I do it the same way I did in the army. Cut the ends off of a used chemlight (glow stick) wash it out (be careful of the broken glass). Wrap the tape around the tube. Cut the tube to the with of the tape. Use a small piece of the tube and some five fifty cord to make a carrier for the tape. Basically a loop of cord with the small piece of tube tied on it. Then thread it through the center of the tube with the tape. The small piece of tube only serves to keep the tape tube from falling of the end. The tape tube will unwind freely when you are holding the ends of the cord and if you made the loop big enough you can attach it to your pack by using the loop at the other end and threading the spindle through it.
I find that a flat roll makes for a more pocketable/packable roll. Some people have suggested using an old credit/phone card. I just folded the end of the roll over on itself and started wrapping it around itself. You get a "slab" of duct tape instead of a short, fat roll. I also like to cut a couple of pieces of Tenacious tape and stick them in a kit.
+1 I've done it with a old pen for a center and it works the same way [img width=500 height=295]http://www.tucsonpictures.com/pics/2007-8/00-8-4-07-005.jpg[/img] I still use the drill to do the work too [img width=640 height=405]http://www.tucsonpictures.com/pics/2007-8/00-8-4-07-018.jpg[/img] [img width=640 height=402]http://www.tucsonpictures.com/pics/2007-8/00-8-4-07-015.jpg[/img] And you end up with a cool mini pen [img width=640 height=181]http://www.tucsonpictures.com/pics/2007-8/00-8-4-07-007.jpg[/img]
If the film and Television world... we wrap gaffer tape ( sorry duct lovers) over itself making a flat package about 6" long x 1/2" to 3/4 thick the perfect length for lable which I make all day - using a paint pen, taping cables etc. I use one all day at work and prefer it far far over carrying the roll. electricians tape the roll is amall enough to sit on a caribiner on my tool belt. there are few grades of Gaff tape, the best is one of the permacel offerings much much thicker. the one often oft neglected quality of Gaff over duct is that duct tape conducts electricity... not such a big deal for people at home or making a BOB.. kmc
I roll them over a q-tip (without the cotton ends, I also have a bunch of flat pack duct tape in each bike and in bike toolkit. Also using an eye bolt works well and in the same fashions as the sardine can keys to clip them to something for those of you who don't eat sardines. If you're going to EDC this stuff and rarely if ever use it, remember to replace it every once in a while as old duct tape isn't as sticky as fresh stuff thats sealed. it really sucks to go for that duct tape and then realize it's worthless. Happened to me a few times using 3M duct tape so its not like I was using the cheap crap. While I'm here does anyone know if gorilla tape is the same as gaffers?
Once you realize that an old buisness card is exactly the same width as a roll of duct tape it becomes obvious what has to be done. I roll them about a half inch thick and leave them everywhere.
Used an old plastic insurance card. It is just barely wider than the duct tape. I also heard of people taking credit cards, cutting them in half, then tearing the duct tape down the middle to make mini-rolls of tape.
I stole a few ideas here and added my own twist.... I take a empty cashier paper roll, wrap it with 10' or so, and instead of cutting the ends off, i use the remaining space for a few feet of electrical tape, both tapes on one nice compact roll.
In addition to having some tape wrapped on cards, I've taken to doing the following: The shock cord is easily removable from under the plunger, but it keeps it from being depressed in my bag/pocket. I can hook it on a keychain or caribiner, and I get a convenient place to wrap duct tape. Not sure where I saw this, I know I'm not the first.
great idea, small package, keeps lighter 'full' and still easy to clip it on / in a bag.. very clever !!
I got a cilindrical container that came with a pen inside, probably very thin alluminium, used one half of it to roll some duct tape around, and put a couple of spare 123s inside, with some paper for insulation and keeping things quiet. To close it down, one inch or duct tape, and that's it: a small spare batteries and duct tape carrier.
I carry a few feet of it in a BOB rolled around whatever was handy, and a full 1" roll in my car's emergency kit, but my favorite used to be a couple strips the size of a dollar bill stuck on the non-stick side of a piece of that plasticy liner on self-adhesive films or shelf paper and tucked in my wallet. I would take a piece of the liner that was a bit more than 4" wide and 6-7" long (depending on my wallet), and lay two pieces of tape side by side on it so there was some liner showing between and on all sides, then fold it in half lengthwise- tape to tape to minimize glue messes, and tuck it in my billfold. Since my 'wallet tape' generally got used in little pieces, this lasted me a while. When I have access to it, I prefer a strip each of clear and black duct tapes for this. I've used Gorilla tape, and like it, but for general purpose use I like the plain cheap stuff just fine. I don't carry the 'wallet tape' so much anymore... just was not using it so much lately- but I also carry a tool bag at work more often then I used to!
Here's an idea I came up with a few years back. I used a large cotter pin and wrapped the tape around it so I could put it on a keychain.
