macgyverisms

[crwydryny]

ok I'm not sure where best to post this so feel free to move it to a better place,

earlier tonight I was chatting with a friend and one topic that came up was what to do if you're stranded in the middle of no where with no phone and your car has just broken down. all you have available is what's around you and what's in your pocket.

so here's the topic

you have the following items 1 knife (it can be any knife of your choice but idealy one you always have on you)
the clothes on your back, no special outdoor clothes just your everyday clothing
any 3 of the following items (your choice)
a 500ml bottle of water
a box of matches
a lighter
pack of cigrettes
plastic hair comb
a ball point pen
a rubber band
a flashlight
a ball of string
5 paperclips (average size)
note pad
a marble
a bar of chocolate (50g)

(you may opt to swap the knife for two more items on the list)

the challenge is to come up with the most ingenious yet workable strategy to either survive, signal for rescue or get to saftey. anyone who's seen macgyver you know what's expected, the rest of you, basically this is about improvising and useing applied science and knowledge to make, jerry rig or otherwise come up with a viable survival strategy

todays challenge we go with the broken down car, you're in the middle of nowhere, (e.g canadia wilderness, austrailian outs back ect. you choose, you may use terrain, flora and fauna based your local enviroment but note you are several days walk or more from the nearest town so please give infomation of the type of terrain you've picked) and your vehicle has just broken down, all you have with you are the items you chose above and the normal things you usually find in your car (so unless your camping gear lives in your car or you pack a tent and a weeks worth of food every time you go down to the shops they're not there) the challenge is to improvise and find a way to survive this situation using only the knowledge you have in your head and what you can reasonably expect so what would you do to survive/call for help/get to saftey

ok that's today's challenge what's everyone's solution. (additional infomation will be provided if and when I deem it needed) and I may throw in random challenges where they may be needed, this is just to get people thinking about what to do in such situations

I'll come up with new senerios when I can think of them

 

[TomBartlett]

In your scenario can we just repair the car? When I had a car, I kept a half decent toolkit in the boot and have a rudimentary knowledge of engine maintenance.

 

[Retired Member southey]

If there's a water source near by i'd stay with the car for a very, very long time, having ripped out the front seat coverings and carpets to throw onto the fire for dense smoke as a signal, along with removing the wheels,puncturing the tyres,pulling out the windows rubber trim, as much of the facia as i could get out, if the electrics were still working i'd dismount the head lights so i could direct them to any kind of plane/helli noise i heard and putting nearby for the same purpose,remove both wing mirrors and try to position them to reflect sun light in the morning and afternoon to create flashes of light which might draw attetion.keep the jerry can of fuel near by(that would be in my vehicle if i was that far from civilisation) for an immidiate fire boost, i would remove a set of wheel nuts and tied them onto a length of string to make a kind of one legged bowlass to try and hit so live food with . but if it cam to walking out i'd take the bottle,lighter and ball of string for fire lighting, i'd have pulled a wing mirror off to signal with,leave a note using a pen from the glove box and the vehicles manual of what direction i was heading in( which would either be in the direction the car is pointing or back down the road from where i came), make a bag out whats left of the seat covers to carry my kit, with bits of the fire kit i'd buit up.

although if i could just fix the car i'd drive home and have a cup of tea. also If i was in the outback,canadien wilderness i would have a full pack of kit and be fully prepared to either sit for a long time or walk out with maps,watercollecting/processing kit,food and beacons, so it's a bit of a moot point.

 

[John Fenna]

My van always holds a full camping set up (inc hammock), food (24hr rat pack) water (would need boiling), ax, saw, etc etc..... and a CB rig - the Sunday Times Colour Supplement called it a "mobile Survival Unit"
So a piece of whatzit for me!
Send out a radio message, kick back and wait for rescue, maybe whittle a spoon or two while I wait....
It is called "being prepared"

 

[gregorach]

Australian outback, burn the tyres. Everyone there knows that the smoke from burning car tyres means only one thing - "HELP!". And you can see it for a very long way...

Of course, if you're several days walk from anywhere in the Australian outback, you're completely mental and deserve everything you get if you don't have at least a weeks worth of food and water, a full survival kit, and a fairly complete set of spares in the car already.

Oh, and one other thing: STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE!

