Originally Posted By: sockpuppet
Quote:
Coins operate vending machines, mini-mart tire inflators and the increasingly rare payphone. But, when held in the fist, they dramatically improve the effectiveness of a punch, and can be placed in a sock or other sack to make a pretty good defensive weapon or tool to, for example, bust out a laminated window. Oh yeah, it'll also pay for lunch.



Very true Jeff, however, My vehicle has a small slot where coins go in the console, as well there is a change compartment in my wallet so normally in an urban setting I have places for quarters already and don't regard them as survival items. Anything held in the fist can be a weapon be it a pop bottle or a can of soup you grab off of a store shelf. I am wearing socks on my feet at the moment, they are warm and snuggy but I do not include them or the change in my pocket as part of a survival kit. That was the only point I was making


Fair 'nuff. ;-) If you'll allow me to use that as a point of departure, my personal POV is that just about anything I can lay my hands on may become a survival item, up to and including the lint in the corner of my pocket (fire tender). I have had the unfortunate necessity to hit an assailant with, ahem, several found objects that happened to be within reach at the time, but the less said about that, the better. Socks can be used to carry and protect the unlubricated condom found in some mini survival kits, once filled with water (the intended use of the condom). I once patched a slit bicycle tire sidewall with a dollar bill.

There is an ugly racist term for such improvisation, that a black friend of mine wittily re-styled into "Afro-engineering," since he is an absolute genius at problem solving. Anyone care to share their favorite examples of "Field Expedient" improvisation?

Jeff