ITEM 1 - new thread idea.

[2682nscovell]

Here's a great idea if I do say so myself...

This thread and others like it will be subjected to listing individual material items and how they can be used in survival methods!

Many of us are well aware that the stuff roaming the realms of our homes would be pointless in the event of a TEOWAWKI. Or so we think... I am sure there are great minds out there that can take these interesting items and come up with some "usage" for them. For instance, CD and DVD's. What could you use in that event.

So... to get this started I will post an item and anyone with answers can post them.

Rules - one item per topic. You can't include other items such as a stereo and a jack hammer. Just one item. To keep it organized, just send a personal message to my account for the next item on the thread. This way the threads won't get all nuts.

ITEM 1
Digital Flat Screen TVs

[Grand58742]

ITEM 1
Digital Flat Screen TVs

Would probably make a halfway decent counterweight for a small trebuchet. :D

Call me unoriginal or not thinking out of the box, but I can't think of anything in a survival situation it could be used for. Possibly stripped and the wires become cordage.

[chancemft]

Make a great anchor for a trot line.

[Mikeg175]

Bait for zombie traps , put it out where it can be seen and wait . Kind of like a salt lick for deer . Could also be set up as a booby trap ( hehe I said booby ) , dig a hole with spikes and set it on a 2x4 or something and cover a tarp with a light layer of dirt and wait for the screams ( zombies will make good dog food ) . Hmm on the serious side might be able to mount it on a wall , then take out guts , leave the screen on it or get some mirror tint and put on screen , then could use it as a one way mirror ? Mount it where it can viewed from behind , maybe even place some cracks on it , so it looks like junk and not worth grabbing , so it could be used as a security device inside the house , if have a hidden area you could make a small window so can peer out , like a panic room hidden viewer , that is right in the open .

[monkeybird]

Actually Mikeg I saw one of those TV shows about a biological melt down in the U.S. Anyway, the hero (?) saw a group of roving gangs coming down the street (his family was inside) he started breaking windows and throwing all types of stuff in the years as well as the TV. His purpose was to make the gang believe someone had already looted his house. In the TV drama it worked.

[Mikeg175]

Thats where I was heading , mount it crooked , crack it up some , they would probably finish it off anyways , but if had a sliding hidden section behind it , who knows . If you saw them smashing things and heading your way , you hop in your 'panic room' , slide shut the hidden panel and wait . Then when it is quiet you slide open the panel and hopefully the tv is still mounted and able to used as a hidden peep hole . Another way would be to scratch the outer part , put a few cracks on the sides , while maintaining structural shape and then make sure you have a heavy plastic dark flap on it . This could leaned against the wall/fence/anything to conceal a hidden entrance/exit . To exit/enter you just lift the plastic screen/flap and crawl in . Then you position the flap back down and it would look like a broken tv just leaning against the wall or where you placed it .

[2682nscovell]

I was actually thinking that the back side of the set could be used as a basin or sink. With the wire holes you could cork it and make an easy drainage system.

Other than that I was also thinking that most of the parts within the set could be used as either good fire starters or even fishing bait. Lure fishing would be a must in a TEOWAWKI.

I was actutally hoping if someone knew what was on the inside paneling of the screen. I remember an old tv I saw and it was some sort of dust, and it seemed metallic. I wonder if it could be used. If it's magneisum then no doubt it would be flammable. Also, I wonder if there is a way to tap into the power cells within old sets. I don't think digital screens have them.

[Grand58742]

You kind of came up with a tough one to start with. I mean, it's something some have, others don't, so it's harder to look at the item objectively rather than "well, I could take it apart and..."

Problem with a flat screen TV (or most any modern TV for that matter) is the fact folks won't be so eager to tear one apart and figure out just what you could do with it afterwards. They are expensive enough as it is, much less trying to figure out what is inside and we could make unless it became entirely useless. Most of us won't volunteer the opportunity to tear apart our new TV to tell the forum what doodad we made from the guts. That's just me though but some folks might give it a try lol

Might I make a suggestion and next time do something a little more common and/or plentiful that gathers space as it is or is tossed out/recycled? Something like: potato chip bags, empty Mountain House bags, an old toaster oven, steel cans, plastic coat hangers, old razor blades, your CD and DVD idea...

The list could go on, but the biggest challenge is to make folks think. And ripping apart a TV to figure it out is something most of us aren't eager to do. Plus, it's probably not going to be the first thing to be ripped apart in a TEOTWAWKI situation due to the price as there will be that lingering hope of civilization returning to normal. But more common items in the household or that could be scavenged which are often overlooked might be a better idea.

Just a suggestion, it's your thread.

[Mikeg175]

Nah any item will work here , and if lasts longer then expected and we might have had some hypothetical stuff thrown out that we happen to have sitting there going ok its been 8 months without electricity and wtf do I do with this 'blah' and we have a light bulb go 'bling' I remember reading about this on our great forum . TV's are going to be like x-girlfriends/boyfriends they were fun while they lasted and now you can finally move on hehe .

But back to original scenario , I was thinking I would order a few sets of Faces of Death dvds and then I would mount one of the screens at the entrance to my retreat ( hope I have it up by then ) in a water , shock , semi-violent proof setting . Then I would set a motion sensor so when a person came to my driveway it would start the dvd on faces of death and maybe deter a few idiots . I was also thinking of buying some skull props and mounting them on posts with signs warning about entering my property , this would never happen , but would/could be a deterrent .