Force Multipliers Under the Sink

rdanderson.com 

     Yesterday, I mentioned MacGuyver and his many made up on the run gadgets, explosives and general force multipliers from household items.  I specifically mentioned the hairspray flamethrower.  Then I went off to sleep and shot up wide awake several times.

www.ksdk.com 

      One time I was alone in my house, if a woman can be alone with kids.  They were sleeping and as the only adult, I felt alone.  I remember grabbing the wasp and hornet spray from the top poison cabinet, in case that shadow came closer.  

www.foprangeinc.com
Self defense handbook

      One time I was being followed to my car in a parking lot when I laced my keys through my fingers, made a fist and turned right around unexpectedly and headed right back into the light at top speed.  He jumped out of my way!  

      One time I was camping in the woods and I woke up to the sound of animal grunting outside the tent.  I rolled over, grabbed the disposable 35mm camera and shot a couple flash photos into the dark.  Two things happened.  One, the hog took off running.  And, two, when I developed the film there was a fuzzy picture of a ham on the hoof, so I knew it was a pig.  

     Any one of these situations could have been handled with a handgun, shotgun or AR.  I had none of those on hand at the time.  Still, I am a force to be reckoned with, especially when I multiply myself with whatever weapon was on hand at the time.  Wasp and hornet spray in the face of an attacker can change the direction and outcome of the attack.  Turning on a potential attacker and taking the fight to him was a surprise tactic that worked.  I was also prepared to take out his eyes and leave them in the parking lot.  Really, the thing with the pig, well, I was sleepy, the camera was there and it also was a surprise a pig didn't like.  

Unless you have a couple of these in your arsenal,     

OR a couple of these:

deadliestfiction.wikia.com 

Then get familiar with these:

www.survivalistboards.com 

lifehacker.com 

and get some of this knowledge:

self-sufficient-blog.com 

thinklikeablackbelt.com 

Pepper Spray and Stunzilla

http://www.swat-police-equipment.com

  THIS POST is ALL MY PERSONAL OPINION! 

   I don't know where you live or the laws in your state.  I know it is currently legal to carry a stun gun in Florida.  I bought one called Stunzilla at a yard sale years ago for $2.  I had to come up with two nine volt batteries to make it spark!  It was a lifesaver.  

www.gandermountain.com 

     I drive with my windows down.  Mostly that is a habit from the olden days when air conditioning was not standard even in a new car!  I have a.c. in the car but, the window on my side is down.  Since I bought Stunzilla, I have been accosted more than a few times by beggars.  It has been four years and I have never been touched.  I have never had to stun someone, but I have put my hand on the trigger and made the zapping noise.  Apparently that zapping noise is the international noise that says, “Get your dirty hand out of my car, I just put my car in park, I am not reaching for your drug money in my purse!”  I have been at a traffic light when some guy waltzed up to me while I was talking to my grandson in the passenger seat.  I didn’t have to say a word, and he didn’t take but a second to turn and run.  

www.gijoesmilitarysurplus.com 

      I was looking at a flyer from Gander Mountain sporting goods store a couple years back, when I saw a stun gun in pink cammo pattern.  I thought, how cute!  But, that is not my style.  Then one day later the subject of safety came up while I was in a client’s home.  Her nanny had had a close call with a dark figure in a dark parking lot.  Fortunately, she slammed her car door shut, locked the door and called her boyfriend in the apartment, who called the police.  I suggested she get the pink stun gun.  She is all girlie girl and a pink case in her purse would look like it belonged there.  The stun gun in her hand looks like she is carrying a fashion print eyeglass case.  They now come in solid colors and small shapes but still pack a big punch.

http://www.trueswords.com

      I am not liking the defense pen, for myself.  I have a lot of pens in the deep dark recesses of my bag and I couldn't tell which one is an unbreakable defense weapon in an emergency.  This is a personal preference and the reason I do not mention the maker’s name.  It may be a very good solution to the person who keeps a pen clipped in an inner jacket pocket; it just doesn't work for me. 

lipstickmace.com 

      I am liking the lipstick pepper spray case.  I don't carry lipstick in my daily handbag so a lipstick case would look as if it belonged to eyes of someone who doesn't know me.  I like the idea that this is a defensive weapon that doesn't scream,"I have a defensive weapon in my handbag."  I do not like the pistol grip pepper spray devices.  They look like a gun.  They are not a gun.  If you are going to carry something that looks like a handgun  it should shoot bullets.   If you need a conceal carry permit for a handgun and you are carrying something that looks like a handgun, you are asking for trouble.  Criminals want your gun as much as they want your money.  Police feel threatened by the appearance of a gun shaped item and have every right to shoot you when you threaten them.     

