I got to thinking a bit (no I didn't get hurt)...(and no one else did either...LOL) and remembered that I put a small magnet...literally about 1/2 a centimeter long, less than that wide and about as high as its width....into an EDC 'kit'.

I got it from an old DVD player that bit the dust...I took apart the player and found 2 of them in there. I got to thinking about using it for a survival situation and immediately though about making a compass.....so I just tossed it in....

A number of things came from that DVD player (other uses than EDC). It got me to thinking....what have you taken apart and found inside that was/is useful? Especially things that you wouldn't think of.....like a small magnet in the DVD player....

Timely post - Yesterday I took apart 4 broken solar landscaping lights to scavenge the solar cells. Wired 2 cells serially and then added 2 in parallel with those, and adding a Maxim DC-DC pump IC I'm able to charge any USB powered device (cell phones, MP3 players).

Whenever someone is ready to destroy a pallet or burn it, I try to take a small prying tool and salvage some of the nails first. Sure beats buying them; I've saved a little money this way whenever doing little projects around the house.

I do the same thing with bolts and wheels on office chairs whenever someone throws out their broken one to the curb. I find that the bolts and wheels on most modern models are often almost exactly alike and interchangeable, and whenever one gives out in my chair I just replace it. I've been using the same office chair for about five years now, cannibalizing parts from their cousins.

I also remember some time ago in another post I mentioned finding little cheap-o LED lights at Target on clearance. I cracked those ones open because they used the same type of batteries that go into the clearly superior Photons. I saved a LOT of money doing that, those little quarter-sized CR2016's cost a bundle!

I take apart any broken electronics I have as well, to see what parts I can mix, match, and use.

And OH YEAH, I almost forgot. If I ever use a disposable camera (the kind with a flash function), I always make sure the film is winded in the internal canister, then crack it open and take the AA battery that's inside, powering the flash. If I hardly used it it can go into an Inova X1 or my headlamp and last for a little while.

DrmstrSpoodle - Buy bolts in bulk the time saved from taking them off old parts (and knowing you have NEW ONES) is well worth it. Here I can get a bolt in bulk (by the lb) for say .21/each at Ace or Home Depot it would be about .80 or so... I have $ in bolts buying in bulk.

But like you guys I do take parts off things I want too

I just tossed a treadmill and had no time to take the motors from it They would have been AWESOME for shop equipment, etc, but no time and to big to store right now. DOH.

There are recycling companies that do this too, gov. funded, and they make a profit selling "good" parts from the bad, and then the scrap steel recycling etc.

A lot of ways to make money$$

Sock. In a Nigheyes pouch that I carry a pair of Leathermen tools [Crunch and Original] I daily carry a magnet. It is on one of those extendable pointers. About 7 inches collapsed and 27 inches pulled out. It is designed as a magnetic pickup tool. It is rated to lift 8 to 10 pounds. I replaced the pocket clip with a screw eye so I could easily attach some cordage to reach even lower. The initial idea was if I ever dropped or spotted something metallic I could go fishing. The magnet could also be used to magnetize a piece of metal like a sewing needle as a backup compass.

Well being ready payed off. Dropped my keys down a drain grating. Too narrow to reach through and too deep reach. 30 second later I had my keys back. Came in very handy.

Never throw away treadmill motors, they are 95-volt DC motors and make great windmill generators.

Wow some great ideas from this link. I never thought of pulling the battery's from a disposable camera and I do have access to treadmill motors in my line of work.

Not really sure why a magnet would go into an EDC kit. As long as the primary compass is Dummy-Corded to my body and I have my button back up, I don't foressee using using a magnet for navagation.

Saving nails from pallets?

What's your time worth? Given the cost of new, straight nails vs the cost of used, most likely bent nails out of a pallet, I'll go to the hardware store once a year or so and buy a couple of pounds of nails.

Scavenging and recycling is great, I do it a lot but if you're gonna salvage pallets, the wood is much more valuable than the nails are. And it's easier to get.

John E

"...pallet...I try to take a small prying tool and salvage some of the nails.."

How do you get those suckers out? I have tried to dismantle pallets before (I used the wood for "barn wood" projects), with just about zero results. Those nails, with their shape, are just about impossible to pull without ruining the head, not to mention the wood itself. You got a secret tool or something???

If you're gonna salvage the wood, use a reciprocating saw and cut the cross planks off where they meet the braces. The larger end pieces are gonna be full of nail holes and as I wrote above, the time and effort to pull all the nails is really not worth it.

The cross planks are what most people talk about when they talk about using pallet wood for woodworking projects. Depending on where the pallet was made, you can get lucky sometimes and get some really nice exotic hardwood in premilled form.

John E

I just use a simple mini-prybar that my stepdad had, not to mention a lot of trial and error . I try to chip away a little of the wood around the head of the nail with the corner of the bar before I pull, but mostly to no avail.

Most of the nails DO come out bent, but I try to get the ones I can somewhat straight again. The ones deemed a "lost cause" (and there are plenty!) go into an empty Pirouline can and then to my buddy who scraps metal when it's full.

