Welcome to
The O.D. Lewis Page o’ Duct Tape
A PunchDragon Tribute to Our Papa

I've got my duck taped. Now what?

This page is intended to serve as a resource for travelers as they journey forth into the great unknown, where anything can happen, and usually does. Most problems encountered during travel are but a few strips of duct tape away from a solution. As this list grows, we hope that it will help to increase awareness among travelers regarding duct tape. By increasing awareness on this issue we can help to insure that duct tape realizes its rightful place among travel gear – as indispensable as carabeeners and Nalgene bottles. Let us travel in a world where duct tape is applied liberally, whether cut or torn from the roll, without regard to political boundaries or cultural differences.

Your contributions to this list are welcome and appreciated. If you have discovered or invented a creative use for duct tape during your travels that is not listed below, please email it to eric@punchdragon.com or brian@punchdragon.com so that we might include it here for the benefit of others. Please include: the Problem, a thorough description of your Duct Tape Solution, your Name, Hometown, and Country. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

Dedication

This page is dedicated to our Papa, Mr. O.D. Lewis, one of the greatest innovators and pioneers the duct tape field has ever known, and to all other such kindred souls, for whom the creative application of duct tape falls somewhere between a quick fix and an art form.

1001 Uses for Duct Tape While Travelling

11 - So Hot it Hurts

It's gettin' hot in heerrrre!
Problem: Two mule killers arrive in Viña del Mar, Chile, one with knees beat to hell from numerous months of trekking and cramped buses, the other with stiff back and hips and unwanted G.I. stowaways picked up in Peru, both desperately in need of a hot room studio for self healing by means of yoga.
Solution: Build a hot room yoga studio in apartment. Use $10 to buy plastic, nails, tacks and cement glue. Nail 1”X2”s into concrete slab walls with concrete nails with liberal application of concrete glue. Cut down small slender tree for supporting plastic ceiling. Run plastic ceiling over support and nail and tack to wall. Drop plastic down the sides to create heat barrier. Insert one gas heater and one electric heater and turn on ten minutes prior to yoga session. At this point you will find that cold air continues to find its way into the studio. Slap duct tape in strategic locations, seal all holes and access points for cold air.
Solution Update: Space is hot and sweating is good, but still not hot enough. Duct tape two more pieces of plastic together as an insulation barrier to passage of cold air through the entry way. Cut down second slender tree to anchor double sheeted plastic to floor. Insure that temperature in studio is so hot it hurts. When done properly you will enjoy the following results: 1) A $10 fully functional hot room yoga studio where temperatures soar to about 103-105 degrees! 2) Full healing. 3) Healthy joints and bodies.
Name: Brandon
Hometown: Dallas
Country: US

10- Big Toe Blues

Problem: Smartwool socks bought for a 16 day trek through Inca country have developed large holes over the big toe and continue to grow in diameter daily.
Solution: Place a 2" by 2" patch of duct tape over the hole. Four washes and two months later the duct tape has taken on the striations and folds of the sock. To increase adhesiveness of the duct tape to the sock or to just dry socks very rapidly at night because you must wake at 6:00 in the morning for the following day’s hike, I suggest sautéing them in a frying pan. That is, if the lady who owns the hostal doesn’t mind the odiferous odor of 13 days worth of trekking permeating her kitchen air.
Name: Brandon
Hometown: Dallas
Country: US

9 - Rainproofing Wool Blanket

Problem: When leaving for a multiple night camping trip in El Cajas National Park near Cuenca, Ecuador, you need to prepare yourself for the insanely cold weather. This means you need to bring the heavy wool blankets off the beds in your apt (generously provided by the owners of the apt), and they need to stay dry.
Solution: Wrap blanket first in the large plastic bag you received from the guitar you recently bought, then wrap again in a sturdy trashbag (green if possible), and duct-tape bag shut. When you open the bag, tenderly cut the duct-tape with a LeatherMan knife, so as not to rip the bag when removing the duct-tape. Re-apply after each use.
Name: Brian
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

