# Things that worked better after they broke. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238 "2016-08-18T23:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/1 "2016-08-18T23:10:13Z")
I was just thinking about this tonight while I was using example #1. 1. I had a plastic spatula that I used all the time on my non-stick pans. One day it snapped off, right where the handle meets the “blade.” I almost threw it right in the trash but I saved the bottom part, washed it and soon I was using it all the time. It was so much more useful without the flex of the original handle. Great for scraping residue out of a pan, for example. I ground off the jagged points where it broke and years later it is one of my most used cooking implements. It is avocado green, shows how old it is. 2. I have a brush, mostly used for washing the car, motorcycle, tractor, etc. It had a long handle with a rubber padded grip. Same story, it broke, leaving about a ten inch handle, now it works so much better without all the flexing, Again, I ground off the sharp stuff and use it all the time. 3. I have a set of hearing protector earmuffs with a built in radio that I use when I’m mowing or over in the woods where there’s no electricity for a regular radio. I was always bumping the tuning dial on my shoulder or tree branches or whatever and inadvertently changing stations. One day I was throwing a bunch of cut branches onto my brush pile and one hit the knob, knocking it off and flinging the knob off into the weeds, never to be seen again. Now, I never have that problem. On those rare occasions that I want to change stations I can still do it by turning the shaft with my thumbnail. Much better! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/2 "2016-08-18T23:31:18Z")
I’m sure that many caps locks keys have been broken off of keyboards, to better effect. I doubt that many of these instances were accidental though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/3 "2016-08-19T01:55:13Z")
Lots of new shoelaces are too long, so after one breaks it seems like they’re now the right length (after adjusting them for evenness). ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/4 "2016-08-19T02:47:04Z")
BOTTLE ROCKETS! ALWAYS break off half the stick. They fly higher/farther and the additional instability makes it more FUN! ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/5 "2016-08-19T14:35:26Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’m sure that many caps locks keys have been broken off of keyboards, to better effect. I doubt that many of these instances were accidental though. Caps Lock (too close to Shift), F11 and f12 (too close to Backspace, which I use a LOT). ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/6 "2016-08-19T14:46:30Z")
My John Deere lawn tractor had a fail-safe that meant you had to take it the mower blade completely out of gear before putting it into reverse. My mechanically-inclined neighbor “broke” the fail-safe and from then it was much easier to shift into reverse without a ridiculous number of steps. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/7 "2016-08-19T15:04:45Z")
[Ship propellers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propeller#Early_developments): > [@Wikipedia](#): > > By a fortuitous accident, the wooden propeller of two turns was damaged during a voyage in February 1837, and to Smith’s surprise the broken propeller, which now consisted of only a single turn, doubled the boat’s previous speed, from about four miles an hour to eight. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/8 "2016-08-19T15:13:16Z")
[Freddie Mercury’s “bottomless mic stand:”](http://mentalfloss.com/article/20212/quick-10-10-facts-about-freddie-mercury) > [@Mental Floss](#): > > The "bottomless mic" was among Freddie’s many trademarks. Here’s how that happened: early in Queen’s career, he was apparently mid-show when his mic stand snapped in half. Instead of having it replaced, Freddie just used it as-is. He must have liked it, because he used the mic "stick" from then on. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/9 "2016-08-19T15:17:23Z")
[The Pelton wheel:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Allan_Pelton) > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Pelton was watching a spinning water turbine when the key holding its wheel onto its shaft slipped, causing it to become misaligned. Instead of the jet hitting the cups in their middle, the slippage made it hit near the edge; rather than the water flow being stopped, it was now deflected into a half-circle, coming out again with reversed direction. Surprisingly, the turbine now moved faster. That was Pelton’s great discovery. In other turbines the jet hit the middle of the cup and the splash of the impacting water wasted energy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/10 "2016-08-19T15:43:00Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > My John Deere lawn tractor had a fail-safe that meant you had to take it the mower blade completely out of gear before putting it into reverse. My mechanically-inclined neighbor “broke” the fail-safe and from then it was much easier to shift into reverse without a ridiculous number of steps. Our Kubota lawn tractor was so crippled by safety interlocks that it was nearly impossible to use. A friend rewired it to bypass all the safety interlocks. It works great now, although it’s a bit dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/11 "2016-08-19T16:46:29Z")
