Duct Tape: Saving Soldiers and Astronauts for 70 Years

In 1943, Vesta Stoudt had a job in a munitions factory where ammo cases were sealed with paper tape and melted wax. Worried the cases were too hard to open on the battlefield, Stoudt proposed a fix: Use waterproof cloth tape instead. Johnson & Johnson adapted surgical adhesive tapes to Stoudt's specifications, and soldiers eventually repurposed the stuff for tent and boot repairs (they dubbed it 100-mph tape because it could hold together a speeding jeep). After the war, contractors employed it to hold together heating vents, and it came to be known as duct tape. But that was just the start. The combination of materials—a moisture-resistant layer of polyethylene, a strength-giving cloth mesh, and a sticky, rubber-based adhesive—have made duct tape the ultimate DIY product. It can fix a lawn chair, fasten a strap to a guitar, or be crafted into a wallet. Astronauts swear by it too: It was a key component in the repair job that saved Apollo 13.