 

[crwydryny]

In your scenario can we just repair the car? When I had a car, I kept a half decent toolkit in the boot and have a rudimentary knowledge of engine maintenance.

yes that is always a possibility though I guess that does depend on what breaks down and if you can repair it with available resources, ok this senerio we'll go with an easy one a broken high tension lead between the ignition coil and distributor (I'm no mechanic so excuse any mistakes)

Of course, if you're several days walk from anywhere in the Australian outback, you're completely mental and deserve everything you get if you don't have at least a weeks worth of food and water, a full survival kit, and a fairly complete set of spares in the car already.

lol true, and normally I'd be the first to point out such but the idea is to test ingenuity after all you can't always expect to hae everything you need in a survival situation lol (you can also blame it on the fact I was watching the macgyver eppisode mythbusters lastnight lol

My van always holds a full camping set up (inc hammock), food (24hr rat pack) water (would need boiling), ax, saw, etc etc..... and a CB rig - the Sunday Times Colour Supplement called it a "mobile Survival Unit"
So a piece of whatzit for me!
Send out a radio message, kick back and wait for rescue, maybe whittle a spoon or two while I wait....
It is called "being prepared"

LOL I could call that cheating but that van sounds too impressive, I think it's safe to say you're the first one to be rescued and get home safe and sound

If there's a water source near by i'd stay with the car for a very, very long time, having ripped out the front seat coverings and carpets to throw onto the fire for dense smoke as a signal, along with removing the wheels,puncturing the tyres,pulling out the windows rubber trim, as much of the facia as i could get out, if the electrics were still working i'd dismount the head lights so i could direct them to any kind of plane/helli noise i heard and putting nearby for the same purpose,remove both wing mirrors and try to position them to reflect sun light in the morning and afternoon to create flashes of light which might draw attetion.keep the jerry can of fuel near by(that would be in my vehicle if i was that far from civilisation) for an immidiate fire boost, i would remove a set of wheel nuts and tied them onto a length of string to make a kind of one legged bowlass to try and hit so live food with . but if it cam to walking out i'd take the bottle,lighter and ball of string for fire lighting, i'd have pulled a wing mirror off to signal with,leave a note using a pen from the glove box and the vehicles manual of what direction i was heading in( which would either be in the direction the car is pointing or back down the road from where i came), make a bag out whats left of the seat covers to carry my kit, with bits of the fire kit i'd buit up.

I have to commend you on useing everything at your disposal, especially dismantaling the headlights to use for signaling rescue. and impressive use of the wheel nuts, that's one I wouldn't have thought of to be honnest, I can't speak of it's effectiveness in catching prey but I'm sure it would catch some small animals given you can throw it accuratly (or get lucky) I think you desere bonus points just for that idea

 

[TaTanka]

I'll take the knife, which is a Swiss Army, the matches, and the flashlight. I'm taking these things since they are always in my car and they were in my car when I was in up in Colorado and on some back roads and my car broke down a few years ago. It was a small road through a pass that was almost never used and as I sat with my car not a single person drove past in 4 hours so I started down the mountain toward the highway. Spent the first night on the mountain under a pine tree with a decent fire going and the next day finished walking down to the highway ended up being close to a 40 mile hike before I found someone with a car.

 

[Bazzworx]

If the HT lead between the coil and dizzy had broken I would take one of the other HT leads from the dizzy to the plugs and put that between the coil and dizzy then drive the vehicle home on three cylinders.

 

[crwydryny]

If the HT lead between the coil and dizzy had broken I would take one of the other HT leads from the dizzy to the plugs and put that between the coil and dizzy then drive the vehicle home on three cylinders.

well I'm not a mechanic and to be honnest know almost nothing about cars (give me a bike or a horse anyday lol) so I'll have to take your word for it that that will work

 

[Bazzworx]

Yeah it would work I had to do it and then drove 70 miles on 3 cylinders. On my landy back along the contact between the rotor arm and dizzy broke up and to fix it I used the spring from a ball point pen and the end of a bullet terminal to make the connection.

 

[naefearjustbeer]

All sorts are possible as a get you home fix. Running on 3 cylinders for any length of time is not good for you engine. Unburned petrol wiil strip any lubrication from the bore of the un-sparking cylinder causing undue wear and tear to your engine. But as a get you home fix should be ok for a short trip. In some modern cars this is not possible due to the lack of spark plug leads and the use of a module to transfer the HT to the plugs.

 

[trekkingnut]

kinda missing the point of the question though eh. its supposed to be a bit of fun, not who can be pedantic enough to win!!

lets just say the car is impossible to fix. end of story. no one cares how many tools were in the car blah blah blah. you have a kit list. use it.

 

[trekkingnut]

i love the whittling a spoon answer though. i want to hug you... legend!

