No universal way to tell if we are talking about having the power cord substitute for an antenna. Best bet is go somewhere with moderate signal strength and try it. Remember the signal bars on most phones aren't very accurate or reliable so you could not see an improvement or see more bars due to unrelated changes.

Most phones have a separate plug for the antenna or they have a way for you to attach the external antenna to the built in one. If you have a mini-usb connector for power there is no antenna connection at this point. That doesn't mean the trick won't work, just that it depends on a lot of other circumstances being just right. If you have a custom connection for your phone there may be an antenna connection.

With out the connection point what is basically happening is the dangling power cord is acting as a reflector or wave guide and providing a bit of a passive boost. This will be very geometry dependent. I would expect straight cords should work better than coiled ones but haven't sat down to work it out. My last real work with RF fields was a long, long time ago.

As I said - I wouldn't bet on it but it is at least worth a try if nothing else is working.

- Eric

wear long socks. the tops can be used for and to hold a dressing on a wound, the pill from the cotton can be used for tinder, you can put a weight in the toe for a weapon, can use to tie something (they're pretty tough) rip into strips and braid for cordage (sucks but better than nothing) can use your extra pair to pack things and cut down on rattles, sweat band, put under watch to absorb sweat/irritation, cut off the top for emergency t.p. use for a potholder/heat-shield (looks silly but its better than burning your arm on a hot exhaust) trail markers, bound tightly a wick or tinderbox (will smolder and stink all day).

Just figured this one out today - Coban works as well or better than clamps when you run out of hands. A couple of wraps around the things you want to stay still and unwraps easily with no glue residue or pressure dents when you are done.

- Eric

I forgot to take water to the street fair today (I did remember my sun hat). So I paid the $1 for a bottle, used the water on the outside to scrub the top with my hand and sleeve, then poked a hole in the cap with my multitool.

Ta daa! Instant sport cap.

If you have a BlackBerry you can use the "alt; n-m-l-l" key sequence to change the reception strength meter into an actual db readout. Of course it will still be a very inexact science.

Just make sure your background color isn't too dark or you won't be able to see the black numbers against it. (You hold alt down while pressing n, m, l, l.)

Do not carry a camo lighter! found this out today, had to hunt for 10 minutes to find the dang thing. Grass (that needs mowed) + camo
= frustrated.

Lose a lighter in the grass?
Run a lawnmower over it and you will find it soon enough!

Haywire is nice stuff to have around. It can let you fix broken things enough to get you home and even makes an effective hose clamp.
Candles are wax and wax is a fairly good lubricant for things that slide, like zippers.

Bicycle inner tubes are stretchy and strong enough for lashing a lot of things together.

Epoxy or polyester resin makes good patches on boats. Even if you only have rags to soak in it instead of glass mat. Cloth is not as strong as glass fibre but it might be enough to get you home.

Three 12 volt car batteries connected together with booster cables give enough volts and amps for a small welding job.

A carpenter's claw hammer is an astoundingly versatile tool.
It wil drive nails and pull nails. It will also cut wire, peen rivets, break glass and crack nuts.

Two words. duct tape. what can't it do?

i have found a travois to be very handy. mostly for hauling brush to the burn pile, but i have made one to haul one of my buddy out of the woods. he said it was bumpy but beat walking. (he twisted his ankle trying to kick his christmas tree down, on christmas eve)

know your knots and how to braid. impress your friends and your lady friends! plus it could save your life.

mud works as a thermal/sun shield, and a burn salve.

when in doubt, bring tp.

redneck winch. rope or chain tied to a rim at one end, a tree on the other. rim turns, winding up chain. it has to be fiddled with but its better than nothing.

you can use thick hemp rope as a temporary snow chains. wind the rope around the tire through the rim. it does not last long but will get you out of a bad patch.

We do that too.
Camping the last few days I drove to that spot often to check in... to bad it doesn't get data only voice. Still nice to check messages and stay in touch for emergencies!

If you have a decent length of chain or rope you can pull almost anything. Tie the rope to an anchor point and to the object you want to move. Make it as tight as you can.
Then go to the middle and pull the middle of the rope sideways.
The mechanical advantage is astounding. You might only move the object a few inches each time but you can move a very large weight like this.
Chain or cable is actually better than rope for this because it stretches less.

Any metal will break if you can bend or twist it enough times. A good thing if you need to cut a wire and have no tools handy.

If you need to lash something down really tight and have enough cord for multiple wraps you can tighten each wrap in turn a few times each time you tighten a wrap you are adding tension and can get a lashing extremely tight.
Nylon stretches when you do this and the compression can be to high if you are not careful. Be careful not to crush what you are tightening the wraps on.

Use a hot wire or nail to melt holes in plastic. It leaves a raised edge around the hole and the plastic is less likely to split.
This also works for poking holes for buckles in nylon webbing.

A plastic bag with a small hole in the corner works as a water syringe, and also for squeezing out a bead of anything from caulking to cake icing.
When used with sterile water or normal saline solution it is good for flushing out wounds.

A piece of cardboard with slits cut in it to see through works as sun glasses or snow goggles to prevent snow blindness. You can get snow blindness on the water too. Heavy bristle board will work also.
If you have lost you prescription glasses you can sharpen your vision by looking through a narrow slit or a pin hole.
This can be made like the snow goggles mentioned above or can be made by holding your fingers close together and looking through the space between them.

If you keep a cheap quartz watch set to Greenwich or Universal Coordinated Time you can get a decent idea of your longitude just by observing apparent noon.

The Belt of Orion rises almost exactly due east and sets almost exactly due west.