Computers and Laptops

You may think a computer or a laptop is useless in a survival situation, and so will almost everyone else probably meaning they will mainly be left untouched. But apart from the cables, wire and components that can be used to repair other electric devices, the hard drives inside computers contain strong magnets that can be used for many things. These are a very rare type of magnet called Neodymium Magnets or “rare earth” magnets and are incredibly strong.

You can use these magnets to attach things together for easy removal. For example you can put one inside your bag and another in a pouch and then when you put them together they will stick. Then to remove the pouch there is no untying or unclipping. Of course, you could potentially lose your gear this way so I wouldn’t attach anything heavy, but if it’s light enough, due to the strength of these magnets it’s pretty unlikely to fall off.

You can also use these magnets to make a compass. The only problem is that you need to work out what end is north and what end is south before doing this. An easy way to find this out is to tie your magnet to a length of string and let it hang to see what way it faces. Then look at the position of the sun, if its morning then the sun will be to the left side of the magnet as its facing north. If its evening time the sun will be on the right side of the magnet as its facing north. You can then mark the magnets north end for future reference.

If you have a needle from a sewing kit or another thin piece of metal such as a safety pin or bobby pin this will work well for the compass needle. If your piece of metal doesn’t have a clear front and back you can mark one end with a permanent marker. All you need to do now is stroke the north end of the magnet along the top half of the needle about 30times. Then float the needle on the water using a leaf, a plastic bottle cap or a piece of bark for example. It may sway back and forth a bit but when it settles it will be pointing north.