I was watching Nightmares last night and that one fishing hook idea always interest me. A lot of macgyverism interest me but the fishing hook always catches my eye. Anyway I was trying to look up whether or not the hook idea really works. Have any one here ever tried the fishing hook idea and if so, does it work or is it just TV magic. Feel free to disgust other macgyverism. I'm interested in learning.
This little spiel from our MacGyverisms page might help you somewhat.
QUOTE
While MacGyverisms are based on scientific principles, most MacGyverisms were greatly exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The writers freely acknowledge that many MacGyverisms would require very exact conditions if they were to actually work as shown in the episodes.
The writers were always careful to leave out key ingredients of any MacGyverisms which created an explosive or otherwise harmful effect, to ensure that it could not be re-created by viewers
As for the fishing MacGyverism. That one would work because he basically made a lure. Any small shiny object in water will attract fish because it resembles a smaller fish (their pray).
Generally (as the Mythbusters proved) MacGyverisms will work, but not the way (or within the time) we see them in the show.
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode: must I choose?
Vehicle: Motorcycle
Jacket: Black leather
House: House boat
I test some of the MacGyverisms that I come up with in my stories -- in fact, one of the ones I used in "Aftershocks" didn't work quite the way I thought it would, and I had to change the scene to accommodate how the thing actually behaved. I was still able to make it work in the story, though.
I did test the effectiveness of cheap booze as a solvent for duct tape. It was a little painful, but it worked.
I did not actually test making an electrical prod out of pennywhistles, nor have I ever actually vandalised a concertina. And so far, I haven't needed to blow anything up. But my sister gave me an A+ for authenticity in my abuse of Uzis.
[No wilderness] is so dangerous as a city home "with all the modern improvements". One should go to the woods for safety, if for nothing else. -- John Muir --- LOLMac daily: lolmac.livejournal.com icanhastofu.tumblr.com
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode: must I choose?
Vehicle: Motorcycle
Jacket: Black leather
House: House boat
The funny thing is that it doesn't really feel like imagination. It seems to go along with working with Mac's character. I get inside his head, look around, and there's the stuff. It's all there; half the time, he seems to be the one figuring out how to use it. After all, one of the best tricks in "101 Uses for a Dead Uzi" didn't even involve an Uzi; I had not planned that one in advance.
For my first story, I did have to make a special effort to arrange for some items to be naturally available when he was going to need them, but when you get right down to it, we live our lives constantly surrounded by Stuff. The resources are omnipresent; it's a case of remembering to look and see what's available.
Of course, the Power of the Script makes it easier to guarantee that the MacGyverisms will work . . . except when they don't, that is.
[No wilderness] is so dangerous as a city home "with all the modern improvements". One should go to the woods for safety, if for nothing else. -- John Muir --- LOLMac daily: lolmac.livejournal.com icanhastofu.tumblr.com
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode:Good Knight Macgyver
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: Loft
I've only tried a few worth reporting, but one that I know for sure works is the gum wrapper to re-route a fuse (I think that's right) used in Hell Fire. I used it on a inverter for my laptop on a long trip my family was taking.
We plugged my laptop in and used it for about a half a day. Later that night we tried again and it didn't work. We had blown a fuse. My sister said something like: "Hey, didn't MacGyver have the same problem on one of the episodes and fixed it with a gum wrapper?"
So we used part of a gum wrapper (it was a small fuse) and the Macgyverism lasted us 'til we got home (about a week and a half later).
The only stipulation is it has to be a silver gum wrapper. The colored ones have some kind of coating that doesn't allow electricity to flow.
Duct Tape: it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the world together.
Posts: 7,728
Joined: 13 Jan 2004
Gender: Male
Country: Belgium
SAK owned: Don't know
Favorites
Season: season 5
Episode:Serenity, Passages, Humanity
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Black/Navy flight
House: House boat
With a toy crossbow/gun and a rubber bullet I could do the escape from Deep Cover. Just tie it around a ladder with round steps with a string or cord attached to it cock the trigger and then pull the cord.
If I did that with a real flare gun I probably blew up my room.
