Smithsonian.com

Not that I’ve ever tried it, but if I was to wrap someone’s mouth in duct tape I would wrap it around their entire head, front to back, 5-10 times. Let’s see Mr. Nugent escape this way.

Comment by Robin — October 17, 2012 @ 5:16 pm

Robin, my thoughts exactly.

Comment by Brandon — October 17, 2012 @ 5:53 pm

I think we have ourselves a pair of SUPER VILLAINS! But yeah, good point. I think his points was simply to say that in a lot of Hollywood movies they just put that one piece, and that would be totally ineffective.

Comment by Rose Eveleth — October 18, 2012 @ 8:32 am

How would that work if the duck tape was wound all around your head a couple of times?????

Comment by Vivian — October 21, 2012 @ 1:36 pm

And why eat the whole thing? Why not just start hollering for help as soon as you open your mouth in the first second?

Comment by Alice Elliot — November 2, 2012 @ 11:58 pm

Oh great. A training film for villians. Now they’ll simply use more duck tape (BTW “Duck tape” is a correct spelling) and I’ll have to eat 5 pounds of it to remove it.

Comment by Bill Crane — November 4, 2012 @ 7:34 pm

I’ve always dreaded even the thought of having my mouth taped like that. I can’t get rid of my congested nose, so how would I breathe?

Comment by Mônica — November 9, 2012 @ 6:29 pm

Those saying the correct term is Duck tape, are wrong. There is a brand of DUCT tape called Duck though. Perhaps the source of your confusion. The name duct comes from the airconditioning ducting for which it was designed.

As for movie depictions of such things, almost nothing they show is accurate. The explosive scenes and supposed bombs. Especilaly when we have a scene with the decommissioning of a bomb. Bullets can’t break chains or locks and cars very rarely burst into flames when they crash,. let alone explode. I laugh every time I hear reference to a “mercury switch” as somehow being particularly deady in a bomb, when it is just one of many means used to switch the detonation current.

Comment by Abbass (Steve) — November 16, 2012 @ 8:29 pm

I thought NASA designed and invented Duct tape…

Comment by C dub — November 18, 2012 @ 8:51 pm

I notice he only fastens the tape on his cheeks and not around the mouth. Stupid. Obviously this guy has never participated in any kind of a home invasion…

Comment by Dec Skinner — November 20, 2012 @ 5:39 pm

Well done, sir! Bravo, Mr. Nugent!

Comment by Gregory Wasserson — November 29, 2012 @ 8:10 am

The tape was originally produced during WWII for the military and was given the name “duck tape” by the soldiers. After the war it was used for A/C duct work and was then referred to as “duct tape”.

Comment by Rey — November 29, 2012 @ 3:54 pm

It doesn’t matter how many layers of tape you have around your head–just keep stretching your lips and licking the tape and eventually you’ll get it loose enough to breathe/speak/holler.

Comment by sparzarooni — November 29, 2012 @ 7:31 pm

why don’t we just lick the tape until it takes off from our mouth?? but after this article, the bad guys won’t use the duck tape anymore and may use something really hard but fit to our mouth?.zz. Anyway…interesting story though

Comment by Koreanhottie — December 2, 2012 @ 7:50 am

If the mouth has something – rag etc. it makes it a lot harder to lick to get it off. – just sayin

Comment by TransBear — December 5, 2012 @ 4:33 pm

No, NASA did not invent and design duct tape!! Duct tape is from the HVAC industry. It’s primary purpose is to seal joints, seams, and openings in HVAC ductwork. Just like anything else, to bolster sales beyond it’s original intended use, it starts getting marketed as a solution for just about everything imaginable. I see the presenter’s point in this video – typically in any movie or TV show, you see one piece of tape applied to the poor soul’s mouth and they are rendered helplessly speechless. It’s obviously Hollywood doing what it does best – selling a downright fairy tale.

As others have pointed out, so what’s to stop the assailant from winding it around your head, overlapping with each rotation? …well, I am not about to try that anytime soon.

And “Duck Tape”, yes, it is a brand of duct tape and a cute little play on words from the company that named their brand that.

Comment by jp5472 — December 24, 2012 @ 9:51 am

Hollywood takes a lot of shortcuts with reality. They only use the one piece so that they don’t have to wrap an actor’s head with duct tape, so that they can do more takes quickly, it doesn’t take a long time to unwrap so the scene is quicker, and it is less painful for the actors. Honestly, expecting any reality in Hollywood is foolish.