      Whatever you decide is right for you is right for you.  Always check state and local laws.  There is an age restriction on carrying pepper spray locally, so be sure you inquire not just to legality to carry but age as well.  It is not a good idea to take the item in hand and walk up to local law enforcement.  It is too late to find out a defense weapon is legal when you are being handcuffed!  That is my favorite episode on the TV show COPS.  Someone buys crack and offers it as evidence to a policeman to prove there is a crack dealer nearby.  What idiots! Yeah, please do your research first! 

www.episodedata.com 

      I know we have all seen these movies where the victim turns on their assailant and turns a can of hairspray into a flamethrower.  I am sure it can be done.  I loved McGyver and my sons all went through a phase with alcohol cannons.  Yet, in a pinch and under pressure, I want a tool that works when you pull the trigger.  

     I like pepper spray on a calm day but I personally prefer the stun gun.  It works in close quarters.  If you are twenty feet away from me, I don't want to anger you by spraying you.  I want to walk away and if you touch me, I want you to hurt, writhe in pain and wallow on the ground while I leave you quickly.  No touching the prepper!

     On a personal note, what I really want is my own zat'nik'tal  !

www.rdanderson.com

Things that do other Things

     Today, I was cleaning in a well stocked home.   I tried to get a single roll of paper towels off the top shelf when a pile of coffee filters came tumbling down.  The homeowner's mother said not to worry, just throw them out as they were from a large bulk purchase and now they had hit the floor, they were tainted.  Well, I had mopped that floor and they were not tainted and I do believe the five second rule applies!    Even if I never make a pot of coffee, I can find a use for a large lot of coffee filters.

Coffee Filters
  
Coffee filters are lint free, so, they are great for wiping glass like your eyeglasses or for cleaning small parts like jewelry or watch crystals. 

They are a filter and you can use them to filter loose tea from hot tea, to filter gravy, you can filter oil (either frying or motor oil)  and reuse it.  

Put a filter in the bottom of a plant pot to keep the dirt in and let the water drain.  

Put a spoon of baking soda in a filter, gather the filter and secure with a rubber band and place in smelly shoe.  

Put a good sized glob of yogurt in a filter then gather and secure it with a rubber band and hang it in the fridge to let the moisture frip out to make greek style yogurt or hang longer to make a soft cheese.

Use a filter to separate china in a stack or to separate iron skillets as they absorb moisture, they can reduce rust.  

Here are some other things that do Other Things:

Egg Cartons

Separate nuts and bolts or sequins and pins to unclutter your workbench or craftbench or desk.
Paper cartons buffer sound.  Staple them to walls before recording your music or just to keep the noise next door, next door.

www.learn2grow.com 

Start seedlings in a carton, if you use paper cartons, dampen the carton well then plant the entire section when transplanting the saplings.

Paper cartons filled with dryer lint then drizzled with wax make a great firestarter.  You can also use sawdust instead of lint.

Use styrofoam egg cartons as shipping and packing material instead of peanuts.

We cut the sections into flowers and used them to warn of kids that the Spanish Bayonet was a dangerous and spiked plant!

Newspaper

www.things-to-make-and-do.co.uk

Make paper logs.
Make fuel briquettes.
Make degradable plant pots for starting plants.

Make dark paper.  You can bleach it back to lighten the ink, but dark paper is paper, too. 

innerchildfun.com 

Soak the paper in water, add some starch or glue and use as clay to make paper sculpture, to fill in cracks in windy walls, to fill holes in drywall before painting, or as a substitute for wall paper.

Use as insulation against cold inside coats or clothes, to line a worn pair of shoes in the field.
Use as a table or work space covering to protect the surface.

Make a basket. Check the site at the right to see other things even a child can make from a bit of newsprint.

As an educational tool.  Have the child with the lazy eye color in all the letter 'a' in an article.  Then, on another day the letter 'e'.  They get better and they learn to focus on the tiny letters.  

As an educational tool, find a word that only appears once on the page and give a reward when the child finds it, you will be surprised how much they read! (treat at my house was, possession of the remote control or choice of dinner entree).

Pipe cleaners 

explosives.wonderhowto.com 

Okay, I will grant you that pipe cleaners clean pipes, but there are other things that are cylindrical.  

Pipe cleaners are a must have for weapons cleaning, take a piece of cotton, twist the end of a pipe cleaner around it's middle, then add more pipe cleaners to add length.  

They are a great substitute for that missing twist tie! 

You can use them to organize that jumble of wires behind your computer. 

You can use them as you would a zip tie to make a bamboo trellis.

They can be used to bunch and gather crazy stuff in the junk drawer.



Look through your trash.  What could you make with the things you toss out every day besides the thing they are supposed to do?  In my trash right now is a blown out sock.  That is a cleaning cloth, a rag doll body, a weapon when filled with rocks.  I am from the south.  I have actually suggested someone should be struck with a sock full of rocks!  Yeah, I said it. 

Lots of things do other things.  What were you going to throw out that had another purpose?