Master Jury-rigger: Are You One

[JohnyMac]

I am continually amazed at what my neighbor across from us up at the cabin can do with bailing wire, duct tape, a welder and a few other small tools & accessories. I would classify him as a "Master Jury-rigger." High praise for me to hand out.

This man can "make do" with almost anything. I only hope that I can do half the things he can do when the SHTF. Our family is blessed to have our redoubt across the street from him.

So my question to the forum is: Can you do a whole host of things when TEOTWAWKI happens? Are you living near a person (s) who can make do with nothing? Do you have things or skills you can trade for their services?

Take a quite minute to reflect on these questions and if you answer "no" to any of these questions - Get a plan!

[graynomad]

I can make a lot as long as I have my tools, but I'm not really a "McGyver" although I've had my moments. For example I've done a fair bit of bush mechanics over the years to get out of trouble, like one time in the mid 70s I was driving through the night up in outback Northern Territory when I hit a steer at about 80MPH (me, not the steer), luckily I managed to swerve a bit so didn't hit dead on.

Next day.


Next morning I hitched into the nearest town (Katherine, about 60 miles away) and bought parts while my mate guarded the car and stripped the broken bits off it. Cops drove past on their rounds south, they told him to chuck all the bits over into the bush and if we were still there in a few days when they came back north they'd give us a lift.

Two days later we had it running with parts from all different vehicles according to what I could find in the wreckers



The engine parts (thermostat housing, harmonic balance, fan etc) had to be correct but all the "fruit" was from whatever looked like it would fit, radiator from a Landcruiser IIRC, modified radiator hoses from something, battery from something else, a headlight from yet another car type. All held together with fencing wire and tape.

We drove another 2000 miles with the car in that state, it had never run better

[Burt Gummer]

Good story GN  did you have a celebratory "Leg O' Steer"?

All held together with fencing wire

With fencing wire do you mean this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baling_wire
keep a roll in my car it's great for holding on that under carriage part that wants to leave.

[Fuzzy]

I like bailing wire.
For easier use I get quarter mile heavy galvanized electric fence wire.
It comes in a easy to store or carry spool.
It also makes fast improvised antennas.
Avoid the chinese galvanized stuff as it is always junk.

Makes pretty good tanglefoot too.

[Kentactic]

Im not sure id consider myself a master-jerry-rigger but I certainly consider myself a problem solver. I take pride in being the guy to make it work when it seems impossible. It really helps when another guy says he's tried everything. That really gets my wheels turning. I'm not sure if its because I want to look smart or if its the fact that hes already tried the giving up thing and that didn't work so all that's left is to just get it to work. Another example is if I work on something like say a car and nobody else is helping, I'll swear and damn Henry ford to hell. But if theres another guy there and he's swearing and punching car parts, I will be super calm and see the error in his actions and fix the problem.

It shows that anger drastically reduces your problem solving abilities.

Anyways, I think with nothing more then a handheld box of tools I can be a major asset in some way or another. Ive been doing a lot of mobile mechanic work with my stepfather lately so ive certainly gotten some good experience in less then ideal environments.

[Burt Gummer]

It also makes fast improvised antennas.

always wanted to use it for that, i wonder if there's a specific radio antenna for it.
 

[JohnyMac]

Great comments gents AND stories.

The ability to think out side the box in tough times is what it's all about.   

[graynomad]

Good story GN  did you have a celebratory "Leg O' Steer"?

All held together with fencing wire

With fencing wire do you mean this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baling_wire
keep a roll in my car it's great for holding on that under carriage part that wants to leave.

No beef for us I'm afraid, too bruised I would think, shame because we had plenty of beer and a steak would have complimented that well. There's a lot more to the story of that trip involving nights in the lockup, being accused of stealing from a building site, airtight alibi yada yada. One of those character-building road trips. Man I don't seem to have any fun these days

This is what I call fencing wire

http://www.waratahfencing.com.au/Product/Fence-wire/Fence-Wire/Flexabel-Galvanized.aspx

it has four main uses, stringing a fence, fixing stuff, and retrieving tools from the bottom of engine bays or wires from inside a wall. I never leave home without a small roll of it. I've never heard of baling being done with wire, AFAIK in Oz we always use twine for hay bales but it's been a long time since I studied one.

[Burt Gummer]

No beef for us I'm afraid, too bruised I would think, shame because we had plenty of beer and a steak would have complimented that well. There's a lot more to the story of that trip involving nights in the lockup, being accused of stealing from a building site, airtight alibi yada yada. One of those character-building road trips. Man I don't seem to have any fun these days

This is what I call fencing wire

http://www.waratahfencing.com.au/Product/Fence-wire/Fence-Wire/Flexabel-Galvanized.aspx

it has four main uses, stringing a fence, fixing stuff, and retrieving tools from the bottom of engine bays or wires from inside a wall. I never leave home without a small roll of it. I've never heard of baling being done with wire, AFAIK in Oz we always use twine for hay bales but it's been a long time since I studied one.

