Outdoor Life Prepare for Anything Survival Manual (13 page)

When times are tough, you may not have the luxury of popping on down to your local superstore to find just the right item for the job. That’s when you think like the pioneers—what would Pa Ingalls have done? Here are a few ideas. We bet if you look at your workshop with a creative eye, you’ll come up with a few more.

CARRY DRYWALL
Big sheets of drywall, plywood, or even heavy cardboard can be a real hassle to carry around if you don’t have arms like a chimpanzee. Use a pry bar as an arm extender to grab the bottom of the sheet. No ape sounds needed, but go for it if you like.

PULL ELECTRICAL STAPLES
It can be tough to pull out those staples that hold down cables without damaging the actual line. Diagonal cutting pliers make the job easy.

REMOVE STUBBORN NAILS
If your hammer just can’t grab that nail—or, worse, if its head has broken off—use locking pliers to grab it. Clamp the nail and pull downward to curl the nail out of the wood.

TIE IT SECURELY
When you need to hold together something big or unwieldy, like a coiled extension cord or a rolled-up tarp, a few lengths of copper wire can be really handy. It’s easy to cut and bend, and you just have to twist it once to get it to hold.

HOLD A SMALL NAIL
Needle-nose pliers can hold that tiny nail in place better than your stubby fingers . . . and won’t scream if you hit them with the hammer by accident.

FAKE A HEMOSTAT
Those needle-nose pliers also come in handy when you need to create the kind of flexible lock that hemostats make for cheap. Great for holding wires to solder or cable when you don’t have enough hands, one can be made with a pair of pliers and a rubber band.

You know that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail? Not always so. If you happen to have a “rip hammer,” which is one with a straight rather than curved claw, you’ve got a surprisingly multifaceted tool. Sure, you can use it to pull and pound nails, but that’s not all.

SPLIT LUMBER
Let’s say you need a 2x2 but all you have is 2x4s. No problem! Or if you need to split a wood block or otherwise get rid of a bit of wood along the grain. The straight end of your hammer can act like a little mini axe. It’s not a precision instrument, but most often it doesn’t need to be.

MAKE A ROUGH MEASURE
A lot of time it doesn’t matter exactly how high something is off the ground (think electrical boxes, for instance), just that it’s consistent. If you have a basic idea of your hammer’s length (insert the dirty joke of your choice here), you can skip pulling out the measuring tape.

DO A DEMO
If you need to pull out some drywall or disassemble woodwork, the claw end of your hammer (especially if it has a long handle) is almost as good as a pry bar. It’ll do in a pinch, anyway.

HIT THE GARDEN
When breaking up hard soil, your hammer’s claw is better than most of those little hand tools, as it’s more ergonomic and packs more of a punch. Once you’ve broken up the turf you can bring in fertilizer and pull out the more conventional rakes and trowels.

SAVE A SAW BLADE
Thin saw blades bend easily. You can pinch the blade in your hammer’s claw and carefully bend it back to true. Or you can try laying it down on your work table and pounding it straight.

MAKE LIKE A MOUNTAIN CLIMBER
This is one of those tricks you hope you never have to use—and that you’re quick-thinking enough to remember if you do need to. Up on the roof working on the shingles and slip? If you have the presence of mind to turn the hammer around and slam the claw into the roof, you may well arrest your fall. We’ve heard it’s been done. We don’t want to test it.

If you have bastard files (the roughest cut in metal files) in your toolbox, char cloth (see item 103) in your survival kit, and a good rock, you have a good backup fire starter.

STEP 1
Grab your file—a mill bastard file is best due to its carbon content.

STEP 2
Get a nice chunk of flint, quartz, or jasper.

STEP 3
Put the char cloth on a good surface, then strike the file firmly with your rock. Sparks should fly and catch the char cloth. Add more tinder to those sparks, and you’ll have a fire in no time!

Wait, what? It’s true, the idea of sipping screwdrivers after the apocalypse might seem a little strange, but hear us out. As a clear spirit, vodka has a surprising number of uses. In addition to those below, booze can make a great trade good or way of befriending your neighbors. And after a hard day’s labor in the summer heat, that screwdriver is going to sound mighty refreshing.

MOUTHWASH

With its antibacterial qualities, vodka can help keep your teeth and gums in good shape. If you’re really feeling fancy, you can even infuse it with mint leaves or extract.

PAIN RELIEF

No, not like that! Dab on cold sores or blisters to help them heal.

MOSQUITO REPELLENT

Spray yourself down to discourage mosquitoes and other pests (does not work on hobos).

TREAT SMELLY FEET

Nobody likes a stinky dude in a small bunker. Wipe down smelly feet and shoes.

ITCH TREATMENT

Helps soothe the discomfort from poison ivy and even jellyfish stings.

GET RID OF MOLD

Mold isn’t just ugly, it can make you all kinds of sick—to get rid of it, spritz full-strength vodka on it, then scrub to remove.

DEODORIZE CLOTHING

Put vodka in a spray bottle; use it to kill the bacteria that make your clothes stinky.

ICE PACK

A half mug each of water and vodka frozen together makes for a good reusable ice pack.

CLEAN LENSES