by Cy Tymony
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3
Sneaky Hoop Paper Flyer
Paper airplane designs are not hard to find. But if you want to stand out from the crowd, make this unique sneaky flyer using just a straw and paper.
What’s Needed
Scissors
Sheet of paper
Tape
Straight drinking straw
What to Do
First, cut two paper strips ½ inch wide by 4 inches long and then tape each strip into a loop, as shown in Figure 1. Next, tape a loop to each end of the straw. See Figure 2.
Now launch the sneaky straw flyer with your hand as if you were throwing a dart. It should fly up to 40 feet away.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
Sneaky Soaring Cylinder
Paper airplanes don’t have to have a standard-looking shape to glide long distances. Believe it or not, you can fold an ordinary piece of paper into the shape of a cup and amaze your friends with a Sneaky Soaring Cylinder.
What’s Needed
Sheet of paper
What to Do
First, fold the left side of the paper 2 inches to the right, as shown in Figure 1. Next, fold the paper from the left side one more inch, and crease it firmly. See Figure 2.
Roll the paper into a cylinder, then slide one end of the paper into the other end’s folded-over area, as shown in Figure 3. Push the left side of the paper into the right side until about two inches’ worth is securely in place. Then, roll over and firmly crease the edge of the folded paper into a lip to secure it. See Figures 4 and 5.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
Next, bend over the top layer of paper into a fin shape, shown in Figure 6, so it stands vertically. This will act as a wind stabilizer to keep the cylinder in the air.
Last, toss the cylinder like a football, but don’t add a spinning motion. See Figure 7. The Sneaky Soaring Cylinder should fly up to 40 feet away. Experiment with the shape of the stabilizer fin to achieve the desired various flight paths.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7
Sneaky Animated Cassette Tape Creations
Magnetism is used to record and play back tape recordings. Tiny iron particles on recording tape align themselves according to the signal placed there by the magnetic tape recording heads. On play back, the now-magnetized material in the tape moves across the tape head, which has coils of wire inside, and the signal is detected and amplified by the recorder to produce sound.
You can make some sneaky craft designs with strips of tape and animate them with a strong magnet.
What’s Needed
Cassette tape
Strong magnet
Cardboard
Glue
Scissors
What to Do
First, draw a figure of your choosing. In Figure 1, an illustration of a man is shown.
FIGURE 1
Next, cut 2- to 3-inch strips of cassette tape and place glue on one end of the tape strips. Press the strips on the figure to create hair and a beard as shown in Figure 2. Let the sneaky design dry for 30 minutes.
FIGURE 2
Then, bring a magnet close to the drawing near the top of the figure’s head. As shown in Figure 3, the “hair” made from the cassette tape will stand up. Try different drawings and tape arrangements to see what other animated illustrations you can create.
FIGURE 3
Make Wire and Batteries in a Pinch
In an emergency, you can obtain wire-or items that can be used as wire-from some very unlikely sources.
To test an item’s conductivity (its ability to let electricity flow through it), use a flashlight bulb or an LED. LED is short for light-emitting diode; LEDs are used in most electronic devices and toys as function indicators because they draw very little electrical current, operate with very little heat, and have no filament to burn out.
Lay a small 3-volt watch battery on the item to be tested, as shown in Figure 1. If the bulb LED lights, the item can be used as wire for battery-powered projects.
FIGURE 1
You can cut strips of aluminum material from food wrappers easily enough. With smaller items-such as aluminum obtained from a coffee-creamer-container lid-use the sneaky cutting pattern shown in Figure 2. Special care must be taken handling the fragile aluminum materials listed. In some instances, aluminum material will be covered by a wax or plastic coating that you may be able to remove.
Note: Wire from aluminum sources is only to be used for low-voltage battery-powered projects.
The resourceful use of items to make sneaky wire is not only intriguing, it’s fun, too.
FIGURE 2
Sneaky Wire Sources
Ordinary wire can be used in many sneaky ways.
When wire is required for sneaky projects, whenever possible try to use everyday items that you might otherwise have thrown away. Recycling metal will help save our natural resources.
Getting Wired
In an emergency, you can obtain wire-or items that can be used as wire-from some very unlikely sources. Figure 1 illustrates just a few of the possible items that you can use in case connecting wire is not available
Ready-to-use wire can be obtained from:
Telephone cords
TV/VCR cables
Headphone wire
Earphone wire
Speaker wire
Wire from inside toys, radios, and other electrical devices
Note: Some of the sources above will have one to six separate wires inside.
