There's a long running joke whenever I've shown up to an event that was more than a few miles from my home coordinates I always mentioned I told my wife I was picking up a tool from the hardware store. It got to the point where fellow cachers were keeping track of what tools I said I was acquiring and would call me out if I used the same tool more than twice.
It's a new year and I've made a resolution to actually expand my tools and toolbox. Just a quick Meet n' Greet before I head into the hardware store. Share your latest adventure, upcoming plans, and/or trade trackables.
This month's tool is duct tape. Yes, I'm calling duct tape a tool. Duct tape also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesives, and the term 'duct tape' has been genericized to refer to different cloth tapes with differing purposes. A variation is heat-resistant foil tape useful for sealing heating and cooling ducts, produced because the adhesive on standard duct tape fails and the synthetic fabric reinforcement mesh deteriorates when used on heating ducts.
Powdered aluminum pigment gives traditional duct tape its silvery gray color. During World War II, Revolite developed an adhesive tape made from a rubber-based adhesive applied to a durable duck cloth backing. This tape resisted water and was used to seal some ammunition cases during that period.
Duct tape is generally silvery gray in color, but also available in other colors and printed designs, from whimsical yellow ducks, college logos to practical camouflage patterns.
Again, share your latest adventure, upcoming plans, and/or trade trackables.