Tips and tricks

[jakerz]

How to find the north star:

Find the big dipper and the two stars that make the outside of the cup (furthest from the handle). Go from the bottom of the cup through the top star of the cup and continue to the first bright star you come across. This star is the north star. It is also the last star in the little dipper's handle.

Reading what I just wrote, makes it as clear as mud. Here's a link with pictures to explain:

http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~huffman/finddip.html

 

[zipski]

Great info, thanks to all.

 

[Wheel Gun]

This is the best thread ever.

 

[Lurker66]

Convert your oil lamps to olive oil. Its cheaper and always available.

Crush a couple of plasic type water bottles, replace the cap, place in your BOB. Gives you 2 water containers and saves space.

Keep a small bag of Frito type corn chips in your BOB. Use as tinder for a fire starter or a snack.

Learn to carry a bandana/hanky. It was the duct tape before duct tape was invented.

Do not rely on a Zippo. Get a Bic.

Last tip. If your lost or need help AND you can build a fire, BURN THE FORREST DOWN, or just build a really abnormally LARGE fire.

 

[swampratt]

Wife's grandpa was sitting outside under the shade tree and running his old rusty oldtimer blade through the dogs hair and pulling up on the blade through the hair to untangle some of the matted hair..he and the dog sat there for 30 minutes doing this.

When dinner was ready we all got up and when he went to close that knife he looked at the now rust free shiny blade..and it got really sharp also...

If you cut yourself of course we know of super glue..I also heard pepper works..as does some cotton or nylon strings from a rope or parachute cord that you unravel....wrap the wound like a bandage..

Now neosporin and silividine cream are antibiotics..but did you know they antibiotics will deplete the growth of new skin cells..
Now next time you have a wound that you need to grow new skin over use the antibiotic on the first day and after that keep clean and use vaseline instead....

Removing stuck on grease from back splash and cabinets from lot's of food frying in the house ,,,try WD40..works better than anything i have tried and does not hurt the finishes..

WD40 on wood chips makes quick fires.

Sleeping on the ground is not comfy and sometimes cold..next time find a pine tree and pile up a bunch of pine needles.
make your bed on that...warm and cushy..

Want tomatoes in the winter time..collect FRESH horse and or cow manure .Put this with some grass clippings into a 55 gallon barrel.
Next put this barrel into a shed or barn near an area where some light will be cast on it...
That barrel will stay nearly 80 degrees f. Dad did this when he was a teenager..and grew tomatoes in the barn in the dead of winter..
I never tried it..

Need to make your own oil ...install fish into a mason jar,,,I used minnows.. Set outside for a couple months and the fish will break down and you will have black stinky oil....If you NEED it you will not care of the smell.

Removing door panels from your(older) car...The little circular clips that hold the window roller handles on and some door handles are easily removed with a rag or cloth..just loop the cloth around the back side where the clip is and pull one end ... it will snatch that clip right out..

Radiator got a leak..if it is up high on the tank you can drive without the cap on..this will keep pressure out and water in.
Drove a chevy vega for 2 years with NO cap...add coolant every now and then...
Raw eggs into radiator wil sometimes stop the leak....Willow branches stuck into the hole works...

Got a hole in gas tank or oil or transmission pan...screw with rubber washer on it works well...
I hear bar soap will also stop a gas tank leak....
That is also good for lubing the bottoms of wood drawers...
And the irish spring soap cut into slivers will make the screwdrivers smell better that are stored in the tool box..
You know the smell! a few slivers in each drawer.

Kingsford Charcoal...This stuff will keep freezer burn flavors to a minimum in the deep freeze...I change mine out every 2 years or so.
Baking soda does not work not enough surface area to do any good..5lbs of charcoal..

Spotted by a deer during hunting season...do NOT stay quiet and still, That is what predators do.
Chuck like a squirrel ...I have done this 3 times now and the deer have dropped their heads and continued eating...
Once in a panic with one running at me i ordered up squirrel in my brain, but got chicken call out my mouth....Deer ran another 30 feet and stopped and looked for that big chicken...

That is all for now..
enjoy.

 

[BadgeBunny]

Good Heaven's to Betsy, swampratt ... LOL ... I'm gonna try a bunch of those, but especially that tomato one. There's a horse stable over here off 16th and MacArthur, I think it is, that gives away horse manure ... Poor GC ... Like I don't have enough projects going on around here ...

 

[swampratt]

HE HE i have done them all and then some except the tomatoes.
I would love to know how it works for you...My dad stated that he put a thermometer on the outside of the barrel and it stayed in the 70's to 80's
I almost bet you can grow cilantro inside...HHHHMMMMM come and get it..will be here all day till 430 then going to autozone to test some starter speeds.

Edit i did not do the egg or pepper in radiator..
I did try pepper on a cut to make it stop bleeding..did not work..i clot quickly any way..
I have used candle flame to seal thumb back together.
And have drilled a hole into my finger nail to releive pressure/ blood clot from a smashed finger.
You can heat a paper clip with a lighter and poke that through the nail also...That hurts like hell though..

 

[BadgeBunny]

Lol you experiment WAY TOO MUCH on yourself!!

I'll keep you posted. I've heard of folks using hot manures to heat cold frames thru the winter. (Put the fresh horse, cow or chicken manure under the soil or potted plants.) Sounds like this might be the same kinda deal ... In theory ...

 

[swampratt]

Parents would not take you to the doctor unless you were dying..blind in one eye and still no doctor..ask me how i know.
gotta watch that poison ivy...

NOW BEST TIP EVER: how to never get poison ivy...

True story..2 Friends never got it.. said their grandfather fed their goat poison ivy for 2 weeks then invited the kids over to stay
made them drink the goats milk...they never got it...parent's confirmed the story. kids were not teens yet
We were 16-17 years old then and i never heard such a thing..
Figured they were never into it really good..so i go pick some with a breadsack...I let them have it and they rubbed it all over their faces and under their arm pits....
We were playing baseball in the field that day....BOY O BOY did i ever get it...forgot they are handling the ball and gloves and bats..

They never got it...so There you go...the only cure i know of...
I had it 11 times one year...my normal was about 6 or so times a year...
I get it now and it is gone in a couple days...It does not make me itch so bad anymore either...Had it enough times i built a small immunity to it.

 

[Belthos]

Cayenne pepper can stop bleeding, I don't think other peppers work.