Comment by Bnol — January 7, 2013 @ 12:14 pm

this is why home invaders now use superglue on the victms’ mouths. and then for kicks put superglue in the nostrils to kill them.

Comment by mamatolevi — January 12, 2013 @ 3:05 pm

Both “duct tape” and “duck tape” are correct. Duck tape was the original name – the term referred to strips of cotton or linen duck fabric.

Comment by ekaplan — January 17, 2013 @ 7:54 pm

During World War II, the American armed forces needed a strong, waterproof tape to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. Because it was waterproof, everyone referred to it as “duck” tape (now a brand name of Manco). This versatile tape was used as a mending material that could be ripped by hand and used to make quick repairs to jeeps, aircraft, and other military equipment. The Johnson and Johnson Company’s Permacel Division, which had by then developed its own line of adhesive tapes, helped the war effort by combining cloth mesh (which rips easily) with a rubber-based adhesive, and then gave that combination of rubberized, waterproof coating. (No specific person or group of people at Johnson and Johnson have been named in the development of duct tape).

Following the war, housing in the United States boomed, and many new homes featured forced-air heating and air-conditioning units that relied on duct work to distribute warmth and coolness. Johnson and Johnson’s strong military tape made the perfect material for binding and repairing the duct work. By changing the color of the tape’s rubberized top coat from Army green to sheet metal gray, “duct” tape was born.

WIKIPEDIA is often plain wrong !

Comment by Tamshan — January 29, 2013 @ 2:40 pm

In fact, as duct tape — that is, to seal ducts — duck/duct tape is pretty inadequate. It dries out quickly and becomes a thready, flakey mess. Self-adhesive aluminum tape is now preferred for duct work.

Comment by Tim — February 13, 2013 @ 9:11 am

Better to use a Houdini trick. Just before being taped, subtly puff up cheeks and make an exaggerated closed lip smile. Later, after the tape is on, (even if placed all around around the head) relax the puffwed cheeks and exaggerated smile. This will create a great deal of slack from which you can work to loosen and get the tape away from your mouth.

Comment by Jim Marino — February 17, 2013 @ 3:25 pm

After listening to all that background noise, I want to put duct tape over my ears.

Comment by The Daleks — February 21, 2013 @ 6:13 am

Villain’s will no longer carry duct tape to an crime, it won’t fit into you pockets anyway. A small tube of super glue to glue the lips together is a lot handier and a lot more evil.

Comment by Ron Milton — April 7, 2013 @ 12:07 pm

ok that is funny! WAHWAHWAH oo ducktape yummy!! if someone tries to abduct me and puts duck tape on my mouth im gonna do that XD

Comment by Chloe — April 16, 2013 @ 12:47 pm

Sock or grenade in the mouth, big enough to muffle the sound and force the jaw open. Wrap around full head a couple times, including from jaw to the top of the head. This would prevent the jaw from moving enough to prevent loosening of the tape.

Comment by Communinja — April 25, 2013 @ 5:20 pm

NEWS FLASH!!!

Kidnapping victim dies from eating an overdose of duck tape!

Comment by Jairekling — May 5, 2013 @ 1:25 pm

As you can clearly see, the duct/duck tape doesn’t have to be chewed or even removed. It just plain won’t stick to your bottom lip… not with sufficient force to keep your mouth closed, anyway.
I think I first tried this when I was six.

Comment by David McDermott — May 6, 2013 @ 5:07 pm

Wow, gnarly! Around here, home invasion crews have been caught with duct tape, guns and a google map to houses they’re gonna rob……just slightly self-incriminating ;*p
There are many fiendish ways to restrain people…..check out what the cartels do in Mexico for a real lesson……and superglue only works until the person is panicked enough to tear a layer of skin off.
Agreed on the whole Hollywood fakiness…..every explosion looks like what it is…a stick of dynamite under a 55 gallon barrel of gasoline (same used in car crashes). Actual high explosives don’t flame much….just a brief dim flash followed by a little black smoke and a whole hella lotta concussion…..Oh well, did we expect them to show REAL car crashes, explosions, etc? Most people’d probably be bored… ;*p

Comment by bitrat — May 11, 2013 @ 12:09 pm

Everyone knows that the Ball Gag is the long trusted go to means of shutting someone up temporarily ,duct tape only ever works in the movies,and superglue is much more permanent…

Comment by Blair — May 13, 2013 @ 1:00 am