Wire for projects can also be made from:
Take-out food container handles
Twist-ties
Paper clips
Envelope clasps
Ballpoint pen springs
Fast-food wrappers
Potato chip bag liners
You can also use aluminum from the following items:
Margarine wrappers
Ketchup and condiment packages
Breath mint container labels
Chewing gum wrappers
Trading card packaging
Coffee creamer container lids
Note: The wire used from the sources above are only to be used for low-voltage, battery-powered projects.
FIGURE 1
More Power to You: Make Batteries from Everyday Things
No one can dispute the usefulness of electricity. But what do you do if you’re in a remote area without AC power or batteries? Make sneaky batteries, of course!
In this project, you’ll learn how to use fruits, vegetable juices, paper clips, and coins to generate electricity.
What’s Needed
Lemon or other fruit
Nail
Heavy copper wire
Paper clip or twist-tie
Water
Salt
Paper towel
Pennies and nickels
Plate
What to Do
The Fruit Battery
Insert a nail or paper clip into a lemon. Then stick a piece of heavy copper wire into the lemon. Make sure that the wire is close to, but does not touch, the nail (see Figure 1). The nail has become the battery’s negative electrode and the copper wire is the positive electrode. The lemon juice, which is acidic, acts as the electrolyte. You can use other item pairs besides a paper clip and copper wire, as long as they are made of different metals.
The lemon battery will supply about one-fourth to one-third of a volt of electricity. To use a sneaky battery as the battery to power a small electrical device, like an LED light, you must connect a few of them in series, as shown in Figure 2. Note: If the LED does not light, reverse the connections on its leads.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
The Coin Battery
With the fruit battery, you stuck the metal into the fruit. You can also make a battery by placing a chemical solution between two coins.
Dissolve 2 ta
blespoons of salt in a glass of water. This is the electrolyte you will place between two dissimilar metal coins.
Now moisten a piece of paper towel or tissue in the salt water. Put a nickel on a plate and put a small piece of the wet absorbent paper on the nickel. Then place a penny on top of the paper. Next place another moistened piece of paper towel and then another nickel on top of the penny and continue the series until you have a stack.
In order for the homemade battery to do useful work, you must make a series of stacked coins and paper.
Be sure the paper separators do not touch one another.
The more pairs of coins you add, the higher the voltage output will be. One coin pair should produce about one-third of a volt. With six pairs stacked up, you should be able to power a small flashlight bulb, LED, or other device when the regular batteries have failed. See Figure 3. Power will last up to two hours.
Once you know how to make sneaky batteries, you’ll never again be totally out of power sources.
FIGURE 3
Make Invisible Ink
If anything is a prime example of a Sneaky Use project, it’s using everyday things to make invisible ink. (Sneaky fact: Casinos now use cards marked with symbols that are only visible when viewed with a special lens.) You can use a large variety of liquids to write secret messages. In fact, some prisoners of war used their own saliva and sweat to make invisible ink.
What’s Needed
Milk or lemon juice or equal parts baking soda and water
Small bowl
Cotton swab or toothpick
Paper
What to Do
Use a cotton swab or toothpick to write a message on white paper, using the milk or lemon juice or baking soda solution as invisible ink. The writing will disappear when the “ink” dries.
To view the message, hold the paper up to a heat source, such as a lightbulb. The baking soda will cause the writing in the paper to turn brown. Lemon or lime juice contain carbon and, when heated, darken to make the message visible.
You can also reveal the message by painting over the baking soda solution on the paper with purple grape juice. The message will be bluish in color.
Sneaky Invisible Ink II
Here’s another sneaky method to write and view invisible messages that stay invisible (unless you know the trick), this time using common laundry detergent and water.
What’s Needed
Cotton swab or towel
Small bowl
Liquid detergent
Water
Black light
Piece of white cardboard
What to Do
In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of liquid laundry detergent with one cup of water and use a small towel or cotton swab to write a message on a white piece of cardboard. See Figure 1. The message will not be visible at this point.
To view the secret message, darken the room and shine a black light-invisible ultraviolet light-on the board. The previously invisible message will become visible, as shown in Figure 2.