My safety glasses. I used to wear them intermittently when weed-whacking. Then I got a rock to the eye that cracked the lens slightly and gave me a bruise to the bridge of my nose. Since then, I see the crack and wear them every time. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/12 "2016-08-19T19:24:37Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’m sure that many caps locks keys have been broken off of keyboards, to better effect. I doubt that many of these instances were accidental though. Every keyboard I have (except my Macbook) has the CAP LOCK key pried off…most useless key ever! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/13 "2016-08-19T21:18:04Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Every keyboard I have (except my Macbook) has the CAP LOCK key pried off…most useless key ever! On a Japanese keyboard, you have to press shift-caps in order to enable caps lock. Other than that, a Japanese keyboard is less ideal for writing in English. Most annoying is the placement of the ’ on the 7 key. shift-7 to type an apostrophe. It’s like they just don’t care! ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/14 "2016-08-20T00:28:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My safety glasses. > > I used to wear them intermittently when weed-whacking. Then I got a rock to the eye that cracked the lens slightly and gave me a bruise to the bridge of my nose. Since then, I see the crack and wear them every time. At the place I used to work I had a hydraulic manifold in a vice and was attempting to remove a check valve with a big 1-1/8 open end wrench. The wrench slipped and the other end put a big gouge in the plastic lens of my safety glasses. Would have damaged my eye big time, if not actually blinding me in that eye. I kept those safety glasses in my toolbox for years, as a reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@Troy\_McClure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/15 "2016-08-20T02:37:43Z")
When I got my first dog, I got a puppy Chuckit to throw the tennis ball. He really liked the texture of the ribbed handle, and chewed it off, leaving just the shaft and cup. So I got another one; he chewed that one off. So I said screw it, and just used it for 8 years without the handle. After he died, I got a new dog, and I got a new Chuckit. But then I discovered that I liked the length of the chewed one better. It’s still long enough to whip the ball far enough, but short enough to stash under the car seat or stick in my back pocket if I need hands free. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/16 "2016-08-20T05:00:56Z")
Eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/17 "2016-08-20T05:15:43Z")
_golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/18 "2016-08-20T05:45:46Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > At the place I used to work I had a hydraulic manifold in a vice and was attempting to remove a check valve with a big 1-1/8 open end wrench. The wrench slipped and the other end put a big gouge in the plastic lens of my safety glasses. Would have damaged my eye big time, if not actually blinding me in that eye. I kept those safety glasses in my toolbox for years, as a reminder. On a similar note, when someone asks me why I wear a helmet when I’m on my motorcycle, besides the obvious…and the non obvious (my ears get cold and the wind noise is really loud) all I have to do is show it to them. The front face mask is _covered_ with bugs and little nicks from rocks/pebbles that have been kicked up. All of which would have hit me in the face. In fact, I once got hit on the fist with a june bug. I honestly thought I broke my finger, I thought it was a rock at first. I know I can be a bit overly sensitive to that kind of stuff and I know my bike doesn’t have a windshield, but I don’t know how those no-helmet people do it. > [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I was just thinking about this tonight while I was using example #1. > > 1. I had a plastic spatula that I used all the time on my non-stick pans. One day it snapped off, right where the handle meets the “blade.” I almost threw it right in the trash but I saved the bottom part, washed it and soon I was using it all the time. It was so much more useful without the flex of the original handle. Great for scraping residue out of a pan, for example. I ground off the jagged points where it broke and years later it is one of my most used cooking implements. It is avocado green, shows how old it is. You might want to look into a bone or bowl scraper. Some bowl scrapers have a flat edge and are made from plastic/rubber/silicone etc so they should work fine on pans. What you’re doing is working for you, but you might want to poke around on Amazon or at Target just to see what they have for when that breaks the rest of the way. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/19 "2016-08-21T18:50:25Z")
I could use the CAPS LOCK key but certainly not where they keep it! Mine was ripped out upon purchase! ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238/20 "2016-08-22T14:08:43Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > I could use the CAPS LOCK key but certainly not where they keep it! Mine was ripped out upon purchase! It seems there is a lot of hatred for Caps Lock. Why is that one key positioned incorrectly? You’ve trained your hands to find all sorts of letters and numbers on a keyboard but _grrr_, that damned caps lock! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-worked-better-after-they-broke/763238.md?page=2)