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The World of Iniquus - Action Adventure Romance

Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts

Monday, December 16, 2013

Paracord Bracelets: How to Save Your Character's Life



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paracord bracelet
 (Photo credit: Carriagehouse2011)
Here's a fun project and very useful.

Paracord comes in all kinds of colors from pink to blaze orange and camo.




















What you'll need:
Paracord - 10 feet
Bracelet latches
a lighter

Video Quick Study This is the tutorial you will need to put it together - very very simple clear instructions.

MODIFICATION:

Add a key chain ring and small carabiner so that when not able to use it as a bracelet (because it wouldn't be office or Sunday wear, for example) then someone could still slip it into their pocket and have help at hand. This is also a great addition for the person who throws their keys in their backpack or purse and is forever losing them - they can just snap the bracelet over the strap, and they are now easily accessible.

You can incorporate a tiny compass towards the clasp.

If your recipient is a fisherman or camper or hiker, you might want to go to a little extra time and expense to make them a survival bracelet with fishing gear incorporated. - won't they be impressed? Video Quick Study (23:46) Watch the basic video first.

Fire Starter Survival Bracelet - Video Quick Study very cool indeed.


These can also be made into belts like the one my son made for my husband last Christmas. This provides 1 foot of survival rope per 1" of belt so a 34" waist offers over 10 yards of cordage which could come in very handy. (Do not buy small packages as above - buy it by the yrd.)



How to Save Your Character's Life with a Paracord Bracelet.

A paracord bracelet provides two five-foot sections of cordage when needed. Simply unravel the bracelet and voila! 

It's called 550 paracord because it is supposed to be able to support 550lbs before it breaks. That's pretty impressive.

Well chances are in the everyday world people would run into NORMAL problems that could be remedied with some paracord:




1. Replace shoe laces while your out and about.
2. Lowering objects down inclines - pulling things up when hiking.
3. Basic first aid when out for a walk like tying on a splint, creating an arm sling, or tying cloth to an open
    wound
4. Make-do lead if you find a dog and need to walk it home.
5. Tie down the trunk when you bought too many Christmas gifts
6. Tie the tree to the roof of the car when you forgot your bungees
7. Tie your hair back when you get hot and sweaty (actually just wrap the braclet around 2x and clasp.
8. Replace a zipper pull
9. Inner strands can be used for dental floss 
10 Secure something to you such as a water bottle or other object you're afraid to lose

There are all kinds of uses for the paracord bracelet and as long as you don't cut the line, it can be quickly and easily re-tied for the next need.



But your character probably isn't getting off that easily. Knowing you, they are hacking through a jungle or left for dead at the bottom of the ravine. Now let's get them home safely so they can pour out their heart to the one they love, kiss, and live happily ever after.


Remember there are FOUR things to put in place for survival: Shelter, Fire, Water, Food

Food
* Traps for food 
* The inner strands can be used for fishing.
   Video Quick Study (14:43) This uses the fishing
   paracord bracelet from above. If your heroine
   doesn't have this particular kind, she can use a bobby
   pin, paper clip etc.   

Shelter
* Use for your tie down on a poncho tent
* Tie together sticks to form a debris hut

Fire
* Help create a bow drill to start a fire.

Also:
*Clothes line
* Inner strands can be used for sewing to repair clothes and equipment
* Hang a bear bag
* In a car accident it could tie a door open when on an
   incline, allowing the heroine to work on the victim
* String a trip wire to protect an area especially if your heroine can tie cans on the line
* For a trip line if your heroine is being pursued.
* Garrote for choking out the villain without breaking a nail. 
* Tying up the bad guy until the authorities can get there
* Rig a pulley system to raise heavy objects (maybe your heroine loved her physics class)
* If your heroine has to get the injured hero out of the woods she can use the paracord to create a
   branch drag to move the person. (I'm not saying this is going to be easy - I'm just saying it's better than
   leaving him in the woods with the predators)


EDIT - a reader asked me how to un-ravel the bracelet to have access to the ropes, so I made this video of me gnawing on the paracord, LOL!






And what if the paracord roping is not long enough, and your heroine needs to join the two pieces together securely?


Video Quick Study (14:04) Man goes into the woods with only the clothes on his back and his paracord 
                               bracelet to start his fire, create shelter, and provide his food.
Video Quick Study  (14:19) 101 uses(ish). 

