You must use your own opinion when choosing tools.
Tools are important to have in order to fix different things around the
house or your environment. Below you will see a few items that you may consider
a tool, but others may be items that are useful to have around. This list should
be expanded or edited for your own needs.
|
Household Tools include:
| Canner |
water bath and pressure canners |
| Tools for use with your |
fireplace, grill, kerosene heater |
| Aluminum foil |
many uses in cooking with this, collecting water |
| Duct Tape |
Many uses for this will anything!!! |
| Shovel |
|
| Axe |
|
| Saw |
|
| Screw Drivers |
|
| Hammer |
|
| Extra nails, screws, etc. |
|
| Rope, twine, cord, etc. |
You should have a minimum of 50 feet of 1/4" nylon rope for tying, hanging,
or building shelters. Nylon is best because it will not be damaged by moisture
and does not sag under constant strain. However, nylon is very slippery so
learn to tie knots that work with nylon. |
| Fire Extinguisher |
|
| Rototiller |
This is great to have for gardening |
| Compass |
*see below |
| Generator |
Great for suppling power to your house for heating and cooling, as well
as running appliances. Remember to have extra fuel stored to run the generator. |
Finding Directions by using Stars, Sun, Moon or Compass
- Finding directions using the stars - To find the North Star, train your eyes on the
“pointer stars” of the Big Dipper - the two stars farthest from the handle. Imagine a
line connecting them and extending upward to a point about five times the span between
the two pointers. The earth’s North Pole lies directly under the North Star.
- Finding directions using the sun - Depending on the season, the sun rises more or
less in the east and sets in a westerly direction. At other times try the following:
Shadow-Stick Method: push a short, straight stick into the ground, angle it toward the
sun so that the stick makes no shadow, then wait until it casts a shadow at least six
inches long. The shadow will be pointing east from the stick. A line at right angles
across the shadow will be north-south.
- Finding directions using the moon - The moon comes up in the east and goes down in
the west, as does the sun. The shadow-stick method works with a bright moon as well
as the sun.
- Finding directions using a compass - The most important navigational aid used in
orienteering is the human brain. The most helpful device for general use is the compass.
Compasses are useful for taking bearings and for orienting the map so that it is
aligned with the terrain. Every direction can be expressed as an angle with respect
to north. In the military and the boy scouts, this is called an “azimuth”, and bearings
are expressed as a number of degrees. Orienteers take the easy way out, just setting the
angle on their compass and keeping the needle aligned, which in turn keeps them going in
the right direction. A simple set of step-by-step instructions for setting a bearing on a
baseplate compass are:
- Place the compass on the map so that the direction of travel arrow is lined up
with the way you want to go
- Turn the compass housing so that the arrows engraved in its plastic base are
parallel to the north arrows drawn on the map (make sure the arrowhead points north
and not south)
- Take the compass off the map and hold it in front of you so that the direction of
travel arrow points directly ahead of you
- Rotate your body until the compass needle is aligned with the arrow on the base
of the compass housing
- Pick out a prominent object ahead of you along the direction of travel, go to it,
and repeat the process (this way you can detour around obsgtructions but still stay on your bearing)
Sources used: boy scout handbook, and http://www.williams.edu/Biology/orienteering/compass.html
Lashing
talk to a boy scout and learn this useful skill so that you can make a
lean to or other items out of branches and rope
nylon rope or cord - should have a minimum of 50 feet of ¼ inch nylon
rope for tying, hanging, or building shelters. Nylon is best because
it will not be damaged by moisture and does not sag under constant strain.
However, nylon is very slippery so learn to tie knots that work with nylon.
Basic Lashing Technique
Source: http://www.4thtyldesley.co.uk/skills/lashings.htm
Square Lashing
- Used to fasten two spars or poles together
- Start by crossing the two sticks or dowels at perpendicular or 90 degree angles
- Make a Clove Hitch on the vertical stick or dowel near the point where the two
sticks cross. This fastens the rope to the stick.
- Weave the rope under and over the crossed sticks alternately. To do this,
run the rope over the horizontal bar, around behind the vertical bar, then
back over the face of the horizontal bar on the left. Tighten snugly, then
bring the rope behind the vertical bar and up the right front side of the
horizontal bar. Repeat this three or four times, keeping the rope tight.
- When you have finished weaving the lashing, then “FRAP” it by wrapping the
rope between the poles (in front of the back stick and in back of the front stick),
pulling tightly. This tightens the connected poles.
- Finish your lashing with another Clove Hitch.
Diagonal Lashing
Diagonal lashing is used to bind poles together that cross each other but do
not touch when their ends are lashed in place in a structure.
