Putting duct tape over someone’s mouth wouldn’t actually work to keep them quite in real life, would it?
I was working on a story where this guy gets kidnapped and tied up when something occurred to me: does duct tape ACTUALLY work to keep you from shouting for help? I mean, if it’s just one tiny strip of tape (like it usually is in TV shows) it seems like you could just lick it off in three seconds. And even if the tape were wrapped around your head, couldn’t you just force your mouth open and still be able to talk that way?
I’ve never been in a situation where someone put duct tape over my mouth (hooray for that) but it just seems like it would be really easy to get the tape off, or at least “off enough” so that you could shout out.
So here’s my question: Does duct tape actually work to keep someone from talking? And if so, how does that work? I want to describe it in my story but the way I’m thinking about it makes it seem a little impossible, and it’s throwing me off a little. I don’t want the readers to be like, “What’s wrong with you man?! Just move your mouth around a little!”
Anybody with experience writing a scene like this (one where someone gets kidnapped with duct tape over their mouth, I mean) would be appreciated. Heck, if you’ve had experience actually having tape over your mouth, you’ll be appreciated too!
On a side note, I was going to have the character crawl or somehow make his way over to the other side of the room where there’s something sharp he can use to slice his ropes off. Can you really move around that much when your arms and legs are tied though? To try to gauge this for myself, I decided to try to get up off the floor by only using my arms and legs as if they were tied, and it was really hard><! I had to cheat a little just to get onto my knees, and so I can’t imagine how hard it would be to move for someone who was actually tied! I don’t think my character would realistically be able to move enough to even make it halfway across the room, much less the whole way. To be honest, I don’t think he’d be able to move much at all …
If anyone has any input for either of these questions, please answer! Thanks!