Tuesday 31 March 2009

How to:Magic bag

The famous “magic bag”

Magic bags have been the tool of shoplifters and thieves alike for years due to the inexpensive materials needed to make one and the effectiveness they have.

So what is it?

Basically a magic bag acts as a Farady Cage, this means that no electrical signals can penetrate the outer “cage”. In most if not all stores worldwide they use RFID scanners at the doors with AM and EM sensors being less common. You’ve probably seen these tags attached to most important or expensive items. But that’s not really important! The magic bag blogs all these signals from getting to the item so no alarm goes off when you leave the store.

In caveman terms...Put things with tags still on in bag! Walk out store! No alarm goes off!

You will need:

Aluminium foil
Photobucket

Tape
Photobucket

Envelope (you can use a bigger size to fit bigger things in)
Photobucket

Scissors
Photobucket

Mobile Phone(optional but good for testing)
Photobucket

First put a layer of tape around the container you’ve chosen to use, this will stop the foil from sliding about a bit.
Photobucket

Next is the longgg and borrrrring part, but it’s worth it, trust me.
(Don’t trust strangers, but trust me on this one.)

You have to start to cover your container in foil, once you’ve done about 5 layers of foil, tape around it all again just to keep it in place and have less chance of ripping and breaking your fortress of hidden belongings. (I’ve already started the next layer in this picture.)

Photobucket

Now for the bad news, before the year 2000 security systems were less advanced and you only needed 4 or 5 layers to fool most systems, now you need pretty much at least 30 layers of foil all over your whole container to be sure of fooling the sensors. This is going to take a long time to cut the foil to size but once it’s done if you choose to “borrow” something on a permanent basis, you won’t get caught and won’t have to worry about taking off those annoying tags.

So after wrapping those first 5 layers, become friends with your foil and learn to cherish it, it will serve you well in the future, but now you have to realise that the foil hates you and is going to become your worst enemy until your done.

Photobucket

Next you have to do 5 more layers and tape to secure the container and do this until you have at least 30 layers to be sure. (Now you can see why I picked a small envelope.)

Once your done, you can test it by putting your mobile phone in the pack and ringing it from another phone, if it doesn’t ring you’ve done enough to block the signal, this is a good sign, but store scanners are far stronger so it’s just an indicator that there are no leaks. If the phone does ring, cover it in some more foil and try again.

Photobucket

Congratulations on making your magic bag! If done correctly your toy elephant will be there to compliment you, your hands should now smell of metal and you probably never want to see your foil again, but in your darkest moments you’ll find it will comfort you once more... yeah not really.

WARNING: Some things described on this site are potentially dangerous/illegal. The writers of this site assume no responsibility for the consequences that may result from attempting the activities described here.

Want to submit an article? Email it to adventuresandmadness

Saturday 28 March 2009

How to:Wasp trap

Is it summer? Yes? Then this is perfect for you. Is it winter? Yes...Then Build it anyway! DO IT NOW!

Here’s an easy way of making a wasp trap to keep them and bees at bay during the hotter months, getting stung in your garden can be really annoying so this should stop the risk mostly.

You will need:

Scissors
Photobucket

Tape or super glue
Photobucket

Bottle
Photobucket

String
Photobucket

Sugar
Photobucket

First cut your bottle in half roughly across the middle because one end is going to go into the other in a minute. (Remember to take off the lid)
Photobucket

Now this is done turn the top end of your bottle and put it into the other end so the opening is pointing down into the body of the bottle, tightly tape around the opening to prevent any chance of liquids leaking, I used about four layers of electrical tape but you could also use super glue or a waterproof tape.
Photobucket

Now take around five teaspoons of sugar and mix it in a cup with water stir it around until it’s all dissolved, this will make a nice sugary solution that the wasps or bees will be attracted to.
Photobucket

Next, cut a piece of string and attach it to the end of the bottle with some tape or glue, the string should be long enough so it can easily hang.
Photobucket

Now take your mixture of sugar and water and pour it into the bottle and tilt it before it can spill out, you should pour enough to fill up to just below the lid on the inside, now go and hang it wherever you like! This works because the wasps or bees smell the sweetness of the sugar water so instinctively fly inside, but once they are in the trap they can’t get out.

