# Any "random skills" that could ever come in handy?



## mikesolid (Aug 24, 2011)

I was practicing my knot tying the other day and showed my fiance how to open a padlock with a pop can. ( if you haven't heard of it i'm sure theres tons of videos on youtube). I started thinking about if there was any other just completely random, little known, skills that anyone would know.

Thanks ahead for replies.


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## MichaelK (Aug 3, 2011)

I had to add automatic transmission fluid to my daughter's car recently. Of course, the port was down towards the bottom of the engine compartment, so I couldn't just open a quart and pour it in without a long necked spout.

I had a rifle cleaning rod nearby and I just positioned the end in the opening, and then drippled fluid down the length of the rod. Capillary action kept the fluid tight to the rod till it reached the bottom and went into the port. My daughter was suitably impressed of course.


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## mikesolid (Aug 24, 2011)

MichaelK said:


> I had to add automatic transmission fluid to my daughter's car recently. Of course, the port was down towards the bottom of the engine compartment, so I couldn't just open a quart and pour it in without a long necked spout.
> 
> I had a rifle cleaning rod nearby and I just positioned the end in the opening, and then drippled fluid down the length of the rod. Capillary action kept the fluid tight to the rod till it reached the bottom and went into the port. My daughter was suitably impressed of course.


Great. Yea that's exactly what my questions about. So much of "surviving" is adapting. being able to use one thing for a completely different use. Thanks for the reply.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I don't have any that would be useful during a collapse. It's too bad my grandparents passed away years ago. They lived without electricity until they were in their 30s. My grandpa farmed after he retired. He could do concrete and masonry work besides some carpentry and plumbing.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

random household stuff, nothing necessarily valuable.


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

Many years ago we went on a camping trip. It was the first trip of the year and the pump leathers on the coleman stove and lantern were dry. We had no spare oil and we did not even have cooking oil. I pulled the dipstick out of the truck and smeared the oil on the leathers. Problem solved. Boring solution but one that worked.

Using a rat trap as a snare.

Use a prusik knot to snug up a rope rather than cutting the rope.

Using a bungee cord in place of a door closer on the camper.

Using landscape fabric to repace a torn screen on the camper. This really works.

Using air fittings (both male and female) as a pivot. This works well. I once had a boat with two outboards. Twenty miles offshore the interconnecting link broke. Some hose clamps two air fittings and the old connecting rod, lots of cussing and bandaids later, we were in high cotton. This worked well enough to keep us fishing for three weeks untill the replacement parts arrived.

I had the air fittings for my compressor tools onboard only because we picked them up at a harbor we stayed at earlier in the week. To this day I carry two sets with me on the boat. The old joke: "You never are bitten when you have the snake bite kit handy".


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## worldengineer (Sep 20, 2010)

I have taken/am taking drafting classes in school. Figured I could help if we were able to rebuild after something happened.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

BillS & PartD, I think you two are underestimating yourselves. 

I'll bet you are both far more capable than you think. OK, so you can't tear a radio apart to build a Cray supercomputer (dang -- I can't either), but if you can figure out how to fix a leaky or clogged drain, clean the points on the pressure switch on your water pump, or plug a hole in your car tire, then you have the basic aptitude to add to your survival skills when you need them.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

There are no household systems I haven't done major work on... but those are not necessarily survival skills.

We started gardening and canning.

I do have an engineering degree (and MBA), but those skills are not necessarily survival skills.

Watching after Armageddon right now... pretty scary stuff.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

I can fix cars (the mechanical side, not electronic), do basic household wiring, and plumbing, splice rope, train horses/dogs, basic carpentry, masonry, roofing, mig and stick welding, soldering, basic metal work, tree clearing/wood cutting with chainsaw, milk cows in a modern dairy setup, general farm work, sharpen chainsaw chains, small engine repair (I hate small engines:gaah, fairly large scale gardening, canning, butchering, hunting, trapping, fishing, ok camp cook, used to be a small bore rifle and handgun instructor but I can still do it, reload ammo, ok but not a pro at operating dozer and backhoe, some basic medical skills, basic veterinary stuff, e.g. castrating, stitching, wound care, shots and birthing/pulling, hoof trimming. I can make a charcoal cooker (make my own charcoal). I'm an all around Jerry-rigger just 'cause I have to be sometimes to get the job done. Gotta love duck tape, wire and WD-40. Oh. Sometimes a big hammer helps a lot, too. 

Lots of things I'd like to learn. Don't know much about curing meats the old fashioned way. Don't know much about smoking meats either. Don't know how to identify most of the weeds in my pasture/woods. Only know a few of the edible wild plants/roots out there. Can't identify safe mushrooms except morel and puffballs. Lots of things I don't know that I don't even know I don't know!


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

partdeux said:


> There are no household systems I haven't done major work on... but those are not necessarily survival skills.
> 
> We started gardening and canning.
> 
> ...


Well........they could be survival skills IMHO. If, say, the economy crashes and you can't afford to pay someone to fix critical systems in your home, then you can do it yourself. Isn't that a survival skill? Same if your neighbor needs something fixed. You fix it in exchange for their daughter...........ahhhh, strike that. (Just adding a bit of humor)

Seriously, you have the skills to barter for something of value to you (like food, water, ammo, fuel, medicine, etc).