I think the poison that was used was applied to this knife, passed to the mutton when it was cut and then activated by the wine. - MacGyver. Sometimes you just have to die a little inside to be reborn and rise again as a stronger and wiser version of you. It's better to be a little sad than to be fake content.
Favorites
Season: season 2
Episode:hard to pick just one
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Black/Navy flight
House: House boat
Ths isn't a macgyverism taken directly from the show, but it involves tape (not duct tape). I operate a die press at a printing company. We manufacture single-serve, peelable aluminum lidding. The machine is high speed with multiple punches. Sometimes the lids want to hang out the backside of the cavities. I had one particular cavity that had been doing this for days. We have maintainence guys who are paid to fix these issues and they had been working on it for days with no positive results. I cleaned the cavity out and applied strips of thin tape to the area where the lids were hanging out. It worked like a charm and left the maintainence guys feeling a bit sheepish. Sometimes the solution really is the obvious; it's easy to over-think dilemmas. BTW, I'm a female and Mac is my hero!
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode:the hiest
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: House boat
i accidentally did the light buld and glass cleaner one, i was cleaning the lamp and forgot to turn it off, i squirted and pop glass wa everywhere, but i didnt get cut
Posts: 524
Joined: 2 May 2005
Gender: Female
Country: USA
SAK owned: Superchamp
Favorites
Season: season 4
Episode:Too many to choose from
Vehicle: Nomad
Jacket: Black leather
House: House boat
I haven't tried this, but I'll bet the vinegar/pepper combo we saw in both Invisible Killer and Blowout would work pretty well as a homemade (read cheap) substitute to Mace or commercially available pepper spray. If you could just find a small spray bottle that would squirt the stuff some distance (in stream form), you'd be in business. I would think the proportions wouldn't matter all that much, as both ingredients are incredibly irritating on their own.
This is something I just might fool with when I have some time...
Do not pity the dead. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
You don't eat things like that, you call pest control! Kate in The Gauntlet
What's that? Lateral... cranial... impact... enhancer. *whack* Last Stand
Posts: 808
Joined: 25 Dec 2009
Gender: ---
Country: Somewhere else
SAK owned: Explorer
Favorites
Season: season 6
Episode:Trail of Tears
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: House boat
The one that I find silly to the point of ridiculous is the parachute with motordrive he makes in 'The Wasteland'. It takes him a lot of time to make it, in the meantime the kids could have shot his father ten times over, but also when the thing is finished it looks like coming right out of the store. Way too perfect. That pushes me right out of the story, which I find a pity, because I like this episode a lot.
I can hardly watch it without feeling embarrassed for RDA for having to do this. My remedy is fastforwarding until it's passed (except for that one time I did the hand double search). Phew!
The one that I find silly to the point of ridiculous is the parachute with motordrive he makes in 'The Wasteland'. It takes him a lot of time to make it, in the meantime the kids could have shot his father ten times over, but also when the thing is finished it looks like coming right out of the store. Way too perfect. That pushes me right out of the story, which I find a pity, because I like this episode a lot.
I can hardly watch it without feeling embarrassed for RDA for having to do this. My remedy is fastforwarding until it's passed (except for that one time I did the hand double search). Phew!
This topic is not for discussing what you think of the MacGyverisms from the show.
Please take note of the topic title and what's being discussed.
Posts: 201
Joined: 19 Mar 2008
Gender: Male
Country: Spain
SAK owned: Huntsman
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode:The escape
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: Apartment
Well, I tried to light pine chew (the yellow stuff that comes of it at summer and spring) and Mac's right, it burns a lot better than it tastes (I couldn't take the taste out of me for days!!) Didn't wait for it to explode though, people here are very touchy about hom made experiments!
In my oppinion, Graham Bell has a lot to answer for. It gets harder and harder to escape from the world, the news and worst of all, people.
Favorites
Season: season 3
Episode:Hell Week
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: House boat
Mac seems to be pretty good at hotwiring a car when it refuses to go - is it as easy as he makes it looks? It seems to be a matter of pulling out some wires and touching them together.
