Comments for "Turn a pencil into an emergency light source" Video at VideoSift.com

By MINK

MINK (http://www.videosift.com/member/MINK) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:58:59 -0700

or put a torch in your car lol.

By Goofball_Jones

Goofball_Jones (http://www.videosift.com/member/Goofball_Jones) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:38:41 -0700

Yeah, you could do all this, or you know....put a flashlight in your car.

But no, tear up your car, somehow split a pencil down the middle to extract the graphite and then jury-rig it up to your battery so you can see.

Put a flashlight in your car. I have one in mine, use it all the time. Sure, this is a neat video, but not very practical.

By moodonia

moodonia (http://www.videosift.com/member/moodonia) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:12:00 -0700

Ok, the point was you have no light to see the car problem, and your supposed to do all that in the dark?

By sirex

sirex (http://www.videosift.com/member/sirex) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:43:32 -0700

could you not just open the car door and use that there speaker wire to extend the bulb you already have. erm.... ill go away now.

By Quboid

Quboid (http://www.videosift.com/member/Quboid) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:22:33 -0700

Moodonia, obvious you do this just before the problem occurs, duh.

Seriously, this is a solution in need of a problem and yeah it's neat but really, it's useless. Torches left in cars tend to have flat batteries when you need them, so I got a wind up torch. There's a little crank on the side and you turn that for about 30 seconds to get 10 minutes of light.

By T-man

T-man (http://tman.videosift.com) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:43:22 -0700

or you could dig a hole straight through the Earth and let the Sun shine through from the other side of the planet...

By joedirt

joedirt (http://www.videosift.com/member/joedirt) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:39:25 -0700

lol.. of course you can't start your car after this.. because your battery is now completely dead.

By bamdrew

bamdrew (http://www.videosift.com/member/bamdrew) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:47:04 -0700

hah!

why not make a lighter by pulling out a sparkplug, funneling out some gas and building a small encosure from plastic striped from the interior like the rest of us?

By pipp3355

pipp3355 (http://www.videosift.com/member/pipp3355) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:24:40 -0700

i'm really glad they told me not to do that when i'm filling my car with gas. cuz that's exactly what i would have done.

By flechette

flechette (http://www.videosift.com/member/flechette) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:11:43 -0700

How in the world is this even remotely safe? Using that to see around the engine isn't a great idea. You touch those leads to something metal and you'll see sparks fly. Also, not only should you not use this around gas, you shouldn't use it if it's raining, either.

Murphy's law in this case (broken down, in the dark, no light source except a pencil and some wire) is going to also make it rain as well.

By GusRandall

GusRandall (http://www.videosift.com/member/GusRandall) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:54:32 -0700

What if the problem with your car is the battery?

By bhyphenlow

bhyphenlow (http://www.videosift.com/member/bhyphenlow) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:49:32 -0700

I usually would just use my cellphone. I can see people getting rather shocking results if they don't know how to do this correctly.

By sl666

sl666 (http://www.videosift.com/member/sl666) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:37:14 -0700

it would be faster to pull a bulb from anywhere.. and use the wire to light that.

By discretion

discretion (http://www.videosift.com/member/discretion) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:14:15 -0700

It would be faster to pull a bulb and light it - and then probably blow that bulb out with too much juice or some other factor.

He's just showing us something that's really bad-ass you mugs wouldn't have thought of. Of *course* you should use a flashlight instead, but like he said, if you don't have one... too bad. If your battery's dead and your flashlight's dead... too bad.

If an electromagnetic pulse destroys your cellphone after both your car battery and your flash light are dead... start walking.

Got any more holes or criticisms to throw at this really clever video?

By gerwen

gerwen (http://www.videosift.com/member/gerwen) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:06:19 -0700

This isn't likely to shock you, 12V is pretty harmless in that respect.

However if you do touch both ends of the wire to something metal, the entire speaker wire is likely to melt very quickly, and burn your hand. Melted speaker insulation may stick and cause further burns.

That said, it's a pretty cool trick to experiment with. Protect yourself though. Wear gloves and safety glasses. DON'T use jumper cables, or any heavy wires. Thicker wires can carry much more current before failing, possibly enough to destroy your battery in a spectacular, and dangerous fashion.

Try this with the wood still on the pencil. *edit* Try it outdoors of course.

By ggariepy

ggariepy (http://www.videosift.com/member/ggariepy) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:07:29 -0700

This is an extremely dangerous, bad idea. If you find yourself trapped in this situation, accept that you aren't prepared to deal with the problem and seek help. I would only try something like this if my life absolutely depended upon it. It's likely to result in a major fire, serious injury, not to mention damage to the car. Please just don't!