape to fashion an improvised wheel nut once, that was when I realised it’s not about how good duct tape is at what it’s meant for but how good it is when it’s all you have
Duck tape is not duct tape
Unless it's Duck brand.
So it can be both
I mean, it's on the moon as a repair item. :)
Adam: *Makes a zombie net out of duct tape*
Zombie: *breaks through the net without breaking a sweat*
Adam; 'And that's why I made a second net out of gaffer tape'
And then Adam realised that the particular zombie is Jamie. “Well, I’m screwed.”
Do zombies sweat?
@@mrwaffles1394 Dare you to get close enough to find out 😉. My reasoning was the they were humans once so they must still sweat, right?
Hey, if you want to fight zombies, you have to be willing to spend more money. Gaffer tape is about 40 bucks at my store, and duct tape is 6.
Nah, a duct tape net would hold up better. The adhesive is stronger than gaff tape.
Gaffer tape is my go-to as a musician, too. No residue from short-term use, great for holding down cables on the stage and also for attaching microphones to brass instruments without accidentally removing lacquer.
Scott Manley a few minutes ago: *You can basically build a space suite out of duct tape*
Adam Savage: *I hate duct tape*
No. All Adam is saying is that you can build a BETTER space suit with different tape.
More clues on how the algorithm works...... interesting
Duct tape is like a Swiss Army knife - other specific tools are better, but duct tape is what I reach for if I need to patch something fast
@@trcxsa it’s not just about the algorithm. This video ad Scott’s were posted on the same day... ua-cam.com/video/pdoMOXvqjbY/v-deo.html
A space suit might be the ideal oxygen free environment for duct tape! Until it disolves in sunlight and turns to peanut brittle
"Gaffer tape is like duct tape went to college and actually learned how to do its job"
As a former stage tech and current G&E, this had me rolling... Wait, I'm not camera.
Adam, you are a beacon of logic in a chaotic and irerrational world. Thank you for everything you do, please don't stop.
Thank you for leaving in the pauses where Adam takes a beat to collect thoughts or think.
Hello
@@adamsavage356 when the imposter is exhibiting suspicious behavior
Hello
"Gaffer's tape is duct tape that went to college and learned how to do its job." I love that. I agree with your analysis of duct tape. I do use it on occasion, temperately. Gorilla is the best I've found.
His response to the question is a bit odd in that all these types and brands of tape material he mentions would really be considered sub-types of duct tape in common language by most people. He is really just highlighting that commonly available types and brands are inferior.
After putting up a display where we used a LOT of gorilla tape to hold black fabric against gridwall, I learned the hard way that gorilla tape adhesive is strong enough to remove your fingerprints.
@@talyrath I once made the mistake of dropping the loose end of a gorilla tape onto my hairy thigh. I have since switched to T-Rex tape. After I was done screaming, of course.
@@YTAG33 they aren't. Gaffers tape isn't duct tape. It's usually fabric backed, matt, and hugely more adherant
What you're effectively saying is duct tape is a sub category of sellotape/scotch tape which I'm sure you'd agree, it still isn't.
I bought some Gorilla brand double-sided tape and put up a plaque on a painted cinder lock wall. When I removed the plaque the tape literally ripped the paint off the wall along with a chunk of the concrete. Gorilla doesn't play around with their products.
What Adam says makes sense but only from the point of view:
- of someone working in a workshop
- of someone wealthy enough to have all the type of glue / fixing tools he wants
But if you are in a situation where the amount of tools you can have is limited, duct tape (or duck tape) is the way to go.
I won't bore you with all the stories where duct tape saved the day, because I guess we all have lived similar ones. Some repairs I made with duct tape were permanent (usually with the tougher Gorilla Tape) and are still holding after many years; some others are temporary, they hold until it is time to make a more serious repair.
In short duct tape is WONDERFUL and I love it despite being imperfect.
Adam: “I hate duct tape...”
Scott Manley: “can you build a spacesuit out of duct tape?”