These nails are obviously used for the little projects and not for house renovations at all, like the time I needed to put together a small shelf for the basement cheaply and quickly. I haven't done the pallets as much lately (especially with the heat of the summer, making this task an extra pain), but I still strip the office chairs for the parts. They're MUCH easier than the pallets, LOL.

And is everyone wearing their safety glasses/goggles when doing stuff like this? Just a little friendly reminder, you guys...

As a geologist, I usually have a magnet with me when doing field work. Of course, I also have two compasses and a GPS not to mention another compass in my survival kit, but still...

Even though I carry a magnet, I've never sat down with a needle and magnet to make a compass. This is an obvious gap in my education. For that matter, I also carry a couple of hand lenses and have never tried to start a fire with them. Time to get up to speed.

Back in my Scouting days I tried the magnet/needle/compass thingy, never could get it to work. First they said that if you gently place the needle on the surface of the water it will float on its own. I guess I am not all that gentle, 'cuz mine always ended up on the bottom of the container. Then they said to put the needle on a leaf and float that. Didn't work for me, it just floated along, never turning to the north...

Like this?

http://picasaweb.google.com/goatrider/Camping2006#4968861253703565330

Whoa! Nice, though I wouldn't want to map that outcrop; it's throw the Brunton off. We typically carry a swing magnet, AKA a pencil magnet:

https://minerox.com/index.cfm?fuseaction...FTOKEN=11410494

Agreed, the proper tools for the job is one of the things that marks a professional. Also saves a heck of a lot of time. EDC depends on your job - I'm in the field six-eight months out of the year (I'm sitting in a fly camp as I type) so I have my field gear with/on me more often than I do my keys or wallet.

When I'm not in the field, my EDC doesn't include a magnet but includes more germane items such as, lessee, maybe a flask.

Yelp, welcome to the fire newguy! You need to warn us gear-freaks before linking us to a new place to spend way too much money! Those leather cases on the mining equipment webstore where you got your mag. pencil look way too tempting.

-Blast

I forgot to say Welcome Newguy!!!

"I tried the magnet/needle/compass thingy, never could get it to work... mine always ended up on the bottom of the container."

You left out one tiny step: Wax the needle. That's what makes it float.

And be sure you only run the magnet in one direction on the needle, not back and forth.

Sue

Okay, so you're lost in the bush, you magnetize your needle, it floats happily and aligns itself with authority ... how do you know which is north-ish and which is south-ish?

Position of the sun in the sky unless it's near noon or cloudy.

You look at the stars to see what way is north, I can do to tell a somewhat north direction within 10 to 15 degs.

If it’s during the day watch and use the sun. Put a long stick in the ground so it cast no shadow. Wait 20-min or so and it will have a shadow pointing east.

Or use one of your spare compasses.

Hmm, if I can see the sun and stars, and I'm aware of seasonal variations, then IMO I don't really need an improvised compass for crude navigation, do I?

Not trying to be snarky. I just don't see the utility of it.

Once you know which end is north, you wouldn't need to be able to see the sun/stars.

!

Sock....
First......I have compasses that are EDC. Multiple in fact.....largest one....mil spec/engineer style.
Second....The kit I put it in has no room for anything but this little magnet.....
Third.....The first thought I had (a quick one) was that it could be used for comapss making.
Fourth.....I use it for other things as well......this little magnet is quite strong....unfortunately there is no place to tie into to allow it to do any retrieving......it does hold several sheets of paper on the side of a vehicle quite well, even in a brisk breeze....Not to mention providing entertainment for both of my boys........keeping them busy 'making a compass' (in and of itself) is worth keeping it in the it....
Fifth......this was more of just an example to get people thinking........

BTW to every one else....thanks....I came away with several great ideas......

Using something to float it with works for me. I just now used 20 strokes of the needle, all with the same end of the magnet and all in the same direction, and a small piece of paper.

An alternative to the bowl of water is to suspend the needle from a thread. If you keep a sewing kit in a survival kit, there's not much reason not to magnetise the needles before you leave home; it doesn't make the needle heavier or anything.

I don't think it's very practical in the field, though, as any wind is liable to disturb the needle.

Label the magnet before you leave home. If you stroke the needle from eye to point, using the north-seeking end of the magnet, the point will be south-seeking.

I think. I am confident that if you are consistent the results will be too (else multiple strokes would cancel rather than reinforce), and a test in my kitchen gave the above result (and using the opposite end of the magnet reversed it). However, you should test this at home with your own magnet before relying on it in the field. I was using a tiny unlabelled spacer magnet and I might have reversed it by mistake. I think the theory makes sense this way round but I'd probably think the same if it was the other way around too. Stupid parity.

If you can figure out how to suspend or float the CD-player magnet, you don't need the needle.

In the northern hemisphere, the north-seeking end of the needle should dip down slightly. It'd be jolly difficult to detect this in the field, though. You'd probably have to first find the needle's balance point before it's magnetised.