You could also use a bigger bottle to make a bigger trap!

WARNING: Some things described on this site are potentially dangerous/illegal. The writers of this site assume no responsibility for the consequences that may result from attempting the activities described here.

Want to submit an article? Email it to adventuresandmadness

How to:Paper log

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make logs for your fire out of normal reading paper, they are great to use when you are running out of logs and want to prolong your fire.

Here’s what you’ll need:
Big bucket or container
1

3 or 4 newspapers (make sure they can fit in your container)
2

Water (you could use rainwater if you collect it)
3

Hammer (preferably a mallet)
Photobucket

Long piece of dowel or wood (longer than the width of your paper like a broomstick)
5

First you need to fit your paper into your container as best as you can.
6
Then you’ll need to fill it with water until all the paper is covered.
Photobucket
At this point you have to play the waiting game, as it is now it will take about two days for the papers to soften enough, but if you add some washing-up liquid it should be done in one. After this time has taken place put your hand in and squeeze one of the papers, if it feels soft it will be fine to use now, if it still feels similar to how it was at the start, leave it a bit longer.

Now go outside with your container and take a paper out, hold it up to let any excess water drain off then lay it out flat on the ground.
Next take your hammer and from the top start bashing across the paper, not too hard as to break it into pieces but the aim is to merge all the pages together. Once you’ve done one side carefully lift the paper and turn it over, then repeat the bashing.

Now you’ll need to take your piece of wood and place it at the bottom of your paper, start to roll it up and as you go compress and squeeze the paper as much as you can to make a log shape.
Photobucket
Once you’re at the end slide the log down to one end of your wood and shape it some more tidying up the ends.
Photobucket
Photobucket

Now if it’s hot you can put your logs in the sun to dry and this should only take a day or two, if your weather isn’t usually hot you can put them on a rack of some sort or anywhere that air can reach them. If its dry outside somewhere windy would be good too, drying without a lot of heat will make them take up to a few weeks to dry so be prepared for this wait. I only used one thin paper so it would dry faster but you can have as many layers as you like to make a big thick log.

Photobucket

Heres what they can look like with multiple layers, courtesy of Bauble from instructables.com
Photobucket

Well done! You’ve now made your own paper logs and if you use them with your normal firewood it will last a lot longer. You could even put sticks inside the hole in the logs once they are dry to have something extra to heat up your fire too.

WARNING: Some things described on this site are potentially dangerous/illegal. The writers of this site assume no responsibility for the consequences that may result from attempting the activities described here.

Want to submit an article? Email it to adventuresandmadness

Wednesday 25 March 2009

How to:Survival blade

Here’s a quick guide on how to make a survival knife from some easily available items.

You will need

Hacksaw blades (most are carbon steel, flexible and strong)

Photobucket
Bench grinder (or a file if you can’t get to a grinder)

Photobucket
Photobucket
Pliers

Photobucket

Background info

Having made a survival kit that’s as small as possible, I needed a knife to fit in the container, one that was small and thin enough to fit with ease but was strong and flexible at the same time. Also I wanted it to be easily replaceable; if it was possible I also wanted it to double up as a saw. One of my friends recommended trying this and I find that it’s perfect for my survival kit. Anyway, on with the instructions!

First take your pliers and snap the hacksaw blade into 3 rough pieces starting at each end, making them as big or as small as you think you need, if it’s too long it will be easy to break but if it’s too short it will be impractical so use your judgement here.

Photobucket

Now with a pen mark out a rough idea of how you want your knife to look on your hacksaw blade, I picked one of the ends with a hole in because then it can be attached to a string so it isn’t lost or some Para-cord, this would make a grip and you would be able to take it off and use it to tie things if need be. You could use the middle piece too but I don’t use it because I can’t attach it to anything to make a grip.