I think Adam's point is, yes you can, but you shouldn't.
Well, Scotts position is mostly: yeah, you could and here is how, but mostly it's weird and probably unpleasent and depending on your breathing apparatus you could get a job done or not.
I got the impression that he wanted to inform why you need spacesuits and can not use just a scuba mask or something like that.
@@evilplaguedoctor5158 that was Scott's point too.
@@Ckay2552 Do a job, yes. Survive doing a job, pretty much no.
Our scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. -Dr. Ian Malcolm
As an industry tech professional, I still see red when I find a cable that someone has taped down (or worse, taped in a coil) with duck. I can feel the gooey mess it's going to leave on the insulation as I type this and just the thought of it is making me twitchy.
I have too, 'duct'.
I feel the same about electrical tape
@@shermantank What's that? Time to go back and fix an old repair? Schmoo everywhere! Better grab a rag and some lighter fluid and clean that shit up.
@@s0nnyburnett I second that, Naphthalene and lighter fluid are the only way to get that scunge off
@@s0nnyburnett Release the schmoo!
I'm a costumer and I personally use duct tape as a way to create patterns for any carved foam pieces that need to be covered with some sort of fabric. It's decently cheap and really flexible so it can get into corners and go around curves so much smoother then most tapes I've tried in the past. But I've never used it as actually tape lol.
This is my favorite episode yet!
"We don't use duct tape, we're professionals, we use Gaff tape!!!" My boss at the first special effects company I worked for when I was 18 years old.
"The film industry runs on this stuff"
As a high school theatre tech, this made me snicker. The whole operation is held together with it.
Most people do not want to know how the sausage is made.
ain't just HS theaters either..."gaff tape isn't a permanent fix either..." I would put money on there being decade+ old strips of gaff tape holding SOMETHING together in most theaters across the world.
@@wobblysauce it's literally used everywhere from marking stages for actors to the most heinous crime I've seen of holding a full lighting fixture in place. H&S be damned, the show must go on (in defence, it did have a chain to hold it if it failed).
"Oops, tripping hazard here"
*tape tape tape*
"Okay, fixed till teardown"
@@eveljkov There's gaff tape holding an XLR cable on the wall. Im certain it's been there a decade or more, just by the dust stuck around it...
What I’ve always said is “Duct tape isn’t a great, long-term solution for anything. But it is a pretty good, short-term solution for just about everything.”
Except after that your item is permanently covered in that terrible adhesive.
Duct Tape: Jack-of-all-trade, master of none
Adam: I need none of that, I've got a shop full of masters of something.
Me: I can't afford or even store even a fraction of this stuff, duct tape is pretty good!
Exactly! Duct tape is a great all-purpose tool for people who only need to make occasional temporary repairs (which is most of us). If I'm only going to have one kind of tape in the toolbox, it's going to be duct tape.
Agree!
Exactly, for those of us who like to buy things in-store, we're SOL finding any of that specialty s*** while getting our groceries, or at the local hardware store.
For the record, the actual quote is- Jack of all trades, master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one
Anything you can do with duct tape you can do better with gaffers though.
As an audio engineer, I am always here for the promotion of gaffer tape.
As a museum tech, same.
Hell yes.
I have fallen for cloth tape hard in recent years (tv tech director)
same here, Gaff is amazing
the best way to never get invited back to a venue is to leave duct tape residue all over the floor and stage after a gig
As an architect, I'd recommend white artist tape. For modeling. Takes well to paint and a good modeling binder if you're careful applying it. But then the models we make are pretty fragile and don't take well to the rough and tumble of a prop or production set.
"gaffer tape is like duct tape went to college, and learned how to do its job" ---- YES!!!!
I thought it was the same thing! Gaffa tape we call it. Always translated it to duct tape. :o
@@mirawenya same. Now I'm very confused what the difference is.
@@FactoryofRedstone especially cause he then says "everyone knows what duct tape is".
