or: A Tribute to Duct Tape
As part of a very extensive kit list for this expedition, there was an item that is more versatile than most. An item that if WD40 can’t fix it, this product can. That item is duct tape.
It is also one of the cheaper items and generally available in a fairly boring black or silver.
Not any more.
My search for a box mosquito net while I was in Port Elizabeth led me to many different stores, one of which was a hardware shop. I figured I may as well look for the duct tape while I was there so I can cross that item from my shopping list since it was highly unlikely I’d find a mosquito net there. It was proving to be difficult to find a mosquito net anywhere but that’s another story.
There is aisle four was a duct tape display. Yes, you read that correctly, they were displayed. They were displayed by colour. There was even duct tape for the various rugby teams people may support and one for the South African Springbok team too.
So I bought the extra large bright pink tape with white polka dots.
Because, why wouldn’t I?
I had no idea what I would use it for once I was on the expedition. I’m familiar with it’s many traditional purposes including for electrical wiring though I’m not willing to risk using it for this purpose with my rather limited wiring skills.
Now in my fourth week of the expedition and it has been used for the following purposes:
- an identification marker on my luggage
- repairing a hole in the flyscreen of our front door
- for my costume of last week and those of a few other people too. In my case, it held up my “boobs”, was wrapped around a stick to act as an old style cigarette pipe and in another, it formed a horn for a unicorn fish
It’s most important and useful purpose though has been:
- holding up my very difficult to source mosquito net – it’s the non-box kind.
* Thanks to Crowded House for the title to this post.