Improvised Gear

Tools and equipment to get the job done.
Post Reply
User avatar
Psychlonic
Member
Posts: 1202
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:30 am
Location: Earth
Contact:

Improvised Gear

Post by Psychlonic » Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:49 am

Figured this could be fun to get some creativity going. Post how to make gear from basically nothing or common objects which can be used to improvise.

Plastic Cards
These can be membership cards, ID cards, credit cards, or anything laminated. Cards are probably the best object to shim open inward swinging doorknobs with angled bolts. We all know this technique by the obvious name of "carding".
Also, a heavy enough card can actually do some moderate damage to someone if thrown with the proper technique. You know the guy Ricky Jay who can cut bananas in half with regular paper-based cards? Plastic cuts a hell of a lot better. You aren't going to kick someone's ass Gambit style, but you might be able to distract or discourage a persuer.

Bread Twisties
Those useless things you throw away and opt to spin the loaf instead aren't as useless as you think. Curled into a large loop, they can sometimes be looped around angled doorknobs designed to swing outward. The plastic/paper sheathing on them also seems to help them find their way around the bolt.

These can also serve a miscellaneous purpose as a binder of sorts. Say you need to attach something light or hold something together temporarily - these can do it.

Soda Cans
These things are actually extremely useful in the right hands, you just gotta know what to do with them. For one, you can cut strips of them off and use them to lodge in spring-loaded padlocks to open them.

You can always fill them with various materials for different effects, too. Fill one with dirt and throw for a distraction (you laugh but hey, there isn't ALWAYS a rock). Turn one into a smoke grenade (not that I advocate their use in ops)

Tear one up, and the edges create a decent cutting surface. If you need something slightly more durable, smash and bend it just right, and sharpen it on any coarse surface like cement, asphalt, rock, metal, etc. The lids are rigid enough that you can fashion these into caltrops capable of penetrating light footwear in a desperate situation. This is a good time to have a multitool on you.

Another fun use, which MIGHT someday be useful, is you can turn these things into stoves. While you might not have the need to be cooking (though if you are you can cut the ends off one, flatten, and use as a hot plate), it could turn into an urban survival tool, a timed delay for black ops, a light source, who know.

Code: Select all

http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/sgt-v8stove/index.html
This is a full blown hiking stove example you can learn from. Obviously you can omit the bells and whistles and just use a couple can ends. There are more examples elsewhere on that site too if you need more examples.
Instead of alcohol though, you can also syphon some gasoline and use that as the fuel instead.

Aluminum conducts electricity. Theoretically, it's possible to cut a few cans into long strips to jumper some alarm systems - among other potential uses. It's even useful in radio communications, with cans useable as is and in flattened form as antennas.

Got a grinder and a bunch of cans in a bag? Grind away and you've got half the reagents required for a simple thermite formula.

Think!

Garden Hose
This stuff is fun because people always have it outside their houses, so you're bound to find some on any given operation.

First and most obviously, you can use it to syphon. Either because that's the purpose of the operation (with gas usually) or it's a survival situation. With a knife, you can cut to lengths if needed.

Garden hose can also be strong enough to allow you to climb short distances with it. Test it by tying the stretching it first, then only use it to maybe climb up to a second story - third story if it's really strong (use common sense).

For DIY at home uses, garden hose makes a good carrier for making thermite cable. Purely black ops use here, you use several loops of it to cut manholes in thin material quickly, tape it so it welds metal door/frame combos shut when ignited, or as an extremely inefficient time fuse heh. Also good as a general salute for any special formula you have in mind if cut to lengths.

It's original purpose can make it one hell of an expedient distraction. Attach it to a water spout and secure it somewhere so that when water shoots out of it, you get the result you need. Maybe it's shooting the front door as a distraction, maybe it's over some plastic to create a slick if you fuck up and get chased. Maybe you're an asshole and put the nozzle inside the nearest building to damage it.

Branch
You find a decent sized branch from an apple tree or whatever, hack at it a little bit, then yank on it and it snaps off. Now you've got the base for a number of projects. You can also find alternatives such as tool handles, closet dowels, mop and broom handles, plus perhaps garden decorations.

The first thing most people think of is a staff. Clear all the saplings from it and turn it into a straight shaft. The staff can be used for self defense from people or animals. If it's strong enough, you can lodge it between objects to create a bar to pull yourself up with or climb across. You can also try to get part of the trunk to come off with it, creating a good hook to attach and create a climbing pole with. You can also sharpen it. Best of all, it's free and it's everywhere so you won't be afraid to ditch it. Matter of fact, these are perfect for when you want something to seriously hurt someone if you really need to, but you KNOW you won't be able to keep it with you the entire duration of the op.
Most useful if you're carrying a good knife with you.

You can take several and create a more permanent ladder.