The diagonal lashing gets its name from the fact that the wrapping turns cross
the poles diagonally. The diagonal lashing can be used to bind poles that cross
each other from 90o to 45o. If the angle between the poles is less than 45o a
shear lashing should be used. The diagonal lashing makes use of the timber hitch
to pull poles together that are not touching each other. The timber hitch allows the
poles to be drawn together without changing the relative positions of the poles. If a
square lashing were used to bind poles that do not touch, the beginning clove hitch
would pull the cross pole toward the clove hitch causing unnecessary bowing of the
cross pole and could also produce a force that would act along the length of the pole
to which the clove hitch is tied. These additional forces, if strong enough, can
place unnecessary strain on other lashing within the structure causing the structure
to twist and fail.
- Tie a timber hitch diagonally around both poles
- Start the wrapping turns on the opposite diagonal to the timber hitch, by
pulling the rope tight so that the poles contact each other.
- Take 3 to 4 wrapping turns; keep the wrapping turns parallel; pull each
wrapping turn tight. If the wrapping turns are allowed to cross, the increased
friction between the strands of the rope will make it difficult to tighten the
wrapping turns.
- Start the second set of wrapping turns by going past and around the vertical pole.
Going around the pole the rope allows the direction of the rope to be changed without
crossing the first set of wrapping diagonally.
- Take 3 to 4 wrapping turns; be sure to keep the wrapping turns parallel; pull each
wrapping turn tight
- Start the frapping turns by going past and around one of the poles. Going around
the pole with the rope allows the direction of the rope to be changed without crossing
the wrapping turns diagonally
- Take 2 to 3 frapping turns; keep the frapping turns parallel. Be sure to pull each
turn tight
- End the lashing with a clove hitch. Take the first half hitch of the clove hitch by
going past and then around one of the poles. Lock the half hitch tight against the
lashing by working it tight.
- Take a second half hitch around the pole.
- Work the second half hitch tight against the first half hitch so that the clove hitch
is locked against the lashing.
- If very smooth rope is used, the lashing can be made more secure by adding a third or
forth half hitch to the clove hitch.
Tripod Lashing
A shear lashing around 3 poles.
This is used to bind three poles together, for the construction of a tripod. To bind three
poles together that contact at the same point in a structure.
The tripod lashing is a shear lashing that binds three poles together at the same point.
The tripod lashing gets its name from the fact that its most common use is the construction
of a tripod. The tripod lashing can be used just about anywhere in a structure that three
poles cross each other at the same point and the same time in the sequence of construction.
Tripod lashing takes two main forms: with racked wrapping turns (the rope is woven between
the poles) and with plain wrapping turns (the rope is wrapped around the poles without
weaving the rope between the poles). When the lashing is made with racking turns, the
rope contacts each pole around its entire circumference; this contact makes the tripod
lashing with racking turns the most secure form of tripod lashing: therefore tripod
lashing with racking turns should be used when safety is important. However, for light
structures where there would be no danger if the lashing slipped, the faster to tie
tripod lashing with plain wrapping turns may be used.
- For most tripod lashings, lay the pole side by side with the butt ends aligned. The
alignment of the butts of the pole insures that the tripod legs are the desired length.
- Set up the tripod by crossing the outside poles so that the cross point of the poles
is under the center pole. Crossing the outside poles under the center pole causes part
of the load that is placed on the tripod to be taken up by the wood to wood contact of
the poles.
Shear Lashing
A sheer lashing is often used to bind adjacent poles together. It is also a good way to
reinforce a broken or weak pole. The frapping turns used to tighten the lashing may be
omitted and replaced with wedges inserted between the poles.
A loose Sheer Lashing made around the ends of two poles will allow the poles to be opened
out and used as an A-frame. It can also be used to form a tripod just like the Figure-of-eight
lashing.
- Lay out the poles. For most lashings you will want to lay the poles side by side
with the butt ends aligned (thicker ends).
- Tie a clove hitch around one of the outside poles and secure the standing part by
wrapping it around the running part (or trap it under the first turns). If you are
only lashing two poles together it may be better to simply tie the clove hitch around
both poles and pull tight.
- Pass the rope around the poles to form a first turn.
- Pulling each turn tight made a series of turns until the lashing is at least as
long as the combined diameters of the two poles (usually a set of 4 to 6 turns will
be sufficient).
- Tighten the lashing with a frapping turn by taking the rope down between two poles
at one end of the turns. This should be difficult to do if the turns have been pulled
tightly (as they should be). Bring the rope back up between the poles at the other
end of the lashing and pull tight. Repeat 2 or 3 times.
- Start the second set of frapping turns by taking the rope around the center pole
and frapping. Take the second set of frapping turns in the opposite direction to the
first set.
- Repeat for any additional poles
- Pass the rope once more between the poles then around one pole and tuck it under
itself to form a half hitch. Pull this tight and make a second half hitch forming a
clove hitch by taking the rope around the same pole and tucking it under itself.
|
|
