EDC and Improvising?

I like to be prepared to handle problems/tasks and sometimes improvise to accomplish them. It's sort of a hobby of mine.
My username includes "gyver" from Macgyver, one of my favorite shows. Of course it was a fictional show, and most things were farfetched but some of it actually works.

I'd like to hear about your personal experiences.

What have you used your EDC gear to accomplish?

What everyday items have you used in an unconventional way to improvise a solution to a problem or task?

Are there any online resources you've come across that discuss improvisational techniques?

I think by sharing our experiences, we'll be a little better prepared. Our EDC gear is important, and by improvising, were able to do even more than with just our EDC alone.

A few of mine to start us off:
-replaced broken pin on zip drive cable--paperclip and P4
-improvised eraser--rubberband
-retightened tire valve stem--LM micra tweezers
-fixed blown fuse in 12v car adapter--foil tape, micra scissors
-fixed damaged laptop comp. cable--microtech plus, solder, lighter, elec. tape and knife.
-made arm splint for friend's fractured wrist--duct tape, plywood scrap and knife.
-rigged 12v phone charger directly to battery to bypass shorted out lighter socket in friend's van on camping trip--Kf4 and wire
-pulled small items out of tight spots--pen with duct tape or elec. tape on the end.
-Sharpened knife on car window edge.

I had all the above items ON me as EDC except for the plywood scrap and car window.

I, um...dang, I can't think of a single clever thing I did. Well, I did use my leatherman saw blade to trim a branch for a children's pinata game. Oh, I melted the cracked lip of my Bodum coffee press to smooth it and keep the crack from propagating. Used a turbotorch cigar lighter.

Wilkey

maybe you should change your name to mcgyverpete /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

When I had my '52 military Jeep (an M38A1...the CJ-5 Jeep was based on the M38A1), one of the ignitor (distributor) clips inside the cap that holds the works to the case and grounds it broke, so I was stranded on the side of the road.

I started thinking and looked around for something to fix this so I could get it home and found a soda can pull tab (the newer kind -- sort of rectangular) and was able to put the screw through the large hole and it stuck out enough to wedge under the lip inside the case and make contact.

It worked. I drove home and used it that way until I could get to my local army jeep parts dealer to pick up another clip several days later. My dad taught me resourcefulness and improvisation...I'm very fortunate for that.

I do things like that a lot, but that's the one I liked the most...

JM-99

Hey Ginseng, how's it going! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Those are both good uses of your EDC gear. BTW, how's the Squashlite project? It's almost harvest time!

Jumpmaster, that's a great resourceful use of an ordinary item you found. And it got you out of a bind. Can tabs now have greater potential for us. I'll be looking to use one in a new way.
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Your experiences don't have to be amazing or lifesaving,(mine aren't). Just ways you've used your gear and/or items around you to fix something "on the fly". Alot of us CARRY multitools and other stuff, but USING them I think brings great satisfaction. And by learning alternate uses for ordinary items in our surroundings, we are better equipped to tackle otherwise impossible tasks.

Feel free to post more than once if you remember more experiences, or have new ones.

You might fish around on Equipped.org.

-john

Thanks John! I browsed a little there just now. I did a search on "improvising", "improvise", and "double duty" and found a lot of good ideas. Looks like I'll be visiting there alot too.

I've used the spring from retractable pens on more than one occassion to replace a spring that broke in something. My best repair was to a portable tape player that wouldn't turn off when 'play' was pushed. (If you're old enough to remember cassette tapes, that is)

One evening while driving an Olds that I used to own a fan belt sawed through the upper radiator hose and the coolant sprayed all over the alternator. The alternator light coming on was my clue that I had a problem, and my lights dimming. I was driving past the shop where I still work, so I quicky pulled in (had a key) and evaluated the problem. I got myself back on the road by cutting a small piece of aluminum can as a heat sheild and placing it over the hose's hole. I used almost an entire roll of electrical tape wrapping as tightly as possible around the entire area around the hole/patch. I then borrowed some anti-freeze and water from work to refill the cooling system and was on my way again. That patch held for the entire week I drove that way and finally had enough cash to buy a new hose and belt to do a proper repair. No lasting damage to the alternator.

hey thats that guy who thought guns were unsafe so he made and used homade bombs and launchers right- I LOVE THAT SHOW! never get to see it though.