Macgyver Lighter

When you need something that you can no longer scavenge or barter for, what will you do. The battery powered lighter in the picture represents the very best in human ingenuity. Would you have thought of that? Many people wouldn’t, and if you didn’t, its nothing to be ashamed of. There are common solutions to everyday problems that people never think of. This article will attempt to help you learn that only one tool is necessary for survival, your brain.

Most people think that the square block goes in the square hole, but thats not always true. Things always have more than one purpose, and the solutions to problem you face aren’t always going to be blatantly apparent.

Guns:
We’ll agree that firearms will be the primary weapon of defense against zombies and human marauders alike, but what if you don’t have a gun?
“Well, I’d go out and find one!” would be the most common response. Why spend days searching for a gun and risking your life if you can make a gun at home? Yes, thats right, make one at home. I’d have never believed this was truely possible if I hadn’t seen it for myself. (Besides a simple zip gun) A friend of mine made a muzzle loader from common household items.

Items needed:
3 foot section of 1/2 inch diameter steel pipe (the thicker the better)
1 end cap for 1/2 inch diameter pipe
3 foot section of 2×4
1 mouse trap
1 lead weight (1 oz.)
2 screw tightened hose clamps
Tools needed:
Hammer
Nail
Pliers
Pocket knife

He used the hammer and nail to make the hole in the pipe to accept the primers, then whittled a stock and channel in the 2×4 for the barrel, next he mounted the wire from the mouse trap to the 2×4, used the pliers to cut the tip off the nail, hammered it into the lead weight, used the pliers to squish the lead weight onto the wire from the mouse trap to form a striker(firing pin), inserted the barrel, and clamped it all together. Using black powder propellant and peat gravel, I watched this fool take out a turkey. He had fired the homemade shotgun several times with no ill effects to the barrel(pipe) at all. The only thing that he ever really needed to make it work were primers, which can be found in every kind of cartridge ammo on the planet. If you want, look up how to make black powder, I’ve already said too much about this.

Now that you have your weapon, it’ll work fine in the day light, but how will you see at night? Nightvision goggles are not going to be the norm, and fire can get a little out of hand sometimes, so what will you do? There are a LOT of ways to produce electricity that most people never think of. Think for a minute, how can you make electricity? One thing that will be in abundance after the apocalypse will be abandoned cars. How do cars get their electricity? Batteries that are recharged by an alternator. GASP! Car alternators can be used to create electricity! Sadly, car alternators produce direct current, which won’t power most of the things in your home, but with the help of a power inverter you can harness the electricity produced by the alternator to charge a battery, which can then run to the inverter, and be used to power home devices. Enough blabbering, lets look at some examples.

Steam power:
Used in the 1800s steam was a relatively easy way to power trains, and to help automate factories, but the average person had no idea how to create or employ a steam engine. Much the same can be said today. Building a boiler, and making a steam engine to turn your alternator is as simple as going to your local junk yard.

Materials needed:
1 car alternator, ones from large trucks are best
1 car air conditioner motor, ones from older cars are best, like the General Motors “Frigidaire” models for Buick’s and Cadillac’s.
1 55 gallon steel drum (the ones with the ends welded or seamed on, not with the lids that pop on and off)
3/4 inch fittings(Couplers, 90 degree elbows, and female to male adaptor)
3/4 inch steel pipe (Up to 10 feet, copper pipe can also be used)
about 40 concrete blocks
2 bags of quickcrete
general purpose automotive “V” belt
Water
Wood to build a mount for the alternator and AC motor
nails

Tools needed:
Trowel
pipe wrench
hammer
saw
metal saw(Hack saw)
shovel
pipe threader

The first thing you need to do is wash out your 55 gallon barrel and let it dry. Next, you’re going to level a spot in your compound and build a “U” shaped supporting wall that will suspend your boiler(55 gallon drum) over the ground. Use a level if you have one to make sure that you laid all of your blocks level, if you don’t have one, a string pulled tight between two sticks in the ground can be used as a guide. When building it, make sure you make it the complete length of the barrel, plus 1.5 feet. Make it tall enough and wide enough to hold the barrel about 1-1.5 feet off the ground, this will enable you to build a fire and have proper air circulation under your barrel/boiler. There should be 2 bung caps on the top of the barrel. One large and one small. The smaller one should be 3/4 inch in diameter. This is smaller hole will be your steam vent and should be located at the top dead center of the barrel when you mount it atop your fire bed. Fill the barrel about 1/4 of the way full as it lays horizontal atop the fire bed. Next you’ll want to build your table to mount the alternator and AC motor. After building it, mount your alternator and AC motor and run the “V” belt between them, making sure that the belt is tight as possible before you mount them permanently. Place your generator table as near to the boiler as you can, then measure and cut your pipes to join them. You’ll take your female to male adaptor and screw it into the small bung hole, then run it to your AC motor. The exhaust hole on the AC motor is where you want to pipe in your steam from the boiler, and what would normally be the “In” hole, will be your steam exhaust port. Pipe your exhaust steam away from the motor and alternator, or you can pipe it back to the top of the boiler via a return pipe into a sealed hole so its more efficient, but its not necessary. Also, you’ll have to engage the clutch on the motor so it will run in reverse, thus actually turning the motor, and turning the alternator, producing a current to charge a car battery bank. Link the battery bank to the inverter, and you can power your house by using extension cords and power strips.

Water power:
Used for centuries by lots of countries, water powered countless mills and other industry before electricity. You can also use it to produce electricity. You don’t need a dam, just a source of flowing water. Build a water wheel, and use it to turn a shaft with a pulley on the end, run the pulley from the wheel to the alternator with a belt and link it to a battery bank just like the steam powered engine used.

Human power:
Instead of the water wheel, build whats essentially a giant hamster wheel, use it to turn a shaft and you’ll have power just like the water wheel. Also, in a twist of fate, you can use zombies to your advantage if you enclose your hamster wheel with a zombie inside. Zombies don’t get tired, so you won’t have to worry about them stopping as long as you stay nearby, thus enticing them to move.

Just use your head, and you can come out on top of most any situation. Keep checking, there’s more to come in part 3!