 

[naefearjustbeer]

OK sorry for straying off topic if the car is immobile due to beyond DIY repair I would hope to have, Some sort of gas/meths burner and a firesteel along with tins of soup or cup a soups beans etc plus a supply of water(winter only). That would do me until the next thaw. If the kids are in the car I carry fleece blankets A big bag of snack food such as raisins nutrigrain bars cheerios etc Maybe even flour and oats for bannock making. As an EDC I have fire making tools, LED light, whistle and a knife.. If i am in the car no matter what I have water food heat warm clothes and 99% of the time GPS and mobile phone.

 

[TomBartlett]

Okay, Macgyering it up then, I'd take my spare wheel hub and part of the exhaust to make a 'scrapyard forge'. I'd unleash some righteous fury against my car for breaking down, and strip it to just the chassis, then using my forge I'd bodge together a pulse jet engine and be back home in time for tea.
Because I could do all those things...

 

[John Fenna]

i love the whittling a spoon answer though. i want to hug you... legend!

I thank you!
It means that my van is slow and heavy on the fuel...but that I also have everything I need with me if I party harder than I intended or (more likely) break down anywhere.
It also means that if I am away testing gear for my magazine columns and an item fails the test - I have a replacement to hand so that I can carry on with the trip with little inconvenience!
I am also seen as a bit of a "Survivalist" - but I blame years of writing for SWAT, SAOT etc for this!

 

[Doc]

A car engine has everything you need for a spark gap transmitter. Highly illegal these days!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark-gap_transmitter

Pretty broad band and will radiate from MW to 500kHz quite well. 500kHZ used to be a maritime distress frequency, but there is now an amateur allocation near to 500kHz and someone will be monitoring.

 

[FGYT]

If the HT lead between the coil and dizzy had broken I would take one of the other HT leads from the dizzy to the plugs and put that between the coil and dizzy then drive the vehicle home on three cylinders.

replace the King lead with a sappy whippy sapling the Sap will conduct the High voltage

Ben ask Simon at he WG about the vehicle they bodged in his REME training as an exercise in fixing with nothing

oh and the tank transporter that he fixed the back axle with an old wood apple crate and some binder twine Gulf war 1

yes yes i saw the vehicular isnt fixable


ATB

Duncan

 

[SouthernCross]

Since we all know that mobiles work everywhere and I'd have my lap top with me, I'd sit back & watch movies whilst drinking bottled water just like here : http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/wait-four-days-for-rescue-family-told/story-e6freuzi-1225900263203




Kind regards
Mick

 

[Ray Britton]

Right.
Sticking to the object of the original thread (well, almost anyway), and ignoring the fact that almost all vehicles are now non repairable in the event of component failure. Ignoring the suggestion of doing something to the distributor cap, which modern vehicles don't have (not to mention vehicle will run for tens of thousands of miles on one less cylinder). Ignoring the idea of burning the seat linings in your car....Which goes against very long standing survival ethos....as you will have just burned the best insulation for your body money can buy (and what was wrong with the tyres/oil/fuel anyway).

This is what I would do:

My car will have driven off the road, and the front left wheel and steering assembly will be wrecked, but the engine still works (so I still cant drive it).
At this stage, be sure you know who Macgyver was (an apology comes later on).

I would keep the plastic comb, bottle of water and the rubber band.

I would drink the water to refresh myself, and then roll the car onto its left side. as i already have a knife on me I would cut a long spiral groove into the outside of the right hand tyre.
Next I would cut one of the teeth from the plastic comb and using the rubber band I would attach it over the mouth of the now empty water bottle. Using the knife I already had on me I would cut the bottom of the water bottle off.

Now to summon my rescuers, i would turn the engine on, and the right hand wheel would start to spin (thanks to the front diff). All I need to do now is to place the tooth of the plastic comb into the groove I cut into the tire, and it will act as an old style gramophone, with the bottomless bottle acting as the trumpet. GREAT CARE will be needed to see if the car needs to be in forward gear or reverse at this point. The 'record' needs to be played forwards or it will transmit evil messages (if played backwards). Once the 'record' is playing (you can choose your own sixties tune), that always attracts other people, who will come tom sit and listen!
One of those will have a phone or a vehicle....OR...if we then choose to stay, hopefully at least one of them will have a guitar.

If we chose to stay, we would simply knock up some permanent dwellings, and have some 'as if by magic' running water and electricity!

It might look something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EgE6PbBEIc

Not bad for ship wrecked folks!

OK, OK, I changed it to GILLIGAN....But it would still work, and is a bit similar in concept LOL ....Poetic license and all that LOL