Well I though I did
@@FactoryofRedstone Gaffer tape usually has a matt surface, so it's less visible. On most surfaces it doesn't leave a sticky residue, at least if you don't leave it on for too long. And it's usually not quite as sticky as duct tape.
@@jullit31 Thanks, that helps alot.
My great grandmother lived through the invention of the automobile, the airplane, the computer, the internet... and her very serious opinion was that the greatest invention of her lifetime was duct tape.
well she's entitled to a bad opinion lmao ;)
@@joshuadempsey5281 she is correct though.
It's up there with sliced bread. I never came to a conclusion what is better actually.
@@orion7741 nope lol
I was lucky enough to get to know my great great grandma who was born 1905 or 1906 (don't exactly remember she passed around her 100th birthday). Talking to her, it was just so hard to imagine, she was around 20 years before sliced bread! Literally! she got to grow up seeing the beginning of cars being commonplace. Honestly, while there was a lot of bad things in the last century, I think based on technological advancement alone, it was probably one of the coolest times to live through, although Im sure our great great grandchildren will say the same about us.
Yeah, my go to tape as a construction worker is actually Stego tape... Stuffs kinda... Pricy, but you can tape concrete chucks together and they stay with that stuff
The Red Green Show helped popularize the idea that you can do anything, and everything, with duct tape. lol
I was wondering if I'd see a Red Green reference. I was just thinking "no one show this to Red, he will drive down from Canada duct tape you to his van, then bring you back to the lodge and feed you to Moose Thompson."
Wow havent seen that forever
Keep your stick on the ice!
Its amazing how often i see references to red, i love that show
If the women can't find you handsome at least find you handy.
OMG! Adam said what I've been saying for over 35 years. "The thing duct tape does worst is taping ducts". So very true.
House wrap seam tape is the most underrated tape. It's super strong but stretchy non-woven fabric with adhesive that literally won't come off without ripping either the tape or the substrate. It sticks to basically anything as long as it's clean. It's weathertight, and works great to fix small holes or rips in jackets, tents or tarps.
A great tip I learned from a newspaper photographer years ago was to wrap some gaffers tape around your every day pen. Having just a few inches of tape for a quick repair or just to hold down some paper can be invaluable. Take the roll when you know you will need it, but just a few inches around your pen can make the difference when you are on the road and in a tight spot.
Doesn't the pen become a sticky mess after a while?
I too wish to know... I did a similar thing with electrical tape. BIG MISTAKE. That stuff breaks down and leaves a residue.
It's uncanny that you and Scott Manley would both upload videos about duct tape in less than an hour of each other. I watched his video first and thought to myself "Scott and Adam should have done a collaboration video about duct tape."
Hello fellow scott manley fan :) I just watched his vid before this
Haha came here to say the same:) I think they should team up for a myth-busters-style collaboration:D
Indeed
+1 on arriving here *right* after watching Scott Manley's video
I took a picture of my feed 😂 I thought it was funny too
Oh, thank god! Now I know I 'm not the only one. And you even included 2 of my favorite utility tapes in this video, aluminum tape and gaffers tape. If you want it to stop leaking use aluminum tape, if leakage isn't an issue use gaffers tape. Thank you for telling the world that there are superior tapes out in the world. Sure, most of them don't have quite the range of usability as duct tape, but I'm so glad that a professional has revealed to the world that duct tape is, was, and always will be the worst tape to use for the purpose it was originally intended for; ducts. Gaffers tape is just as good in most cases, and it is so much easier to work with.
love seeing that swiss army knife parading itself in the background and the pool ball on your mill.
The irony of the Swiss Army knife in the background while Adam goes on a diatribe about duct tape is hilarious. If there were a McGuyver reference in this clip it would have been perfect
Ok, so Adam is not best friends with Jamie, and he doesn't even like duct tape. Next he'll tell us that, in fact, he DOES NOT reject our reality and substitute his own. Everything we know about the entertainment industry is a lie!
Also, he probably no longer says "Failure is an option"--just wait!
😂😂 this is amazing
Well to top it off that wasn’t even his line.
