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Editor’s Note: This is a guest article by Brett Stone. <\/em><\/p>\n If you stop and think for a second, you can probably name two or three places where you have partially used rolls of a sticky, gray, string mesh-reinforced polymer fix-all stashed around your house, garage, and vehicles.<\/p>\n Good \u2018ol duct tape: it\u2019s as ubiquitous as it is time-tested. Before it was used for household fixes, it saw action in World War II as a jerry-rigged repair for vehicles and weapons. Later, the venerable tape even went to the moon and helped Apollo 17 astronauts improvise a needed fender extension on the lunar rover. It\u2019s still popular today with more varieties, colors, and patterns than ever.<\/p>\n But despite its popularity and storied history, there are situations where duct tape may not actually be the best choice. Check out these five, too-often overlooked alternatives to duct tape that you may want to consider stashing alongside your old gray standby:<\/p>\n Ever tried to remove and then replace duct tape more than once or twice only to find that the tack or \u201cstickiness\u201d that held it in place so well the first time had weakened significantly, maybe entirely? Loss of tackiness, while likely to improve your social interactions, is less beneficial when it comes to holding pieces of something together. Enter another space-proven tool: Velcro.<\/p>\n More properly called \u201chook and loop fasteners\u201d unless you\u2019re specifically referring to the brand name product (for why, check out this YouTube video<\/a>), Velcro also saw action on Apollo missions, including on the astronauts\u2019 space suits.<\/p>\n Double-sided pull-apart Velcro straps come in rolls and a variety of widths. Open and close as many times as you want; the tiny hooks and loops keep on keeping on without losing their grip.<\/p>\n When you need the surfaces of two different planar objects to stick to each other, you may be tempted to roll a piece of duct tape into a cylinder with the sticky side out to put between the surfaces. But wouldn\u2019t it be great if the two surfaces could just magically stick to each other without the awkward and weak gap caused by rolled up tape?<\/p>\n It\u2019s not magic, but it does come in an aerosol can. Spray on adhesives like 3M\u2019s Super 77 Multipurpose can bond cardboard, paper, fiberglass insulation, even carpet after only about 15 seconds. What\u2019s more convenient than that?<\/p>\n Advertised with the bold claim that its repair wrap is 100X stronger than duct tape, FiberFix is basically a resin-based fiber composite for those of us who don\u2019t work on jet aircraft or Formula One racecars (where fiber-reinforced composites are common). It\u2019s most useful for broken cylindrical items — think shovel or broom handles, metal or plastic pipes, chair legs, etc. The resin in the fiber-infused wrap begins to cure with exposure to moisture; in about 15 minutes, it hardens into a strong, waterproof barrier around whatever you wrapped.<\/p>\n Also known as cable ties, zip ties use a small clip mechanism or \u201ccased ratchet\u201d to lock onto grooves cut into long, narrow plastic straps and were originally developed to help manage the masses of cables in aircraft. Impressively strong and inexpensive, the uses for these ties abound: Temporary gate or luggage lock? Check. Need to give your car\u2019s plastic fender \u201cstitches\u201d until you can get it to the body shop after it kissed the corner of the house? Check. Oh, or maybe you want to manage the unruly tangle of cables behind your desktop computer? Checkmate.<\/p>\n Duct tape is useful for all sorts of things. We\u2019ve all seen the duct tape boats, duct tape prom suits and dresses (there\u2019s a scholarship for that — really<\/a>), and duct tape wallets. A study even found<\/a> that duct tape is more effective than cryotherapy for removing warts. Yet ironically enough, for all of duct tape\u2019s amazing uses, one that you shouldn\u2019t<\/em> use it for is the one from which it takes its name.<\/p>\n1. Velcro Straps<\/a><\/h3>\n
2. Spray-On Adhesive<\/a><\/h3>\n
3. FiberFix Repair Wrap<\/a><\/h3>\n
4. Zip Ties<\/a><\/h3>\n
5. Mastic<\/a><\/h3>\n