The best fly swatter in the world is the badminton racquet.
Since '86 the only knife I’ve ever used to cut absolutely every single thing (with multiple, daily use) is a cheapo $1.49 breadknife. Yeah, I realise knives were made for cutting, but this crummy-yet-oh-so-magic breadknife has a halo of serendipity around it that has defied all physics by cutting through practically concrete. At the risk of sounding like Popiel or Ktel - it still cuts the thinnest tomato slices. Every. Single. Day. So it has, at the very least, vastly exceeded its performance expectations. (And so - we can also include objects that have meteorically risen well above their station.)
For years at work I used a monkey wrench for a hammer until it got too banged up even for its original purpose and I decided to go out on a limb (hey - you live only once! live it to the fullest!) and actually made the investment in a basic hammer. Luckily this gardener didn’t require the use of a hammer too often, hence dragging my ass at getting around to actually buying one.
Melon baller. Cut an apple in half, use the baller end to scoop out the seed pod, then use the scalloped end to cut out the blossom and stem ends. You have now minimized the wasted parts of an apple.
Maybe this isn’t because your bread knife is magical. I think it’s because bread knives are awesome.
I once bought a really expensive chef’s knife, having been deluded into thinking that I needed one. It sits in a drawer. It has been sitting there for years and years. For all actual slicing, cutting and general cooking purposes, I use a cheapo bread knife. It’s not just equally up to the task, I swear that it’s actually better. And yeah, they can last forever. I have lost a few (moving, worm holes, blogging accidents, I’m not sure how it happens), but I don’t remember ever wearing one out.
Screw expensive knives. Cheapo bread knives rock.
And yes, I know, now I’ve made every actual chef on the internet pass out in horror.
shoot, my original basic issue P38 can opener, hanging thread cutter, cd/cellophane/general retail packaging opener, sheet rock scorer, fingernail cleaning/trimmer, keychain fob, conversation starter/piece. I’m sure there’s more I’m not thinking of at the moment.
won’t cut bread though.
and running coach, heck YES, this had to be the original intended purpose for those.
I’ve got a couple of dozen coat hangers around the house holding things up and together. I even cut them into 1-2 inch long pieces with a vise grip, and use them for nails.
A variation on that - sprinkler indicator flags use 18-inch-long pieces of thin, very workable wire, which this non-mecahnic used to brilliantly MacGyver a lawn mower drive shaft, giving the machine another year and a half of life.
There are four items one should have to repair machinery.
#1, Bailing wire. Aircraft Safety Wire can often be used in place of bailing wire. #2, Aluminum tape. Not duct tape, but its more expensive cousin. #3, Chewing gum. Bubble gum works, but it does not have the staying power of chewing gum. #4, Bailing twine.
As far as what tools can be used for other unintended purposes, the use of a monkey wrench as a hammer almost fits. It is not primarily a hammer, but the back end of the jaws are thick for just that reason. IMHO, the best use for a monkey wrench is as a hammer.
Besides driving screws, screw drivers can be used to pry things open, pound nails, scrape things, open bags, conduct electricity, test for live wires, fish stuff out of tight spots, hang things, weigh things down, self-defense, and billions of more things. I bet you could have a whole thread dedicated to stuff you can do with a screw driver.
And has anyone here ever actually used duct tape to tape a duct? OK, I realize the original name was duck tape, so have used ever used it to tape a duck?
Old joke: You only need two thing, duct tape and WD-40. If it moves, but it’s not supposed to, use the duct tape. If it doesn’t move, but it’s supposed to, use WD-40.
Amen on the paper clips. For the past five years or so, my glasses have been held together by a paper clip, after I lost one of the little tiny screws. That side now never needs maintenance (I have to tighten the other screw every week or two), and it even looks better (aside from the asymmetry).
And you know how, when you’re assembling a plastic model where the pieces are all connected to sprues, there’s always a little burr of sprue left connected to the piece? A fingernail clipper is the perfect tool for removing those burrs.
I have a fondue fork with one tine broken off and a cracked handle. It has more uses now than it ever did as a fondue fork. (Plant soil loosener, baked potato stabber, it can be a short range Mars mellow stick. It’s end actually works as a star or Robertson screwdriver (for tiny screws). A rule for using my kitchen is Don’t mess with my broken fork!
When I lived in Ontario, we had bagged milk. Plop a one-liter bag in a specially-designed pitcher, cut the corner of the bag, and pour.
Since I moved to Alberta, where we do not have bagged milk, the pitcher has been repurposed as a cat food scoop. I buy 20-pound bags of dry cat food, dip the pitcher into the bag, and serve. All of my cats can enjoy a meal from whatever food bowl they like.
I know I’ve told this story before, but several years ago I was very poor, and my car’s gas tank developed a leak. An old friend of mine was in the submarine service, and he described how leaks might be repaired underway - surface, dry the leaky area, slap on a layer of duct tape, a layer of paint, repeat. I tried it with my gas tank (used engine paint, for heat tolerance, in case that mattered.) Damn if it didn’t work! I was actually dating an auto mechanic at the time - he got miffed because I didn’t just call him. And I told him that I would have, if I’d had the money for the part and not the labor. But he put it up on the rack, and declared that some of the best redneck engineering he’d ever seen. (Only because he’d never met my father or grandfathers. Ask me about the time that Grandpa installed the motor from a '57 Dodge in his bulldozer!)
Another old friend/college roommate discovered (through a process I can’t even fathom!) that the radiator leak in her 1973 Nova could be solved by dropping a half-chewed piece of Bubblicious (not Bazooka or Bubble Yum) into the radiator about 3-4 times per year.
And my silicone tipped kitchen tongs are some of the best multi-taskers ever. Flip the chicken, or serve salad, of course. Change a light bulb without climbing? Yes. Grab a pack of paper towels from the top shelf? No problem.
-Slices cheesecake with no crumbling or sticking.
-Great for sewing on buttons.
-Helps to slide off a ring stuck on your finger.
-Emergency shoelace.
-Makes a terrific teeny tiny lasso to catch mice(I have a lot of time on my hands)
We had a wooden salad bowl set that we never used. Last year I drilled drainage holes in the bottom and planted a variety of lettuces in the large and small bowls. We had an ongoing harvest of salad greens from the salad bowls.
Couple them with Mr. Sunbeam & you’ve got both great entertainment & a doggy exercise device as you make the bright light spot swirl around the room.
Empty paper towel tubes are great for swords with kids or to ‘beat’ the dog with. As a bonus, they like to rip them to shreds once they finally sink their teeth into them…
Toothbrushes are useful for cleaning the grout that is below the tile surface in the shower walls