In a more desperate scenario, I'll bet your engineering education would be of tremendous value in helping you design and build things that would be extremely valuable in a post SHTF world.

Hey. If the SHTF, I hope you are my neighbor (but don't even think about the "daughter" thing lol). :beercheer:


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

I *just* bypassed the PassLockII security system on my 97 Buick LeSabre. I read the resistance off the key with my multimeter & then cobbled together a few resistors in series to get the correct value. I then spliced it to the ignition circuit so that now I don't ned to pay $100+ for special keys. :2thumb:


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## Kevin108 (Aug 29, 2011)

I'm a carpenter and IT pro by trade and an automotive mechanic in my spare time. I've got quite a bit more biology to plow through but I'm ready to help people!


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Kevin108 said:


> I'm a ... IT pro by trade ...


There's a useful skill when the power goes out! 

Just messing with you... I earn my living in IT too. Now I just have to figure out how to transfer my server farm management skills into veggie farm skills!


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## ashley8072 (Apr 26, 2011)

I know how to weld with a Mig, Tig and Torch. I've worked countless years building houses ground up with Hubby. I learned how to can foods a couple weeks ago (this is a must for any survival situation). I know how to make soap. Then the basics of fixing things in the home. Gardening.

What I'd like to learn is How to use a ham radio and get a license for it and Plant identification.


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## Kevin108 (Aug 29, 2011)

CulexPipiens said:


> I earn my living in IT too. Now I just have to figure out how to transfer my Farmville skills into veggie farm skills!


 

I will admit that 2000 was the last time I officially worked in IT but the tech is impossible to get away from. I built the computer I'm using now out of junk parts myself and a buddy had laying around. I've got an old Eee 701 that starts up and shuts down faster than any other computer I've ever seen. Since January or so, I've been fooling around with a Droid X, trying different ROMs and other mods.

I've made decent headway with lock picking. I've tinkered with reloading. I've replaced various parts on Glocks and 1911s. We bought our house a little over a year ago and I've had okay luck with the things I've planted here.

I wish I knew more about electrical wiring. I can handle the basics but my comfort level is not where I want it to be.

I also want to learn more about knots. Short of tying my shoes, I don't really know any useful knots.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

This is small-time, but it could help someone out.

I unbolted a section of chain-link fence to make blowing leaves out from inside my pool fence easier. When time came to re-attache it, I couldn't pull it hard enough to mate up with the post. I didn't have a come-a-long that would give me the mechanical advantage I needed. I did, however, have a few tie-down straps... the kind with the hand operated "lever" to take up slack and hooks on each end. I attached one end to the loosened fence and the other around the corner and attached it to fence on that side. Cranking the lever gave me the mechanical advantage I needed and more to pull the fence back in place and hold it while I installed the bolts.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

To answer the OP's post, I am a random-skill ... :2thumb:


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Depends on whether or not anyone needs a bartender after the fall of modern civilization. 

I am trying to become a range instructor and/or an armorer for my department. Those skills could come in handy.

I have a basic knowledge of a myriad of different skills, but am not proficient in many of them. I feel, though, that I would rather be familiar with and competent in a lot of things than a master of only one.


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## philjam (Dec 17, 2008)

Nurture the creatures that live and visit your property. Bird feeder, vegetable garden, etc. The critters living under your deck or shed are a valuable source of renewable protein. Educate yourself to harvest and process for food.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Kevin108 said:


> I will admit that 2000 was the last time I officially worked in IT but the tech is impossible to get away from.


I still deal with it day to day. More management now than hands on but I can still cobble together a working system from parts with my eyes closed and all the guys that work for me still bring me the hard stuff. They've yet to stump me!  In a true failure situation I could see being able to put systems together from parts and burning CD/DVDs of useful data (manuals, how to guides, etc) a possibility. It would all depend on how much electricity is still around. But this certainly won't be a primary skill, just something to do when the rest of the day to day survival stuff has been completed.



Kevin108 said:


> I wish I knew more about electrical wiring. I can handle the basics but my comfort level is not where I want it to be.
> 
> I also want to learn more about knots. Short of tying my shoes, I don't really know any useful knots.


Look at used books. Time Life series and other how to guides. You can pick up basic and advanced electrical books for next to nothing. Most are still quite useful as electricity really hasn't changed. Now if you're doing stuff to "code" that will need inspections that's a different issue.

The SAS book(s) have a section on a number of fairly basic useful knots. Also lots of web sites will show you how too. For example, Basic Knots | How to Tie Basic Knots | Animated Basic Knots.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Watching the Armageddon special was really eye opening. I am no how prepared, as very few of us are to survive at that level.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

partdeux said:


> Watching the Armageddon special was really eye opening. I am no how prepared, as very few of us are to survive at that level.


 We have been spending every extra dollar on fences,pens coops gardens greenhouses .It has taken us 5yr.s just to set this place up for dog and chics 'a little here and there.'
Its time to spend some money on living instead of survivng.
People need some fun and get a way time,otherwise life is'nt worth living.While they were taking cruises,vacations,and partying we were working and scraping by.
Both sides of our families have been living these past 15 years while we have been woking our ass off to make this place a farm.
Maybe they will wish they had of prepared,but we have wasted 15 yr.s of 'fun' time and we are old,so there needs to be a happy medium.
I hear jews say its a sin not to enjoy life,well I somewhat agree.


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