The World's Easiest Abacus by GoSlash27

This is a device that goes hand-in-hand with the slide rule. Just as the slide rule replaces the calculator's ability to do higher operations without electronics, the addiator is capable of rapid, painless addition and subtraction without needing pen & paper.
They haven't been produced since 1982, but can still be found on eBay and in a pinch can be fabricated with simple tools.

Here's the parts:

When zeroed, the windows show all zeroes. Our cheap version has no reset mechanism, but the commercial ones are reset with a little bail handle on the top.

Basically all you have to do is enter your digits by holes from the desired number to the bottom. When an overrange condition appears in a window (shown by a red arrow), that digit is carried by a simple movement of the stylus; dragging the lowest hole to the top (thus subtracting 10), following across to the left and down (thus adding 1 to the next column).

I put together an example using JPEGs, but I found a good example of it's use in this video: YouTube

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How to Survive Falling thru Ice/Hypothermia by Griffioli

Just came across a great, quick to-do list to avoid falling through ice, how to get out if you do, and ways to avoid hypothermia. Hope you NEVER need to use it!

Some facts first:
Hypothermia sets in at 95 degrees
Unconsciousness at 86 degrees

Ice needs to be at least 4 inches (about the height of a coffee mug) to be safe to walk/skate on. Some signs of weak ice include snow on the ice (which can insulate), slush, and grey ice (caused by water, sign of melting).

So, if you do fall in, try to avoid gasping (normal physiologic response). If you can't, try to cover your nose and mouth. If water hits your throat, it will cause cold shock and muscle spasms will close your throat and make you unable to breathe. If you do gasp and can't breathe, remain calm as this will only last for up to a minute.

Orient yourself. Turn and face the direction from which you fell. If you are under water, look for the hole you fell through. The ice you walked on is the safest place of escape, as it was able to hold you for some time. Don't pull yourself straight up. Your wet clothes and weakened state will make it next to impossible to get out. Instead, use the kick, pull, roll method. Kick one or both feet to propel yourself like a dolphin out of the hole (at an angle rather than straight up) , then pull yourself out. DO NOT stand up! Instead, roll away, which disperses your body weight and makes the ice less likely to break.

Your next goal? Warm up! But do it slowly! You will still be losing heat, but you must be careful not to warm up too quickly. Beware "after drop", which is where the cold blood from your extremities circulates back to your core body. Signs of hypothermia can be confusion, uncontrolled shivering, and loss of motor control.

Do NOT rub your legs and arms. You want to concentrate on warming your torso, or "core" first. Do not get too close to the camp fire or other heat source. This causes your blood vessels to dilate and sends cold blood from extremities to your core. Find the warmest, driest place you can and get out of your wet clothes. Wet clothes trap in cold air. Dry off with whatever you can and wrap yourself in whatever dry material you can. Sip warm drinks, but not too fast. Obviously, this is all done while hopefully emergency help is on it's way.

In about an hour you'll be back to 98.6 degrees and have a hell of a story to tell your friends!

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Blacksmithing by Thorian

Ok like the title says so you want to beat metal on a anvil?
Well let me tell ya blacksmithing is one of those hobbys that has a decent PAW life attached to it as if you are good, and that is a big if, you can make anything. (even firearms with enough time)

Some people say you need an expensive Peddinghaus (Ie Rigid) Anvil and a Brick work forge with a smoke hood and a nice big electric squirrel cage blower but I'm gonna tell you that it isn't so.

You can make your own forge for nothing but your time if you are good at scavenging parts and this little article will tell you how. Brake Drum Forge

So you need an anvil now too because if you have a forge you need something to beat your metal on. Making RR Rail Tools and Anvils

You may notice that I reference www.AnvilFire.com a lot it is because their I forge how to guides are top notch and free.

I decided that the above anvil is a lot of work for a little pay off so I bought a cheap cast steel anvil from Harbor freight. I bought the most expensive 55Lb anvil that they had and I think I paid about $60. The cheaper ones they carry are just pig iron anvil shaped objects that wont work well for long. granted the horn was rough as all hell but my grinding wheel took care of that really quick.

A suitable stump will raise the anvil top to the height of your knuckles it can be anything of suitable weight but I used a log stood on end to hold the anvil to the log I drove landscaping spikes and bent them over the feet to keep the anvil in place. And should be a minimum of the same weight as the anvil. 55lb anvil minimum 55lb stump but that is just my preference.

Now that you have a anvil and forge you need something to hit the hot steel with a hammer. Believe it or not Sears still carry's a craftsman 2lb cross peen hammer that is the ideal weight for banging steel (I paid $20 for mine at the sears in the mall) but any ball peen or drilling hammer will work ( I have a couple on my bench because sometimes they work better ) Sorry for the caps but this is the most important thing for this paragraph. DO NOT USE A CLAW HAMMER!!! IT WILL ACT LIKE A TUNING FORK THE CLAW WILL BREAK AND I HAVE SEEN ONE GET LODGED INTO SOMEONES FORE HEAD.

To hold short lengths of metal and to keep your hands from turning to charcoal a pair of tongs are a requirement they can be anything from purpose built blacksmith tongs to Pliers. Vise grips were actually invented by a blacksmith because he wanted a pair of locking quick release tongs.

Safety Equipment

Eye protection is a must you only have 2 eyes and if you burn them out with hot metal the zombies will eat you real quick.

Welding gloves I thought I didn't need gloves one time and that one time sent me to the ER with a 3rd degree burn.

Aprons a dual layer denim apron at the minimum with no pockets it will keep hot metal from getting caught in your pants and burning off your ho ha. Leather is best as it will last longer before it burns through

Steel toe shoes or boots something that if you drop a 2-8 pb sledge on wont break your toes and make sure that your pants cover the tops of your boots so that hot bits cant fall in

You will get burned some time or another the above will just limit how bad you get burned

Since you have all your equipment and are ready to start forging your masterwork ( with lots of practice ) you just need 2 things. 1 something to heat (ie steel or iron) and 2 something to burn to heat 1 ( like coal or lump charcoal.

If going the coal route Pocahontas anthracite coal is the best stuff out there but it is hard to find ( I haven't used it ) so I go to the old stand by of lump charcoal you will go through quite a bit of it and it is difficult to forge weld with ( still haven't gotten a decent weld) but it is cheap and you can find it anywhere ( I go to wally world in the spring and bring home 20 bags)

Hope this and the info from anvilfire helps ya out any other questions feel free to ask. and ill help find the answers

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