Okay, so on another thread we are discussing alternative uses for items that can help us survive, what we've referred to in the past as "MacGyverisms".

So the zen of our art, then is not only about knowing what works, but also about making what is available work to our benefit. Given the vast knowledge and creative talents of our group, maybe we could list off some alternative uses for everyday things that others might not realize. This could be big so let's limit each post to one or two really good citations eh?

Mine are:

Using a CD/DVD as a reflector/signaling device, and

Making a cutting tool by breaking glass.

Okay, who's next?

I have very dry skin, so I use the PJ off my cotten balls for skin care, also use the out side shell of some 550 cord for laces on my boots. ZEN

Used my eye glasses the other day to start a fire while on a small hike in the woods nearby.

I once used those sticky nylon patches in a tent repair kit to patch a tear on the seat of my old jeans in the middle of my shift at work, until I could have time to go home and sew them up later.

Well, this one time... it was a pretty crazy situation, and we needed a solution fast, so we, um,

Used a nalgene bottle for a martini shaker.

And my heart was full of joy...
J

The late great writer/lecturer Alan Watts told a very young Chris the folllowing story on his houseboat during a lecture. In old Kyoto a buddhist monk and samurai boarded a small ferry to cross one of the many lakes. A very big, very drunk samurai also boarded, and after a few moments challenged our monk to a duel. Our monk had two duties; to uphold his own samurai honour and also promote peace and harmony. He told the drunk, " look, if we fight here people will get hurt. Boatman, take us over to that little sandbar. I'll fight you there" The boatman complied. the drunk was in such a hurry to fight he leaped from the vessel onto the sand. Our monk quickly grabbed the ferrryman's pole and pushed the boat back onto the lake, leaving the drunk to sober up. He honoured both duties; defeating his opponent through gile and protecting innocent life, including the drunk's. The lesson here is a simple hiking staff in our kit can preclude the need for all those tactical knives that throw our compasses and bank balances all out of wack. You can also change the TEE VEE channel with it if a good Kurasawa flick is coming on and somebody was watching Wheel of Fortune. Conserving energy is also a survival tenant.

I like to polish the back side of my ipod for use as a mirror / signaling device.

I hadn't heard that one, Chris- that's even better than the tea master.

In the days before cell phones my buddy and I were shooting in the desert and he locked his keys in his truck. He used his truck's antenna like a Slim Jim and got the door opened. I was suitably impressed.

1. using jumper cables to attach an umbrella to my chair to make shade.

2. using a plastic grocery bag as a disposible bib for the baby (okay, DW came up with that one).

-Blast

While I cannot claim originality on this, I made an alcohol stove out of soda cans the other day. Why is this a big deal given all the web coverage of this? Because of how easy it was.

Me, sitting at my desk in my office, grabbed two soda cans out of the recycle bin. Using a pair of scissors, a sharpie, a push pin, and a sheet metal screw I found lying around in a drawer, spent about 15 minutes building the basic alcohol stove. Cut the cans to the same height, punched a hole in the center of one with the push pin, fenagled them together, punched 16 burnder jets around the edge, enlarged the center hole to fit the screw and was done. Could have walked downstairs and hit the gas station to grab some HEET gas line antifreeze (yellow bottle) but instead, grabbed it on the way home. Went out back, fueled and lit the sucker up. Worked just fine. Made a pot stand out of coat hangers that I will try tonight. It is not rocket science, but does work in the urban environment quite well.

I recommend everyone take a look at http://zenstoves.net/ or similar and give it a try. Even without the extras (JB Weld epoxy) they work.

Bill

A friend (the scoutmaster) and I were once driving two carloads of Boy Scouts on a very rural road when he popped a radiator hose. After walking the shoulder for a while I found a small can (V-8???) that looked to be the right size. Used my P-38 to cut both ends out, and the seriated blade of my Leatherman to cut the hose at the break. Inserted the can into both ends of the hose, slid them close together, used the Leatherman to twist some wire (also found on the shoulder, CA highways are often really littered) on as a clamp, added water from my five gal cooler, and off we went. He said it worked so well, he didn't replace the hose for weeks.

And yes, I had better supplies with me, but they were buried under all of the gear in the bed of my P/U. This turned out to be faster than unloading all of the gear...

In my shelter-garage conversion, I have taken a magneto from an exercise treadmill, mated a bicycle > tire against the axle, wired that to an inverter which powers a battery charger to recharge my batteries.
The batteries are then wired to an inverter to power my squirrel cage fan to draw in fresh air through my filter system. The shelter is sealed so a positive pressure system exists inside the shelter.
The CO2 removal is accomplished by a 2" pipe mounted 1/4" above the floor; the pipe runs outside where the exiting CO2 pushes open a rubber flapper valve which closes when nothing is being pushed out. I have a couple of vacuum cleaners (old ones) that act as back up pumps in the event my squirrel cage motor fails.
I have the materials on hand to make a hand-powered piston in a cylinder to draw air in and push air into the shelter. I use axel grease to both reduce friction and help reduce air loss while operating the pump. Rubber flapper valves allow air into the cylinder and keeps air from being pushed outside versus inside the shelter.

Why not eliminate the inverters, there is a lot of loss there. just make a regulator for the charging part then power the fan with a low voltage motor which matches the battery voltage. The low cost inverters you buy in stores unless they have the energy star logo on them are 80% or less efficient.

My life experience of being out in the field fixing problems with local materials has led to lots of MacGyvering. Unfortunately, many of the new-grad engineers I work with have never had any hands on experience and lack the flexible mind needed to do successful MacGyvering. It's kind of hard to teach, you basically have to be thrown into the deep end to sink or swim.

Your comments once again bring up the problem I have with plumbing, I tend to over complicate!
I am afraid to run the magneto directly to the battery and possibly over charge/melt it down. I wish I had more electrical training.

Surprise, surprise.

But I’ll join you this time, drunkard. I once used a section of 550 cord and a bottle knot to hold one of my daughter's sippy-cups around my neck so I didn’t spill my Jameson. I’m not going to share what I was doing at the time. I’ll just say the idea worked perfectly.

I have used socks to keep my hands warm while backpacking.

One morning we woke to 12” of unexpected snow on the ground and I duct taped my pants to my boots for the hike out.

I also once used the body of a Bic pen to help me collect water from a small seep.

m

Large freezer bags as expedient tingley boots (just to get to the snow shovel)

Once, when I dropped my fork on the floor I used my salad fork to eat my entrée. I’m an Episcopalian, so I think that counts.

.....CLIFF

Plumbing, ha. I was telling a co-worker about remodeling my kitchen that after working all day long with high availability servers and clusters and load balancing and RAID and multi cpu's and redundant power supplies I wanted to buy a bunch of extra pipes and valves and run dual redundant feed lines to my sinks so I could shut off one of the lines for maintenance and still have use of the sink from the other line.

But what kind of battery? If you use something like a 12v SLA you could use a small charge controller designed for solar, or even a simple voltage regulator for older cars.

Retaining clip on the trigger pivot pin for the framing gun unexepectedly went somewhere unknown one day. The stainless steel wire from my Doug Ritter Survival Kit twisted around the groove in the pin with a Leatherman super tool has worked so well that i have never replaced the retaining clip.

The Master!!!