You can take smaller ones to create disposable wooden knives and shanks with at home.

If the staff is durable enough, you can tip it with a material that will allow it to be used as a pry bar. I've opened steel doors on steel frames with a shovel before, as an example.

These can also make good splints and crutches if you injure a limb at some point. Immobilize the injury, create a walking apparatus if needed, and return to base.

With some work, you can make decent wooden wedges out of branches, or any other wood easy to fashion into a wedge. Wedges can be pounded between doors and their frames - including on vehicles - to open them.

I know I'm forgetting some obvious ones, they're just not surfacing at the moment.



Sheets
A dark blanket or sheet which can be folded up and placed in a pocket. Useful, compact, and you've usually got a good idea of when you'll need it.

Can be used as an improvised load bearing device on black ops. You can fold it around your trophies, or drape it over a larger object you're forced to carry in your hands.

Can also be folded and placed on surfaces such as gravel to make walking across quieter.

Bandaging.



Paper Clips
A multitool with pliers makes this much easier, but paper clips CAN in fact be turned into lock picking tools. If you're just learning how to pick, I HIGHLY recommend you learn with actual tools and not improvised. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble.

Paper clips can also perform the same roles as bread twisties, they're just harder to manipulate in certain tasks.


Carpet Sandals
One of the best things you'll ever have is a good pair of carpet sandals. They're dead easy to make, too. You simply take some thick carpet and cut it to be a bit larger than your shoeprint. Then you take any other material and make it so you can attach and remove them quickly from your standard footwear. How you do this is all up to personal preference. Obviously though you want them to be "shaggy material down" when you wear them.
These are handy for walking across gravel or any surface where your footwear might be too loud. They can also let you wear dirty footwear in clean indoor settings without leaving traces. Best of all, they can be rolled up and stored compactly.


Post your ideas, NOW!!!! :D
Knowledge alone is not power, it is the potential for power. That potential can only be unlocked through applying that knowledge and realizing the skill.

User avatar
stealththief
Member
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:20 am
Location: Hidden
Contact:

Post by stealththief » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:49 pm

Cloth- Apart from using it to cover your face consider covering your head. Think turban, you could easily stick leaves into it and not be too afraid to poke you head up from behind a bush.

String- Trip wires. Tying doors shut for a few seconds of escape time. To lead you back in a confusing areas. Garrote if you have to...

Small mirror- Look around corners, signal if lost or with a flash light send messages into a window or to a partner.

Can't think of any more at the moment.
Image

pacu
Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:07 am
Contact:

Post by pacu » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:42 pm

Jeans--if you can sew you can cut the legs off and sew up one end. Makes a good loot bag or hold your rope.

a dull kitchen knife makes a good tool for sliding between the door jam to get at the lock mechanism on alot of doors. Just push the door tab back into its self.

Goodwill clothes are stupid cheap and if someone sees you night opping it up you can always shed them to avoid identification.

preistpower
Member
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:51 am
Contact:

Re: Improvised Gear

Post by preistpower » Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:22 am

If you don't wanna spend the money, perfume can function as a pretty good alternative to mace. Trust me if you have ever sprayed yourself in the eye with it. You do not see for a few minutes minimum.

Also a 9 volt battery and a christmas light can make a great emergency light. ( warning though it is incredibly bright )

All you do is take the christmas light out of the line then the bulb out of its base, take the two wires and put them on the 9 volt batteries ends, quick emergency light. Electrical tape can help here by the way.

User avatar
NINJAHAMMER
Member
Posts: 69
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:07 am
Contact:

Re: Improvised Gear

Post by NINJAHAMMER » Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:44 am

Psychlonic mentioned plastic cards for "loiding" or carding. Back in my liberating days, I encountered a door that had a wide gap but had one of those annoying metal plates that keep you from "carding the door latch to open it. So to bypass this, I cut a piece of cardboard into the shape of an "L" , inserted the long end above the metal plate, kept hold of the short end and loided the door from the back or from the inside out. Another method, if there is some space, is to put the long end straight down along the inside of the metal plate and then flick the wrist to cause the long end to card the latch. If the gap in the door is tighter, you can make an "L" shape loid with some strong flat metal binding (used to bind pallets). You cut off a piece of the binding and then just bend the top at a 90 degree angle to create an L shape - just put some tape on the handle so that the metal doesn't cut your hand.
Attachments
after1.jpg

User avatar
NINJAHAMMER
Member
Posts: 69
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 1:07 am
Contact:

Re: Improvised Gear

Post by NINJAHAMMER » Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:48 am

Priestpower above mentioned the use of perfume as a tear gas spray. Another option is to use wasp spray which will also blind someone for a while and has greater range and is even legal to carry in your car in the stupid states that forbid the civilians from having pepperspray.

Post Reply