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
Part III
Sneaky Resourcefulness
You don’t have to be MacGyver to adapt gadgets or survive in the wild. Anyone can learn how to be resourceful in minutes using nothing but a few items fate has put at your disposal. When you’re in a bind, the best answer is frequently not the obvious one-it’s the sneaky one.
Can you imagine being in an emergency without water, food, tools, or a way to signal for help? This section will illustrate how to trap small animals, lure fish, and construct a flotation device.
You will learn little-known methods to obtain water from the air, find your direction, craft a compass without a magnet, and more. Also included are sneaky projects that show how to modify toys and candy package accessories into useful alarms and security devices.
After learning the projects and techniques in this section, you will be ready to improvise simple security devices and safety gear in a pinch. You too can do more with less!
Emergency Signaling
Being stranded in a remote area can fill you with fear. What’s especially frustrating is seeing a plane or vehicle and not being able to get their attention to be rescued.
This section will supply a few ways to signal for help. With a shiny object that reflects sunlight easily, you can signal to people and vehicles for assistance.
What’s Needed
Mirror, or belt buckle, metal pan or cup, or aluminum foil
Reflective materials: canteen, watch, soda can, eyeglasses
What to Do
Using a mirror or other shiny object, point the light in one area and away in an SOS pattern (three short flashes, three long, and three short). Repeat this sequence of flashes as long as possible while sunlight is available until rescued (see Figure 1).
FIGURE 1
The U.S. Army Survival Manual recommends:
Do not flash a signal mirror rapidly, because a pilot may mistake the flashes for enemy.
Do not direct the beam in the aircraft’s cockpit for more than a few seconds as it may blind the pilot.
Haze, ground fog, and mirages may make it hard for a pilot to spot signals from a flashing object. If possible, therefore, get to the highest point in your area when signaling. If you can’t determine the aircraft’s location, flash your signal in the direction of the aircraft noise.
At night you can use a flashlight or a strobe light to send an SOS to an aircraft.
Other Sneaky Signaling
When you’re lost, use anything and everything as a marker to be seen by aircraft and search parties. Natural materials-snow, sand, rocks, vegetation-and clothing can be used as pointers to spell out distress signals. Follow the Ground-to-Air Emergency Code in laying out your markers.
Symbol message
I Serious Injuries, Need Doctor
II Need Medical Supplies
V Require Assistance
F Need Food and Water
LL All Is Well
Y Yes or Affirmative
N No or Negative
X Require Medical Assistance
-> Proceeding in This Direction
body signal
message
Both arms raised with palms open
“I need help”
Lying on the ground with arms above head
“Urgent medical assistance needed”
Squatting with both arms pointing outward
“Land here”
One arm raised with palm open
“I do not need help”
See Figure 2 for illustrations of these signals.
FIGURE 2
To show that your signal has been received and understood, an aircraft pilot will rock the aircraft from side to side (in daylight or moonlight) or will make green flashes with the plane’s signal lamp (at night). If your signal is received but not understood, the aircraft will make a complete circle (in daylight or moonlight) or will make red flashes with its signal lamp (at night).
Sneaky Water-Gathering Techniques
In a survival situation, finding water is crucial; without it, you can only survive a few days. Drinking water from the ocean can be dangerous because of its 4-percent salt content. It takes about two quarts of body fluid to rid the body of one quart of seawater. Therefore, by drinking from the ocean, you deplete your body’s water, which can lead to death.
Fresh drinking water can be gathered from a variety of sources. This project will show how to gather rainwater and dew from the air.
Collecting Dew
What’s Needed
Clean towel or cloth
Cup, bowl, or other container
What to Do
In the early morning, dew forms on grass, plants, rocks, and other large surfaces near the ground because these items have cooled and water vapor condenses on their surface. The dew can be easily gathered by laying a clean towel on the dew-covered area, dampening it, and wringing the towel out over a bowl. See Figure 1.
FIGURE 2
Gathering Rainwater
Rainwater, when available, is the preferred choice for drinking because it does not require boiling or purification. It can easily be collected by setting out items that you may already have.
What’s Needed
Cups, bowls, or other leakproof containers
Plastic or vinyl material or a nylon jacket
What to Do
Place all available cups and containers where they can fill with rainwater. If necessary, use waterproof material-plastic, vinyl, or a waterproof article of clothing-as a substitute container, as shown in Figure 2. Or make a container from a large leaf or from coated paper, as shown in the bonus application Make a Sneaky Cup in the next setting.