How to Turn Household Items into Dangerous Tools
Nothing compares to the power of improvisation and ingenuity. The ability to take random, everyday items, sprinkle in a little bit of MacGyver magic, and then put those resources to use is an invaluable skill to possess. The following examples illustrate how easy it is to create powerful and effective tools that you can use as weapons or as ways to accomplish a range of difficult tasks. While we don’t suggest trying these at home, they do provide food for thought.
Flame Thrower
Imagine being under siege or attack, and you have no weapon to defend yourself. However, you do have a super-soaker and some flammable liquid. If you were to replace the water in the gun with the liquid instead, and ignite it as you squirt, you will end up with a stream of flame that can provide you with a sizable defensive buffer. However, this also comes with some inherent risks, namely that the trail of flame can backtrack and end up consuming the gun, as well as the shooter.
Bleach Fumigator
Household chemicals are harmful enough by themselves. When you mix some of them together, you can produce a toxic cloud of gas that is reminiscent of some of the chemical weapons that were banned after WWI. One example is mixing regular bleach with drain cleaner. The active ingredient in bleach is sodium hypochlorite, and the active ingredient in drain cleaner is hydrochloric acid. Together they make a form of chlorine gas that can stop anyone in their tracks. The toxic cloud targets and burns away the mucous membranes in the mouth, eyes and nose. Sustained exposure can destroy airways and lead to death by asphyxiation, all in a matter of minutes.
Homemade Thermite
Thermite can burn through almost anything, including steel and concrete. Applying thermite can allow you to quickly cut through seals and locks, and this alone makes this a nice resource to have on hand. Chances are that you already have the compounds to make thermite if you have an etch-a-sketch and some steel wool. All you need to do is remove the cover from the etch-a-sketch and dump the material on a sheet of paper. Mix with the right proportion of shavings from the wool, ignite, and you’re good to go. Keep in mind that this will produce an exothermic reaction that is hotter than what most of us encountered before, so this is dangerous stuff that must be handled with extreme care.
Napalm
We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth bringing up again. You can make your own napalm-like incendiary device by soaking some Styrofoam in a container of gasoline. The Styrofoam will start to break down and produce a glob of goo. Paste this goo over the area that you want to burn and ignite. You can also throw the material after lighting it, and this will cause it to spread over a larger area upon impact. There are a lot of practical uses you can get from lobbing this flammable material aside from being a good defensive weapon. Give it some thought, and chances are that you will come up a few ideas as well.
These are just a few examples of how you can re-purpose all kinds of household items into useful and potentially life-saving tools. Let them inspire you to take a closer look at what you can do with other things that you have laying around the house or garage. The more proficiency that you develop with respect to improvisation will translate in to having more resources at your disposal during a crisis.
