Continuing from the last time, duct tape crafting.
Previously
“Last time, on Duct Tales:” Made a thing with duct tape. Ran out of duct tape and bought more duct tape. Finished making thing and had too much leftover tape, so I made more stuff, specifically a mixed-media small barrel bag.
There was more iterative work I could have done, so we iterate.
- The first and most notable issue, there are no handles. The previous bag was just a puffy grub, with no effective way to carry it.
- Consistent dimensions. Originally, precise target measurements weren’t decided. They’re still not, but at least now I have a reference and a bit more understanding of elements that would go into the decision-making process.
- Possibly a tighter weave. But that’s not too important, especially since there’s an interior liner.
Multi-Colored Weave
Last time I mentioned the brand of gray duct tape I was using was Lockport. What I didn’t mention though was that I also bought rolls of the two other colors they had, black and white. The gray feels like the highest quality tape, but I had already bought the rolls, plus playing around with variation couldn’t hurt.
While I also bought a roll of white tape, I only used the black tape for now.
Some might say black and white aren’t “colors”, they’re actually spectrum ends of brightness levels for an appearance that has no saturation. To that, I say “dude,… does saying that kind of stuff help or hurt the conversation? No one’s got time for that.”
Strap Connections
So how exactly are straps going to connect? There are a few strategies I could pursue – with the two main ones I’m favoring being:
- Connects at the endcaps, where shoulder straps would connect to.
- Connections to handles at the side connecting, made from strips that form support underneath.
It’s not uncommon to see bags have both, but one thing at a time. Maybe I’ll attempt multiple in a future iteration.
The first thing for getting a grasp on what I want to do involves a trip down to doodle town.
I wish I didn’t write that doodle town bit just now, but not enough to edit it out.
And the winner is: loops at the end caps. If I could only choose one, for now, I will choose the choice that doesn’t need to interact and occlude the weave pattern.
A sheet of duct tape is cut into something like a figure-8. The thin neck part will form the loop when folded in half. The two circular end parts will match up and create a double-reinforced sheet. And a 2-ply sheet will be added to merge the seams with the cap.
To create a sticky sheet, two layers are crisscrossed on a sheet of wax paper. Both sticky-side down. The shape is then cut, peeled, and applied. Usually, for dual-ply sheets, two layers of duct tape will be taped to each other, sticky sides stuck to each other, going the same grain. But in this case, they have opposite grains, and the stick sides face the same way. This allows me to apply its adhesive as a seal. Sort of like a lazy, non-structural stitch.
It’s then riveted to an end-cap piece.
This circle is one of the two circles that sandwich splayed strips to form a star.
And then make another end cap, assemble the bag, weave it, et voila! Something new, iterated on the work from last time!
Not necessarily better, but new. Truly an objective statement.
So that covers the part where the straps connect. But what about the actual straps?
Straps
More sights to see around doodle town.
In the end, this doesn’t have to be too complicated; really it just needs to be a long strip with rings at the end. I wouldn’t even mind shopping around online for premade ones. Although in the end, I had too many sketches and ideas not to follow through with an attempt.
Oh, and small carabiners are also needed to attach the loops.
In the end, I also decided to make a sliding shoulder strap for support.
As always, with this kind of prototyping, there are some issues and spare ideas with the strap to address in future iterations. But it looks moderately legit. The shoulder straps also have superficial loops and carabiners that are mainly for aesthetics, but perhaps could have accessories attached. Maybe odds-and-ends and charms. But I’d resist the temptation to openly brandish security cards or key rings.
Cut To Size
Another main point of this iteration was to test straps that were all pre-cut to a decided length. In the previous iteration, the woven straps were woven a little longer than I needed them to be, and then they were all lined up and cut after they were woven. This creates wonkiness in the weave.
There are sixteen 11-inch spans, with each strip about 1 inch. So because I was targeting a tight weave, I accounted a little for the material’s thickness and cut all the rings to 17 inches.
This made the bag have a snug weave but also made the bag noticeably thinner. I guess the previous iteration’s weave was a lot looser than I realized, which gave it a larger body radius.
In the photo above, you can see stuff inside the left bag. It’s holding rolls of duct tape for future bag projects. I like to think it’s a metaphor for a self-sustaining economy. It also helps round out the bag for the photo.
The older iteration doesn’t look too bad, plus it doesn’t functionally matter if the weave isn’t tight – because there’s a liner inside. This means I have some wiggle room on what the ring strip lengths can be for targeting a range of radiuses. This will affect the tightness of the weave, but it doesn’t seem to affect much aesthetically.
Purse vs Murse
While the basic idea and look of the bags (previous iteration vs. current iteration) are essentially the same, the new iteration does create some aesthetic changes. A couple of subjective thoughts:
There are several categories of bags that guys can wear: sling, satchel, canvas bag, murse, etc.
Or possibly a fanny pack if you got a rockin’ dad-bod and kids to embarrass via affiliation in public.
Something about the shiny black duct tape and thinner body pushes the aesthetics into purse territory. This pretty much means I can’t wear this in public unless I plan to be “that dude wearing a homemade purse in public”.
The idea of wearing a duct tape bag in public [before even considering the gender of the bag] is already risky, especially if the production value isn’t strong.
I also feel like the pure gray bag (first iteration) has more of a canvas bag vibe. It doesn’t necessarily look more like a canvas bag but has the same vibe. Probably because I see normal duct tape as a less flamboyant and more humble utilitarian color and material – like canvas.
A tape of the working class people!
Where From Here
I have a few other ideas to explore, and there are new issues to address in this current iteration.
I’m going to shelve this for now. Eventually, the dream is to have a crisp final design I’m happy with that I can share on Instructables.com. Maybe I’ll get there someday, but for now, I’ll give this idea a rest and possibly revisit it – maybe also give ideas some time to ruminate.