And there you have it - handy-dandy piece of EDC for your hero or heroine.





Thank you so much for stopping by. And thank you for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Escaping Handcuffs - Information for Writers


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Handcuffs Clejuso 12 made from stainless steel.
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
DISCLAIMER - This is a non-political site that is geared to help writers write it right. I am presenting information to help develop fictional characters and fictional scenes. In no way am I advocating any position or personal decision.
Remember it is always best to get your heroine free as soon as possible. Escape becomes more and more difficult the longer she is left in a captive capacity from a strategic, physical, and psychological standpoint. (Also makes for a slow plot line).

Technique 1 - Breaking the Cuff 

To be used if the heroine has no tools either in her EDC kit or homemade.

Your heroine CAN use this technique. She would be
using torque to produce the pressure required,
Handcuffed
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
not upper body strength. This works if handcuffed in the front and the back. Obviously anything in front is easier, simply because there is more room to move the arms around. It all depends on how difficult you wanted to make things for her. (This technique is from Kelly Alwood, SERE Instructor)

NOTE: If you are mentioning the brand of handcuff for some reason, there is a difference in how they will break and the difficulty factor. For ease of writing, I would suggest a higher quality cuff.

* In high quality handcuffs, the Rockwell Hardness of
   the steel makes them fragile and brittle. They will
   sheer at the line.
* Low quality hancuffs the steel is so mild that the
   heroine will have to get a break in the link, thus
   making them more difficult to break.

The Technique:

1. Rough up the metal
   * Dirt will help absorb the oil and help get the
     chains to bind up.
   * Any kind of surface that roughs up the links to make them less slippery and help them to bind up.
2. At the rotation pin, the heroine will want to stuff these holes on either side with anything she can get in
    there to help lock up the chains
3. Leaving her non-dominant hand still, the chains will droop downward.
4. Rotate the chains until they lock up.
   * In the front presentation, she would do a visual check to make sure that she has not caught two links
      across one (three together). She wants to torque only two. (Three will hurt the wearer.)
5. Position her hands so that instead of coming together in prayer form, that they will pass each other. This
    movement produces the physical tension on the metal that is required.
6. Move hands past each other to snap the metal

*NOTE - this will not remove the cuffs from the wrists it will merely separate the hands again. Use this technique if you want tell-tale cuffs left on the wrist.

VIDEO QUICK STUDY
This technique in action (14:26 - but move 13:00)
Breaking techniques (2:42)




Technique 2 - Pick the lock.


English: : Universal handcuff key
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
* Note: It is NOT righty-tighty/lefty-loosy here. It is
   inward opens outward locks. The direction you turn
   will be different left to right

1. Easiest - have a key on you. If your heroine is in a
    place where she is in danger, or in a job that might
    endanger her, she might have a key (cheap and easily
    accessible) sewn into the hems of her clothing or
    taped with duct tape to the inside of her watch.
2. A little harder - have a shim. A heroine can make a
    shim using a barrette, an easy EDC that she can wear
     under her hair without detection.
3. Make a tool like a paper clip or bobby pin. The
    bobby pin is preferred for its tensile strength and can
    easily be an EDC that a heroine puts under her hair.
    This would not be seen by an abductor.

ESCAPE:

1. If her hands are behind her back move them to the front.If she is not attached to something preempting this move, then the heroine should stand and work her hands down over her hips and bottom. Sit down and work to get  the legs through the arms. Problems can arise if some injury, such as a broken leg, makes this more difficult. Boots make this more difficult. Removing the heroine's shoes will help her get her feet through. So she should try to toe off her day shoe. Knowing how you want this to play out will make a difference in how you dress your heroine for success or complication. (Blog Link to dressing your heroine)


QUICK STUDY - video of me moving cuffs from behind my back to front position. **Turn your sound to mute so you don't have to listen to the ke-yups. Those trained exhalation sounds help reduce anxiety/panic in a fight, keep the fighter breathing, and help anesthetize pain from in-coming blows.

2. Create a tool. (No tools? Try Technique 1)
   * If using a bobby pin, strip the plastic protective end off with her teeth.
   * A Paper clip is easier to bend but this can also create problems.