@@KenrickLeiba ofc there would be one of you.
Next thing he'll tell us that Hollywood explosions are all fake 😁
I hate to try to explain something to Adam Savage but the intended purpose for Duck tape was not for duct work. It was invented in WW2 and made from cotton duck cloth and it’s excellent abilities at water resistance ( like water off a duck’s back) earned it the colloquial term of Duck tape. It was just a general purpose tape and even went on to be used heavily by the Navy to temporarily patch small hull breaches in smaller craft. Most notably the amphibious DUKW or “Duck” which has also been given as the origin of the product and name, though incorrect as well.
CC: "The thing it's the worst at is literally its name Ducks it is horrendous on ducks don't ever use it for ducks... You want to seal up a duck?..." *runs away*
Duct.
@@BrunodeSouzaLinothey were talking about the closed captions
@@BrunodeSouzaLino It's actually duck, not duct, since it originally was made of a cotton duck fabric. Never was intended for use with ducts. I think most people just assume no one would tape ducks but do need to tape ducts so they assume duck is a mispronunciation when its actually the intended word...
Oh damn you are right. This is hilarious
@@MCWaffles2003-1 I thought it was called duck tape because when you peel a long strip of it off the roller very quickly, it sounds like a duck.
Regular duct tape is awful. T-rex, gorilla or gaff tape are not the same thing as the traditional silver stuff.
Gorilla Tape is terrible too, in my experience. The fabric always separates from the adhesive and leaves a mess of residue.
Throwing in the blueish-grey 3M stuff too. I don't know if they make the product anymore, but I went through tons of the stuff as a kid. It didn't leave residue as easily, had WAY better UV resistance over time, stuck to literally anything, was like 3+ layers with a super slick abrasion resistant backing. Came in a roll over two inches wide for good coverage. Good stuff, hardly "duct tape."
Iron Force too. I like the Frogger Duct tape but the flaw of that stuff like Gorrila is the stuff will not come off. Iron force is actually a gaffers tape.
@@suicidalbanananana Yes and the best of these Gaff Tape and stuff that is marketed as as Duct Tape but is Gaff Tape is Iron Force, since it never leaves much of a residue unlike most Gaff Tape leaving a residue Which Iron Force does not do nor dose get stuck to its self or stupid sticky with odd grip when it is left in a hot car like some/most Gaff tape labeled as Gaff Tape. The next best of the Gaffer style Duct Tapes after Iron Force is Frogger or T-Rex. Flaws are in a hot car T-Rex gets stuck to its self as one roll and Frogger Duct Tape gets odd sticky in a way that is different from normal way Frogger tape acts.
It’s true that everything that Duct Tape can do, can be done better by another product.
However, Duct Tape can do so many things well enough, that it’s an absolutely essential resource for most households.
If you don’t anticipate many problems that would be better solved by a specific alternative to Duct Tape, but are likely to encounter many different problems that could be solved with Duct Tape, then Duct Tape is a very useful tool.
One of the best bits about gaffer, is that it comes in colors. You can mark cases or cables by what they're for. The bright yellow is great for marking suitcases.
True, but then again, so does duct tape. My niece used to use some ungodly bright pink duct for making friendship bracelets.
I also carry a spool each of red, green, yellow, and black for field training exercises - unlike the triage tags and ribbons that tend to disappear because the mock victims can't stop playing with them, a good tight application of red duct tape tends to stay in place until we're done with them :)
You can also get coloured duct tape and electrical tape. I use white electrical tape for labelling plugs
"Gaffer tape is like Duct Tape went to college and learned how to actually do its job" is great
When I watch this.. I can't believe two brilliant guys like Adam and Jamie were able to work together so well for so many years.
For reference, the etymology of "duck tape" is that it was originally duck cloth with an adhesive added. And then it morphed to "duct".
More people might know that if more people knew what duck cloth is. I'm not familiar with it.
