How would you use the following remnant/artifact in a rewilding way?
(When you answer, give the next person to play a new challenge.)
Let’s start with…
A TV antenna
[quote=“SilverArrow, post:1, topic:679”]How would you use the following remnant/artifact in a rewilding way?
(When you answer, give the next person to play a new challenge.)
Let’s start with…
A TV antenna[/quote]
“Rabbit Ears” could be hammered out and sharpened into several precision, but low force cutting tools. Wood could be inserted into the center so they don’t bend (soft aluminum.)
“Bowties” could be fashioned into a type of tack or nail, fishing hooks, or anything that requires stiff wire. Maybe blowdarts, but I’m not sure.
Roof Antennae could make for decent spears, arrows or darts (hammered tips included,) or once again hammered into cutting tools.
Dish Antennae could make for a decent roof or cut up for anything you’d ever want light sheet steel for.
The wires involved in all of these could make decent low-movement cordage (thin electric wire can only take so much brisk movement before melting and snapping.)
How bout: Above-gound swimming pools.
Flipped over, these could be used as the roof for a structure. Covered, they could be used to collect rainwater. Cut up, the foldable ones could be multi-use tarps or heat-seamed into waterproof garmets.
A sofa.
Taken apart the frame is either metal for cutting tools or handles for other tools or wood also for tools or art.the stuffing could be insulation and the upholstery could make some great fashion next artifact toaster oven
A toaster oven …
Its parts are metal; they can be cut, reshaped, etc to your heart’s content.
The wire racks can be used in cooking.
The outside (+ door) can be used for storage. You might be able to rig it as a trap for small animals, depending on how the door closes.
Next challenge: a lightbulb.
If the metal part could be gotten off, it might be a small water bottle, medicine bottle or rattle.
If it can be broken just right, it can be arrow heads, scrapers, and or a lens to start a fire with.
If it can be broken up completly, it could be the filler for the rattle.
The little filament that does the glowing could be a wierd shaped toothpick or a needle (some parts even have a crimped hookthing that can be a substitute for the eye).
I guess you coud use the metal part for decoration…
anywhoo, an ipod! :o
If you could raid a whole warehouse full they would be good bricks for a structure.Maybe ome tools could be cut from the circuitry.The back part is metal could be used for tools,blades scrapers. Next tool PA Speakers
PA Speakers:
You might be able to use PA speakers as they were without any electricity to speak of, depending on how big they were. It doesn’t take much to push smaller cones. So with a medium speaker, one headphone (as a mic) and some sort of potato-electric amp, they just might work (although not very loud.) I’ll look look into the simplest circuit I can find for an amp and see how feasible it is to make with scraps.
Anyway, the magnets could be used to magnetize any other transitional metal tool, which can be handy in some situations. You could also use them to post notes to the old fridge/food cupboard. The cabinets, gutted, could be fine furniture without any alteration, like a cubby from kindergarten or maybe a small table. Wires can be used for anything you like, as usual. I’m thinking the cones could be moistened and reshaped into sculpture or maybe used to reinforce a weak structure. I’d have to play with some busted cones to see.
Next: Household plumbing (pipes, faucets, etc)
A steel or copper pipe, with a wooden core, makes a hell of a staff. I’m serious, it’s sturdy and flexible, can be heated or cooled, it’s practically the perfect stick. You can pry things open with it, hit people on the head, and do other good staff things with it.
Shorter lengths make great clubs.
PVC is less useful than the metal sort, but could be used, depending on diameter, as a blowgun, a straw, a storage container, a drum, anything you can use a hollow tube for. You need to make covers for a lot of those, but it works. Also, lengths of PVC pipe bend to make arches and the like, making it pretty good as a frame for tent-like structures. It can be brittle, especially when cold, though.
Also, digeredos.
Next item: Window unit air conditioners.
The grill could be removed and used as an air vent in a soddy home. The casing, if you had a few of ‘em kickin’ around (and at my old house there were at least 10 ancient ones chillin’ in the attic) they’d make a foundation for building a shelter of some variety. Hell, if you had enough, you might even be able to make a fort with them! The wiring could possibly be used as short threading perhaps.
Next: An upright piano.
Ivory and ebony for cool fetish carvings and such.Strings would make great cordage for bows or snares.The legs would work well as a club and the body would be used for anything wooden or a very small temp shelter. What about an AK 47 after all the amo is gone
Saw off the handle and such and wrap it in leather, then insert a spike into the lower part of the stock and you have yourself a warclub of the sort that became popular among the Haudenosaunee when they had access to rifle blanks. The magazine can be used as a tough container if you rip the spring loaded parts of it out. If you take a significant part of the barrel off, you can also use that to get air into a fire for simple metalworking.
How about a home water heater?
EH, I’d just use it to hold water from my rainwater collections system. The wiring is wire and the pipes used as above.
Road signs.
Road signs: there are SO MANY things you could do with these!
You can bend them into bowl shapes for food. (Holding it while gathering, cooking, using it like a plate).
Roofs/architectural elements, tabletops and shelves.
Could make a good tool for scraping/stretching hides.
If you can cut small pieces out of them, they can be used in fishing for lures or “spinners.”
Musical instruments!
The edges can be used to shape/sharpen sticks and maybe knives or other tools.
If you want to press/juice some kind of food (pemmican, fruit, cracking nuts, etc), lay it on top and stomp on it.
Shields/armor.
Bend the long ones in half and use for channeling rainfall.
Put them at the bottom of a solar oven to attract heat and create a hot surface (eggs and ham, anyone?)
Trap doors/window covers.
I’m sure there are many, many more uses…
Next up: a chain link fence.
Traps. Assuming the possession of wire cutters to clip it into desired shapes, you could make fish traps, cages, and the like.
Also, weaving reeds, grasses and other thatch into it for walls and roofing. reinforcing for a cob wall. Unweave it for lengths of wire to use as long term lashings.
(Psst… Andrew, what’s next?)
Ah, right. Plastic Grocery bags. They’ll be around forever, they will.
Grocery bags,
Cut into strips, my wife crochets with them and I’ve made cordage.
What can you do with Treadmills?
Hook them up backwards and use them to generate small amounts of electricity. The running strip might be useful for making light armor (if you could find something to cut it, or tough pieces for work gloves. Running strip could be boat lining or durable mat for all kinds of work that involves pounding - a flexible cutting board?
Okay, how would you use a computer?
On grocery bags, you can also cut them flat and iron them together to make plastic cloth, which you can then also iron together at the seams rather than sewing for truly watertight seals.
A computer is filled with wires for short lengths of cordage, and really cool shiny bits for decoration. The magnets from the hard drive are powerful things, people make generators out of them for home scale electric generation. Tis takes dozens if not a hundred hard drives, though, you’d need a lot of computers. The metal frames can be used like any other metal frame. The casings, with their high heat tolerance and many vents, might be good for making ovens or meat smokers.
Next: CDs