Quick and Dirty Ropes Made From Tape.

So most peoples EDC or camping kits include some form of solid tape, as a bit of an all purpose fix. It can patch holes, seal containers against insects, and, of course, tape things together/down. But sometimes you're working with an item that's not amenable to taping: it might be too wet or greasy, or too dusty, for the sticky to stick down. In those cases a rope is a better option for tying things down or tying them together. But if you've run out of rope (or didn't have it originally), but you have tape, what do you do?

You might do what I've done a couple of times, and made a quick dirty rope out of the tape you have on hand. Ropes aren't necessarily as good at preventing things slipping across a surface as tape, but are perfectly fine for strapping something down or tying it up. Tape ropes don't stretch as much as tape does, and are generally more wear resistant. In addition, a tear in a piece of tape can propogate through the tape quickly, tearing the whole piece. Ropes, by design, reinforce strands with minor damage by distributing the load to the other strands in the rope.

This time we're making a 3 strand braided cord, as it's quick and easy and everyone is usually able to make a 3 strand braid without assistance. Braided ropes are also more wear resistant. We're also using fabric tape (or duct tape) as I've found this has the greatest strength and smallest stretch of the tapes I've used. You can use other tape (like electrical tape) and it will give you a stronger hold with less stretch than an equivalent length of that tape. But duct tape is the strongest. Bear in mind that this isn't going to tie off or take weight as well as a professionally made rope, but will get you out of a bind if you need it.

Plus it can be a fun activity to do with the kids if you need to entertain them for an hour or so.

In order to make a rope you will need:

-Tape (I'm using duct tape, one black roll and one silver roll). This actually works best if you use all three strands from the same roll of tape, so it has the same thickness and width.

-Scissors, to cut the tape,

-Measuring tool to make sure you're making enough rope for your purpose. I use a measuring tape. Note: when you're braiding up your cord, you're actually going to shorten the rope from the original length of tape measured out. In this demo I used 2 meter (about 6 feet) lengths of tape, and ended up with just over 1.5m of rope. So expect a 25% decrease in length, on average.

I also used a door handle and a green paint pen (depicted) in this tutorial, but they're not essential. I only used the pen to illustrate the difference between the two black cordages when braiding them up.

In this demo I'm using 2m long strips, and going to use this door handle to hold the other end of the tape strap. So I'm measuring a spot about 2m away from the handle, that I can unroll the tape out to. Then I attached one end of the tape to the handle, and unspooled it out to the 2m mark. I then cut the tape with the scissors.

So leaving the far end of the tape attached to the handle, I flipped the tape over so the sticky side was facing me and folded approximately 1/3 of the tape over itself, sticking sticky sides together. I then followed that fold until I'd stuck that 1/3 together the whole length of the tape.

Then go back and fold the remaining sticky 1/3 over to close off all the sticky layer. Do this with the whole strip of tape until you have a flat strap of tape, with no exposed sticky layer. You can stop here and use the cord to tie things up, but I'm continuing on to make a rope. Remember the point of a braided rope is that it has increased durability, and with this material less stretch, than an equivalent length of cordage.

Take your time with this step, if you have it. Going slowly and keeping tension on the tape while you fold it over will help you keep even and flat connections between your layers, which gives you flat and consistent straps. This is important when braiding together, as flat and even straps will braid together to a flatter and consistent rope. It will still work and hold weight if you're a bit rougher with your folding, but if you want it to look nicer then take your time here.

Eventually you'll have a strap about 1/3 longer than the final rope will be.

Now do that 2 more times to get 3 straps of approx. equal length and width.

So take your three strands, and fix them all together at 1 end. Maybe you could use tape, if you happened to have any :P. Lay the three strands out flat next to each other.

Now take the left hand most strap (depicted with green dots here), and fold it until it crosses the middle (silver) strap, and runs parallel to the right-most strap(black).

Then take the right-most strap (black) and fold it across the new middle strap (green dots), leaving it parallel to the strap now on the left (silver).

Repeat down the cords. It's important here that you fold rather than twist the straps here, as it will keep your rope flat as you go. This is also the point where you will notice the differences between the straps you made in the earlier steps, as any variation in the straps shape or width will make it harder to keep even spacing and angles along the folds.

When you get to the end of your straps, secure them together and review your rope. At at this point it sill be "lumpy", and resemble a paper chain somewhat.

So now you have a length of roughly braided rope. It's uneven and lumpy, and any irregularities in your strapping is glaringly apparent. But the next step will take care of most of that and leave you with a smoother, more consistent rope. We're going to tighten the braids.

Secure one end of the rope to a fixed position (I used the door handle again) and pull the other end of the rope firmly. This will allow the individual tape strands to stretch, and conform to each other. You'll end up with a rounder, more even, rope to work with. Depending on the elasticity of your original tape you might get a fair degree of extra length out of stretching the rope this way (but be careful not to overload your tape-rope until it breaks).

Now you have a length of rope you can use to tie things down, up, together or whatever you need. Double check that you've made a rope long enough for the purpose you're using it for. The properties of your final rope will vary mostly on the type of tape you use, and how wide the strips were you that you braided together. Cloth tapes (aka duct tape) will be relatively flexible and won't stretch over time as other tapes. In terms of its strength, I've included a photo where I've suspended 20kg (44ish lbs) from the rope I made here, without it stretching or tearing in any way.

Hope this helps you out!