@@HariSeldon913 Cotton Duck (from Dutch doek,"linen canvas"), also simply duck, sometimes duck cloth or duck canvas - commonly called "canvas" outside the textile industry - is a heavy, plain-woven cotton fabric. There is also linen duck, which is less often used. Duck fabric is woven with two yarns together in the warp and a single yarn in the weft.
Common uses of Duck include:
shoes and sneakers
tents
sandbags
homemade artist canvas for paintings
aprons
totes
backpacks
duffel bags
handbags etc....
@@drmodestoesq Thanks. I'm familiar with canvas, but wasn't familiar with duck cloth being another name for it.
Funny. And now there's a brand of duct tape called Duck. It's gone full circle
Alternately just read the first two sections of the wikipedia article (apparently initially it was just strips of cotton duck) and some later variations had adhesive added. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape
Adam's enthusiasm is so enjoyable to watch that I just sat through 7 minutes of "I don't like duct tape" 😂
I remember on I think the one day build with Vsauce Michael, he goes on basically this same rant and it stuck with me. Duct tape is bad at sealing ducts because it doesn't take thermal cycles well and gets brittle. It was originally called duck tape for its water resistant qualities.
Steve Smith(Red Green) would be shedding a tear right now. "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
tbf... none of that went really well... :P
*or men
@@cenciende9401 you could turn it into any non binary if you wanted from the original saying if you want.
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
@@cenciende9401 bruh thats not the quote though. have you even seen the show?
You got me jonesin' for a list of problems duct tape gets applied to and the proper materials for each.
and also the situations where duct tape is actually appropriate.
@@KairuHakubi it’s only good for the trash can lol
In decades as an outdoorer I was never disappointed and could always rely on those things: a reliable companion, a good knife, Paracord and - Panzerband. It’s so reliable, so versatile, so easy to handle and so hard to break or destroy. Panzerband replaces a lot of other materials and even tools. It fixes everything but relationships and heartache. But I'm sure they are working on that matter. Guess the genius that has invented the wheel was the same that later on invented Panzerband. Don’t know if it’ld work for Adam’s purposes but it’s for sure the multitool that should be found in every tool box no matter how small or big.
"It's a triumph of engineering over the material."
Me: *involuntary 'Mhmm!'*
Is that not the ethos of mythbusters
@@kittiekat1236
Yep, that it is: "Okay, it's not pretty and won't work in the long term, but we need something for a quick and dirty fix _right now_ until we get our hands on the stuff we actually need".
''It's treason then''
AC guy here. We use mastic tape. Common term is pooky tape. It’s Nashua 322. Basically it has a rubber glue 2mm thick on the back. It works better than foil tape. We use flex ducts vs old school metal piping so we use big zip ties to attach the duct (there’s a tool called a strap gun that tightens them up far more than you could by hand, don’t worry they aren’t coming off.) we then paint over it with mastic paint. It’s water based. It seals those up.
Edit: we really only use duct tape to wrap copper line sets with Rubatex. You’d cut a slit down one side, slip it over the line, and tape it back together
We need Steve Smith of the Red Green Show to demonstrate just what a handyman can pretend to be able to make with duct tape.
Hell yea red green show was the shit
He literally wrote a book...
I once saw an image macro of the Red Green guy, where WH40K space orks had taken a liking to this strange humie who could work miracles with the strange silvery material. Apparently he got on famously with them because they appealed to his 'DIY' spirit.
Last year, one of my theater friends gave me a graduation gift of gaffer's, spike, and glow tape. One of the best gifts I ever received
It works great for securing shipping boxes. The residue and rot issue isn't really an issue unless you're using an old roll. It sticks real well to cardboard and gives the box a little extra strength. I use it to reinforce the outside edges. It's overkill for sure in more situations but the people receiving the boxes sure appreciate the effort.
1977, we were in the car hauler heading home to Richmond from the drag strip in Redding. On 505, literally in the middle of nowhere, "What's that noise?", "I'm going to go with bad u-joint". Sure enough, out-put yoke on the transmission. Three coat hangers and some 3M brand duct tape later we were able to limp her home.