Photobucket

I’ve chosen a slightly rounded design to make it more stable and less likely to break.

Now you need to go to your grinder and get to work, it shouldn’t take very long at all to make the blade, a few minutes at most, be careful you don’t take off many of the grooves if you want to use it as a saw as well. Sometimes it takes a few tries before you get it how you want, but seeing as the blades are so cheap it shouldn’t matter too much.

If you’re using a file this will be quite a bit harder and more time consuming but it can be done so don’t be put off by not having a grinder, just carefully file around what you’ve marked out on the blade and in no time you’ll have your knife.

Photobucket

This is the knife up-close, it’s getting there but needs some finishing touches, for this I got some sandpaper to sharpen the knife up more. I then sanded up the rest of the blade to take off the blue paint. This is only optional but can improve the quality of your knife by making it sharper, I think it looks better too.

Photobucket

Here is your finished survival knife! Once you get the hang of it you can make quite a few in a short amount of time, obviously they won’t compare to a expensive survival knife but because of its size and different purposes it can be invaluable in a survival kit where you don’t want to be carrying around a lot.


WARNING: Some things described on this site are potentially dangerous/illegal. The writers of this site assume no responsibility for the consequences that may result from attempting the activities described here.

Want to submit an article? Email it to adventuresandmadness

Friday 20 March 2009

How to:Shrink a crisp packet

This tutorial is going to be quite fast because it’s very easy, but fun at the same time.

You will need:

Aluminium foil
1

Crisp packet (with the silvery inside)
2

An oven
3

A space shuttle

First turn on your oven to gas mark 6 (400f) and leave it for about 5 mins to heat up.

Now cut two piece of your foil a bit bigger than your crisp packet, then place the crisp packet in the middle and sandwich it in between the two pieces of foil gently folding in the sides. Make sure it’s nice and flat, or it won’t come out too straight.

4
5

Put this in the oven for 2 minutes as exact as you can (told you this was easy)

Now let your crisp packet cool and carefully peel it off your greaseproof paper.

6

Voila! Your own mini crisp packet, you can collect these or put a hole in the corner and use it as a key-ring if you have a spare ring anywhere. It can take a bit of trial and error to get perfect, but once you have you can repeat it over and over.

7

WARNING: Some things described on this site are potentially dangerous/illegal. The writers of this site assume no responsibility for the consequences that may result from attempting the activities described here.

Want to submit an article? Email it to adventuresandmadness

Thursday 19 March 2009

How to:Quick mini pizza

This will show you how to make a simple and quick pizza snack that can be made in a matter of minutes with few ingredients.

You will need:

Cheese

1

Cheese grater

2

Bread (sliced or a bap)

3


Tomato puree (sauce if you don’t have puree)

4


Toppings and herbs or spices are optional.
A microwave and an oven will also be needed.

Step 1: Take your puree or ketchup and spread it lightly onto your bread.
5


Step 2: Grate enough cheese to be able to cover both of your slices of bread, or both sides of your bap. Then put the cheese on top of the sauce
6

7

At this point you could cut up whatever topping you would like E.g. mushrooms, ham, pepperoni, peppers. You could also add various herbs or spices. If you have anything you want to put on, do it now. Once your mini pizza is ready put it into the microwave until all of the cheese is uniformly melted. (Try 30 seconds at a time)

8

9

When your cheese is all melted take it out of the microwave, it will probably be very soggy at this point which we don’t want, so turn on your oven on a medium to high heat and check every few minutes until it’s nice and crispy.

10

11

Now your mini pizza is ready to eat!
mmmmm.

WARNING: Some things described on this site are potentially dangerous/illegal. The writers of this site assume no responsibility for the consequences that may result from attempting the activities described here.


Want to submit an article? Email it to adventuresandmadness