8 - Machete Scabbard

Problem: You are leaving at 6:30 in the am for a trek into the cloud-shrouded mysteries in the crater of a heavily forested volcano. Local workers have used power grinders and power wetstones and hand finishing to put a razor edge on your newly bought machete. It is literally a deadly blade and you have nowhere to carry it as you trek.
Solution: Using the length of a large cardboard box, fold cardboard to the width and length of the machete blade and wrap in duct tape. Do this twice because the blade is that dangerous. Insert machete. Fit should be snug.
Solution Update: Either wrap the cardboard entirely in duct tape, or wrap it in plastic before applying duct tape. Cloud forest, pygmy swamps and heavy rain are no friends of cardboard.
Name: Eric
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

7 - Fruit Knife Scabbard

Problem: The knife gifted to you by the most beautiful shop owner on Utila is perfect for cutting large fruit such as pineapples, melons and papayas, but it does not pack easily without slashing other gear.
Solution: Using broad side of Pop Tart cardboard box, fold cardboard to the width and length of the knife blade and wrap in duct tape. Insert knife. Fit should be snug.
Name: Eric
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

6 - Leaky Contact Solution Bottle Patch

Problem: Mysterious hole occurs in bottom of your contact lens solution bottle, which sprays you instead of the intended contact lens case, and proceeds to leak all over everything.
Solution: Duct-tape the hole.
Solution Update: Solution did not work, and toiletries are now soaked in saline solution.
Name: Brian
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

5 - Frayed Rope Ends

Problem: No more than 20 minutes after stepping off the plane in Belize City, your brother convinces you that you must have a hammock, so you pick one up on the street, and some rope to hang it. Upon cutting the rope for hanging, you realize all it really wants to do in life is unravel.
Solution: Re-twist the frayed ends to resemble their original weave and wrap with duct-tape.
Name: Brian
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

4 - Paper Towel Bandaging

Problem: Legs are infested with hundreds of tiny garrapatas (ticks) during trek through jungle. Several of the wounds are dangerously and disgustingly infected. You have no bandages and six days of trekking ahead of you.
Solution: Clean wounds and apply antiseptic of your choice. Wrap paper towel (or two if extra ply is needed) into diagonal strip for maximum length and then wrap around wounds on legs. Use duct tape to secure paper towel bandage. Additionally, you will probably need to tape the bandage to your leg to prevent it from falling off. Note that removal of the duct tape from infected areas and leg hairs may cause pain.
Name: Eric
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

3 - Map Reinforcement

Problem: Crucial trekking map has been folded and unfolded so many times that it falls apart at the folds like a tender Texas BBQed brisket.
Solution:Apply duct tape liberally to back side of map along folds. This generally results in a more durable map than the one you began with. In fact, you might consider reinforcing your map in this manner before you even begin your travels.
Name: Eric
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

2 - Blister Guard

Problem: Searing, painful blisters on all parts of feet, with seven days of 10+ miles of hiking still to go.
Solution: Cover blisters in duct tape. It is important to apply liberally to prevent the tape from coming off. Note however, that wrapping a limb or appendage completely can restrict circulation to that part of the body. It is better to wrap the limb or appendage in halves. Half wrapped around one side, then half wrapped around the other. This will relieve some pain without cutting off circulation. Note also, that removal of the tape from blistered areas and body hair may cause pain.
Name: Eric
Hometown: Austin
Country:US

1 - Sealing Wood-boring Weevil Holes

Problem: Unable to sleep in a cheap room in the Guatemalan highlands because a wood-boring insect is digging his hole in the ceiling directly above your pillow, causing tiny wood borings to drop on your face.
Solution: Cut or tear a one inch square piece of duct tape and tape over the hole.
Name: Eric
Hometown: Austin
Country: US

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