As a photographer, you always pack three backup solutions to any potential problem.
The fourth is “gaff tape will find a way.“
True that. However, often times the last few years my third is "Well, the static line actually reaches the ground, so f**k it!"
Gaffer tape blew my mind when I first used it. Duct tape is the cheap and cheerful way to do something less-than-well.
I'm so glad you brought up gaff tape. I work in a theater and people who rent our stage often bring in their own rolls of duct tape. We confiscate every single roll we find. I've ripped up entire 50ft lines that bands have come in with just to replace the duct tape with gaff. It is just so much better in every reasonable way.
I was working in film industry for 15 years. And it's so true! All film industry is running on a gaffer tape! Everything might be gripped with a gaffer tape! 😂
*breaking news, the duct tape industry collapses over night mysteriously, more at 11*
we can only hope...
It still works well enough for my job... as a temporary solution. Long term it doesn't have that many uses. The heat from the machines I work on can weaken the grip of it, but it can sometimes still hold something if it's more remote and doesn't get too warm, but not if it's got too much load on it, or if it's too dusty (and our machines do get dusty).
Those millennials are at it again.
@cold media - *Dan Rather voice* The duct tape industry suffered simultaneous collapses due to using their own product to repair their buildings and equipment. It turns out that the tape in question was only holding together due to luck and not being looked at.
As soon as people stopped believing in it and looked everything fell apart. As if Schrodinger's Cat was made of duct tape and we opened the box to look.
@@edwardsmith7131 now this is the true journalism this country deserves!
I use gaffers tape at work all the time and it is much better than duct tape. But, as Adam said, it will leave a residue and it will eventually become a gummy dried out mess. But it generally takes more time or heat to do that than duct tape does on the order of weeks or months rather than days. Even being diligent in our cable care, we still go through lots of Goo Gone cleaning off tape residue.
Whenever possible we use Safcord, a canvas strip with Velcro on the underside. Works great on carpet and for some semi-permanent uses on hard flooring with a few strips of the other side of Velcro stuck down on it.
That aluminum HVAC tape Adam mentioned is also great for all kinds of crafts. Stick a length of that on a cardboard box, poke a hole in it and you've got a pinhole camera.
As a musician, Gaff Tape has helped me out of a difficult situation on more than one occasion. It is so ingrained in the industry that when I was studying music production, you would fail the course if you couldn't rip it with just your fingers.
You are a first class musician for that. As an ex-audio technician, I could always spot the beginners when they asked for duct-tape. Or, god forbid, brought it on stage.
I wish I could get Gaff Tape locally. I would love to try it, just not "Go thru the effort to order online" want to try it.
@@nes999 Honestly I can tell you it IS worth it. Just be certain to get a good brand like Nashua
Instructions unclear; I will now proceed to use duct tape on ducks.
Afquaaaaaaaaack!
But will you use Duck Brand Tape on Ducts?
I just realised that I have masking tape, electrical tape, regular sticky tape, and that sealing tape that plumbers use, but no duct tape. I don't think I've ever bought it at all.
this is prime material for the "Top Ten Anime Betrayals" meme category, either that or that Captain America screenshot everyone hates
Hail Hydra
What Captain America screenshot? The John Walker introduction?
Years ago I heard a phrase that seared itself into my memory. Perfect is the enemy of good. For me Duct tape isn't perfect for anything, but it is good enough to usually get the job done. And it isn't as expensive as some brands out there. Now that I am older I am slowly changing my opinion on what "good" is. But Duct tape is a non-permanent fix to things that I need a temporary solution for. So yes while I use alumininimum tape for duct work. Duct tape still has a place in my junk drawer for quick fixes.
Yes I know about the typo, but I tend to say it that way from time to time, so what's a guy to do?
But it still leaves gunk behind, an undesirable property in temporary tape.
