# What can you do with Altoid tins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 11, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-altoid-tins/717457 "2015-04-11T23:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-altoid-tins/717457/41 "2015-04-13T18:06:13Z")
You can use them to make homemade versions of this “[survival candle](http://www.acmeapproved.com/products/triwick-survival-emergency-candle?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=880505635&gclid=CNOEvOju88QCFQaPaQodAkcAuQ).” Don’t know that I’d bother with any exotic waxes. Plain old parafin works pretty well. The main thing is to have several wicks so that you can vary heat/light output. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-altoid-tins/717457/42 "2015-04-13T18:09:41Z")
I used one to give a mugger a black eye. True story… I carry a leather Klein Tool bag as my man-purse. It’s about the size of a zipper-top bank deposit bag. One of the items in it is a tin of cinnamon Altoids. Walking into a shopping district of St Augustine FL from a parking lot a few blocks away, a skinny, scruffy fella runs from behind me and attempts to snatch the bag out of my left hand. If he had gotten a solid hold on it, he’d have been long gone as there’s no way I could have caught him. He turns around to face me, tries to put one of his hands into his hoodie pocket (did he have a weapon?) and says “all I want is the bag, man”. I make like I’m going to give it up… still holding it by my side in my left hand, I grab the corner of it and backhand-swing it hard and fast to the right side of his face. He spins a full 540 and takes off away from me. My heart’s beating like crazy and I’m panting. I walk a few more steps into the shopping area and, about a half-hour later, I see the same guy sitting with a panhandler and chatting. He and I look at each other and it takes a few seconds for each of us to realize who the other is…maybe longer for him since his right eye is swollen shut. After I got home that night, I found that my Altoids tin had been collapsed in the middle; no doubt from the impact against this dude’s head. I keep it as a souvenir. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-altoid-tins/717457/43 "2015-04-13T19:38:29Z")
I use them for the tiny specialized pieces of toys, the kind of pieces that always seem to get lost first – like the single Lego, Barbie shoes, etc. The tiny ones in the Altoids tin, that goes right in the box along with the larger pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-altoid-tins/717457/44 "2015-04-13T20:17:12Z")
It occurs to me that I’ve never finished a can of Altoids! I’m gonna go have one now, seeing as I have about 3 half-finished cans in the pantry. EDIT: It was 4! 2 Wintergreen, a Lic and a Cin! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-do-with-altoid-tins/717457.md?page=2)