A Bobby-pin
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)


3. In a DOUBLE LOCK
    * Pick the double lock first - use counter-
       clockwise sweeps moving from 9-5. She
       should hear a metallic click.
    * Work on the ratcheting mechanism

Working the ratcheting mechanism can be done in two ways
1. Insert your tool into the key hole and bend it into a right angle. Then use this to push the mechanism up
    and out of the way.
2. Feed the tool between the mechanisms and close the cuffs tighter while to insert the tool further until it lifts
    the internal pin away from the teeth like a shim.

Picking is PREFERRED because when you shim you have to ratchet down on the cuff making it tighter. If she fails, she can cut off circulation to her hand. *NOTE ratcheting too tight is prevented by a double lock. You CAN NOT shim a double lock.


VIDEO QUICK STUDY

Video 1 (10:00) This has a clear cuff so you can see the inner workings as well as the use of a key, shim,
and paper clip.

Video 2 (11:39) Combat Application Technique Handcuff Restraint Escape - excellent hostage
              scenario is silent in the first half of this video the second half has audio and is taught school-style.
     
 Video 3 (6:49) Shimming
                                                                               
Video 4 (11:56) Picking a double lock. This method seems the EASIEST.
           



Thank you so much for stopping by. And thank you for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

Self-protection in Fiction - Pepper Spray - Information for Writers

Pepper spray Demonstration; U.S. Marine Corps ...
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


DISCLAIMER - This is a non-political site that is geared to help writers write it right. I am presenting information to help develop fictional characters and fictional scenes. In no way am I advocating any position or personal decision.



I was alone on a moonless night, driving down the highway and rubbing sleep from my eyes. Horrifically, my pepper canister, dangling from my key-chain, had leaked. I had wiped blinding fire across my eyes and spun off the road...

Because of this incident, pepper spray and mace are not part of my EDC. But for a writer, these products in a plot line can be awesome, indeed.

Pepper spray and Mace come in canisters of varying sizes. What is Mace? Mace is a name brand for defensive sprays. The Mace canister can contain pepper spray, tear gas or both. Mace and pepper spray affect mucus membranes causing inflammation and burning sensations. The affect lasts 20-30 minutes unless washed away. Milk is effective at removing the sting of the pepper spray. Water and mild soap are also helpful.


Bush Inauguration11
Bush Inauguration11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Writers who use this self-defense weapon in their writing can either use it to help or thwart a character's plight.

USE  - Aim for the eyes and spray left to right. If you missed, spray back from right to left.

PROS -

RSG-3
RSG-3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
* It is legal in most areas (though, as always, check
  your story location's laws for accuracy).
* It is inexpensive, easy to obtain, needs little in the
  way of training.
* It is effective at 8 feet - 20 feet depending on your
  brand/container size, so there is physical distance.
* It can be used against more than one attacker at a
   time. Also, it is effective against animals, including
  werewolves. (Though double blind experiments
  shows these products to be ineffectual against
   Zombies.)
* Portable and easily carried on a daily basis.


CONS (Poor character, never gets a break!)

* The stream is visible and can be averted.
* Wind is not your friend. It can make the shot
   ineffectual. It can also blow the stream back on you. It
   can blow the stream towards your friends/helpers/pets.
* You can quickly run out of product - esp. when using
   key-chain sized canisters
* The attacker might be high, drunk, or impervious.
* It must hit mucus to be effective - eyes, nose, mouth,
   lungs. A hat, hoody, or other clothing often prevent
   this with a mere duck of the head.
* Aim is key - and this is often difficult in a high-
  adrenaline situation. Especially if the character is
  shaking.
* Most people buy the canisters and never test them out
  or practice (which is why I recommend buying 2).
* Some canisters have a protective clip - and this can
   get stuck or be difficult to manipulate when in danger.
* The spray needs to be in hand - bottom of the purse is
   not helpful.
US Navy 050511-N-3394D-007 Master-at-Arms 2nd ...
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
* Kids and pepper spray are a BAD combo.
* Not legal in some places - like courthouses.



Video

Video 1 (3:05) Basics -
Video 2 (3:10 start at 1:30 mark) Watch pharmacist use bear spray against robber.
Video 3 (1:50) Police pepper spraying a crowd.
Video 4 (2:36) Shows various sizes and uses. Also, gives considerations for choosing the proper weapon
or your character.
Video 5 (3:12) Getting sprayed.






Thank you so much for stopping by. And thank you for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.


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