@@SianaGearz can never recall a single time ive ever had to use duct tape and thought "But it will leave a residue..." was always more like "Hopefully that will hold it till we get home!" Pluss its cheap enough that you wont feel pressed to be stingy with it, and likewise wont feel wasteful for using allot of it.
my favourite is masking tape, it's strong enough for most household stuff, soft enough that it won't damage anything, lasts a while, can write on it so it's a cheap label.
I figured after that duck tape desert island episode you guys would have some kind of stale memory of duct tape.
was about to comment this lol ahaha
I use gaffer tape for just about every application now, except electrical. I do keep a roll of gorilla duct in my car, because it is strong and robust enough to hold together body panel, etc.. Gaff, electrical, aluminum, "Denso", and medical are staple tape. Duct has it's place, but not in first-line applications, most of the time.
Opinion on FlexTape then?
@@erinfinn2273 I have not encountered a situation where I needed it, so I have not used it. It is "on my radar", but I can't comment on it.
His comment about different people coming up with different solutions with the same material made me think of Junkyard Wars. And how PERFECT Adam would be as the host of a reboot for that show.
"You can have it fast, but it won't be pretty or permanent. You can have it pretty, but it won't be fast. You can have it permanent, but it won't be fast. If you want pretty and permanent it's really, really not gonna' be fast."
To put it more succinctly:
You can have it quick, pretty, or permanent, choose two.
@@MogoPrime Reminds me of that repairs are cheap, fast, or good. Pick two.
@@NavyMonk89 The one I remember is about production of goods and services. Cheap, quality, fast. Pick two.
I know I shouldn't be surprised considering Adam's experience, but I always find it enjoyable when someone knows the difference between duct and gaffer tape
I could seriously watch this guy explain anything and find it interesting. Besides his smarts, its a god given gift. The ability to make anything sound interesting.... its just mind boggling, im seriously baffled. He could explain something as boring as tape, EASY HALF A MILLION VIEWS. SAY WHAT? WHO GOES VIRAL EXPLAINING DUCT TAPE? mythbusters would've never worked without him.
I ENJOYED MY MYTHBUSTERS WHEN GROWING UP.... THANKS FOR ALL THOSE HOURS OF QUALITY CONTENT.
I think the appeal of duct tape is that it’s just versatile enough to solve basic problems in a pinch when the correct material is unobtainable or unavailable.
I bought gaffer tape for the first time last year and it was hands down the most satisfying purchase of 2020.
I think the reason ducttape has become so popular is because its pretty much the cheapest most readily available thing to fix anything in the heat of the moment. And by "fix" I really mean patch up just well enough to proceed with whatever it is that you need to proceed with.
Fun fact. Here in The Netherlands duct tape, was referred to as "theater tape" for the longest time. Because of its populairity among theater technicians and stage builders to patch or secure things during a play. You see, if there's a wardrobe malfunction, or a set malfunction, or a technical issue and you quickly need to secure some cables or something, before the next act starts or whatever, duct tape is GREAT. You don't need to fix it forever, just untill the play is done.
If you consider gorilla tape to be a separate class of tape, you should try a roll of TRex tape that stuff is insanely heavy duty.
Trex brute force!
this is more devastating than when we learned adam and jamie arent friends outside of the show
Here’s the thing, its not like they ever tried to hide this fact. It’s mentioned many times in the show that they aren’t really friends, and it used to be a bigger part of the show.
It was a triumph of engineering over relationship.
@@harrytodhunter5078 I think people take that revelation too far the other way. They seem to think that because they're not friends that they must actively dislike each other. Yet, despite not being friends, when Jamie was approached about Mythbusters he recommended including Adam as part of the show.
They may not be friends, but there's clearly a mutual respect there, given how much fruitful collaboration they've done over the years.
@@klasodeth 100%. They dont hate eachother, they just didnt hang out outside of the show.
It is not unusual at work places to work very well together, but not be friends outside.
Back in highschool I went to the Thespian Festival every year, as a tech theater kid, and a gaff tape company had a display of damn near every color in the rainbow. Something like 30 or 40. And every width too. The actors didn’t even look at it, but we thought it was amazing.