---
title: The History Behind Duct Tape and What Makes it a Handy Solution for Just About Anything
description: Did you ever wonder who the brilliant inventor of duct tape is, and what it was originally for? The answer is a Vesta Stout, an ammunition packer during WWII. She designed the tape to seal ammunition boxes watertight, but also make them easy for soldiers to open.
---

[Fluid Systems Engineering & Management Blog | Swagelok NorCal ](https://northerncal.swagelok.com/blog)

# [The History Behind Duct Tape and What Makes it a Handy Solution for Just About Anything](https://northerncal.swagelok.com/blog/the-history-behind-duct-tape-and-what-makes-it-a-handy-solution-for-just-about-anything)

 Written by [Jeff Hopkins](https://northerncal.swagelok.com/blog/author/jeff-hopkins) | 3/12/19 4:00 PM

Did you ever wonder who the brilliant inventor of duct tape is, and what it was originally for? The answer is a Vesta Stout, an ammunition packer during WWII. She designed the tape to seal ammunition boxes watertight, but also make them **easy for soldiers to open**.

[Read the full article on *Business Insider *→](https://www.businessinsider.com/duct-tape-strong-versatile-adhesive-stick-anything-2019-1)

[View full post](https://northerncal.swagelok.com/blog/the-history-behind-duct-tape-and-what-makes-it-a-handy-solution-for-just-about-anything)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Jeff Hopkins"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2019-03-12T16:15:07.881Z",
  "datePublished" : "2019-03-12T16:00:00Z",
  "headline" : "The History Behind Duct Tape and What Makes it a Handy Solution for Just About Anything",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 628,
    "url" : "https://northerncal.swagelok.com/hubfs/the_history_behind_duct_tape.png",
    "width" : 1200
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://northerncal.swagelok.com/blog/the-history-behind-duct-tape-and-what-makes-it-a-handy-solution-for-just-about-anything",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Swagelok Northern California Blog"
  }
}
```