Yep that's it... They use twine here in the US eventually as well. but the name stuck with the other product.

And why do I always feel like a crossed legged kid with your stories GN?

[graynomad]

Dunno. Did I tell you about the time I was caught outside my vehicle by a male lion in Kenya, or got the inside track to a "security" job in Somalia, or the time I walked into an islander-only bar in Tahiti, or worked in a public bar on the docks in Auckland, or was a fashion photographer in Perth, or slept on cardboard under Blackfriars bridge with all the down and outs in London...ah, thems were the days.

All good fun and sometimes a little hairy, but if I had been in situations many of the mil and ex-mil guys here (and on other forums I frequent) have been in I would have royally shat myself.

[JohnyMac]

My neighbor uses bailing wire for square bales of hay and twine for the big round bails.

I use his bailing wire to truss up 90-100# pig's for the barbi.

Fill the body cavity with apples, coarsely cut fresh sage, allot of pepper and a couple of handfuls of kosher salt. Then sew up the cavity with the bailing wire.

Yummmmm!

[Burt Gummer]

He died for his country...

[thedigininja]

I'm definitely not a do all kind of guy even though I try to pick up tip and skills wherever I can but we have a SHTF group and between us we have a lot of useful tricks. Most of us have construction and electronic experience. Two mechanics. A communication and broadcast specialist. Medic, firefighting, tactical, combat,  security. Agriculture and food preservation and my mrs is busy studying nutrition. Hunting and food preparation. I'm trying to convince my father to move closer in which case we'll have a chemistry wizard. Psychology. The list continues but basically what I'm shooting at here is that even though on our own each of us can be useful when it comes down to it you can't do EVERYTHING yourself, sometimes it makes sense to cluster together. Especially in a long term or possibly extinction level event where you won't just be surviving until things calm down but where you may actually need to rebuild in order to move forward.

[Deathstyle]

Im reminded of this show on discovery channel where two americans try mine gold in ghana. They invite a friend from the states who was an army mechanic to help keep the machines running but he was taking too long to get things done. The excavator kept breaking down and every time this guy had the mindset of needing to go to the store for a part. He was eventually replaced by a local who repair things with scrap rubber and twine made from the jungle vegetation.

[TrailingSpouse]

Dunno. Did I tell you about the time I was caught outside my vehicle by a male lion in Kenya, or got the inside track to a "security" job in Somalia, or the time I walked into an islander-only bar in Tahiti, or worked in a public bar on the docks in Auckland, or was a fashion photographer in Perth, or slept on cardboard under Blackfriars bridge with all the down and outs in London...ah, thems were the days.

All good fun and sometimes a little hairy, but if I had been in situations many of the mil and ex-mil guys here (and on other forums I frequent) have been in I would have royally shat myself.

 

I'd love to hear more on those stories.  Any life and death situations really (and yes especially from people who've seen real action).  An honest appraisal of what went right/ wrong and why, what do different next time etc…  Maybe there's already thread for that? If not there should be


Here's some of mine:
Capsized with a broken mast in a storm all alone in the Irish sea. 
Running from a debt owed to the Russian Mafia.  When they came to get me they brought a blanket - and I doubt it was to keep me warm.
Circled by wolves, unto my waist in snow, suffering from altitude, exposure and giardia.
Clinging onto the outside of a train with the door stuck closed.
Attacked by a gang of six with my only weapons being darkness and sand - and wining :p  This was seriously the weirdest thing ever.

As to the master jury rigger thing - I would say compared to some I'm just an apprentice - but I'll give anything a go.  I'm better at fabrication than electrics or mechanics as such  - but I downloaded some plans for a Sten the other day, and it looks very doable.  To my mind the most important things about crafting are to deeply observe the effects of your tools on the materials, and to make friends with the challenge.

Is there a 'tools' thread?  The kinds of things you might put in a vehicle or a cache for TEOTWAWKI … with the aim not just of surviving, but rebuilding a community?

[JohnyMac]

To your point TS...

I posted somewhere on this site to not only prep with Beans, Band-aides and bullets but with screws, glue, baling wire, etc. When I go to Home Depot (Hate my local Lowes) or a local hardware store, I try to buy double what I need.

For example: I need a pound of self driving 2 1/2" star head screws, I buy two. I need 10, 2"x4"x8' weather treated studs, I buy 20. Etcetera, you get the idea.

Hopefully I will have the parts to jury rig what ever I have to in a TEOTWAWKI situation. 

[JoJo]

Give me a file a hack saw, a chunk of metal and a vise and I'll make it.

Twice I was as a pedestrain in a hit and run. One time I was in  cross walk with the light the other I was hit when a car fish tailed.

Fighting a brush fire in Kansas when I ran back for more help, got tired and stopped only to find out I was in a rattle snake pit.

[graynomad]

I do similar JohnyMac, even with no SHTF they are useful but post SHFT they will be like gold, hands up all those who can make a nail, let alone a screw. And yet now we can buy a 1000 for almost nothing.