Duct+Tape


 * Duct tape**, or **duck tape**, is cloth- or [|scrim] -backed [|pressure sensitive tape] often sealed with [|polyethylene] . There are a variety of constructions: backings, adhesives, etc. One variation is [|gaffer tape] but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It is generally silver or black but also available in other colors. In 1942 [|Revolite], formerly a division of [|Johnson & Johnson] , originally developed an adhesive tape made from a [|rubber] -based [|adhesive] applied to a durable [|duck cloth] backing. This tape resisted water and was used as sealing tape on [|ammunition] cases during [|World War II] . [|[1]] Because of these properties, it was also used to repair [|military] equipment quickly, including [|jeeps] , [|firearms] , and [|aircraft].

The origin of the name of the product, "duck tape" or "duct tape," is the subject of some disagreement. One view is that it was called "**duck** tape" by [|WWII] [|soldiers] either because it resembled strips of [|cotton duck] (canvas) or because the waterproof quality of the tape contributed to the name, by analogy to the water-shedding quality of a [|duck] 's [|plumage]. Under this view, soldiers returning home from the war found uses for duck tape around the house where [|ductwork] needed sealing. Other proponents of this view point to older references to non-adhesive cotton duck tape used in Venetian blinds, suggesting that the name was carried over to the adhesive product. The [|Oxford English Dictionary] says that //perhaps// "duct tape" was originally "duck tape". This view is summarized most notably in a [|New York Times] article by [|etymologist] [|William Safire] in March 2003. Safire cites use of the term "cotton duck tape" in a 1945 advertisement for surplus government property. [|[20]] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle uses the term "duck" in 1902 quotation for "100,000 yards of cotton duck tape" being used to protect the cables of the [|Brooklyn Bridge]. [|[21]] Thus a fabric duck tape was available to which an adhesive could have been added.