I'm also curious to know whether anyone has actually tried the MacGyverism from For Love Or Money...where he crushes the Nitro tablets and soaks them in alcohol, then the window explodes when he throws the stainless steel bowl at it.
I haven't tried any MacGyverisms - if I had the right equipment I would!
"You may not believe this, but there have been times when I've had a lot more fun in the back seat of a car." - MacGyver (Golden Triangle)
Posts: 201
Joined: 19 Mar 2008
Gender: Male
Country: Spain
SAK owned: Huntsman
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode:The escape
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: Apartment
But that's the magic of macgyverisms!!!! You use what's around, ordinary stuff!! I wish I coudl upload the pictures of the experiments I do about geology. I use Corn Starch, honey, bird seed, lavander flowers, twigs, anything that I think will imitate a determined part of Earths crust, or Earths dinamic forces!
In my oppinion, Graham Bell has a lot to answer for. It gets harder and harder to escape from the world, the news and worst of all, people.
I haven't tried any of the show (as far as I remember), but I agree with MacBeth; after watching MacGyver (a lot!!) you kind of start thinking alike!
But I remember having read somewhere that the producers/writers of the show always changed one (or more) of the ingredients of the somewhat more explosive MacGyverisms, to prevent people creating these things and cause hazardous situations, anybody know whether this is true?
While MacGyverisms are based on scientific principles, most MacGyverisms were greatly exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The writers freely acknowledge that many MacGyverisms would require very exact conditions if they were to actually work as shown in the episodes.
The writers were always careful to leave out key ingredients of any MacGyverisms which created an explosive or otherwise harmful effect, to ensure that it could not be re-created by viewers
Posts: 127
Joined: 19 Oct 2011
Gender: Male
Country: Australia
SAK owned: Trekker
Favorites
Season: season 6
Episode:
Vehicle: Motorcycle
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: Second Loft
And as far as making dramatic explosions and fires for TV and movies goes ~ shows like "Mythbusters" have recently shown just how much extra C4 explosive, and often extensive modifications (like cutting 70-80% through an axle or chassis-rail..), can be necessary to make a real-world copy of many film S-FX (special effects..).
Posts: 180
Joined: 3 Dec 2008
Gender: Male
Country: Ashland Ky
SAK owned: Victorianox
Favorites
Season: season 5
Episode:changes often
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: House boat
I am 40 years old, and watched MacGyver when I was a kid, and have been a fan ever since. I have been inspired by his creativity and have always tried to be like him. Between learning from my dad who is gifted mechanically, I have been able to dream up many things that have gotten me out of a pinch or has made me look like a hero among coworkers. I do maintenance work and get to play MacGyver everyday. One of the luckiest tricks I ever did was when I worked at a YMCA and a lady had locked her keys in her minivan. I went out to help her try to get it open. It had power locks. I had a thin piece of flat metal that I stuck down inside the door and the window. It happen to short the connection and unlock it. It happen quickly and it was pure luck and I probably could not ever do it again, but I looked good on that one! Haha!
He who is self taught is better off; yet on the otherhand, he does well when he listens to those who speak rightly. Aristotle Ethics
Posts: 904
Joined: 6 May 2010
Gender: Male
Country: CO
SAK owned: Spartan
Favorites
Season: season 3
Episode: . . . Holy Rose
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: House boat
The lock on my car door had frozen so I couldn't unlock it. I took a cigarette lighter, heated up the key, inserted the key and gently turned it from side to side until the ice inside the lock melted and I was able to unlock the door. I've done the same at work. It worked every time.
"Jeep. My Jeep? What are you talking about? Penny! My Jeep?" - MacGyver
"Look at me. I'm a hurtin' guy! I'm beat up. I need a month's worth of sleep . . . and I need a haircut!" - MacGyver
"It's been said, 'The best gift a man could ever give another, was his life', Jack Dalton was never one to settle for less than the best. Thank you Jack." - MacGyver
"Reboots are born out of the lack of imagination." M. Lance Frank
Posts: 2,136
Joined: 20 Dec 2012
Gender: Male
Country: USA/PA
SAK owned: Swiss Champ
Favorites
Season: season 1
Episode:Twice Stung
Vehicle: Jeep
Jacket: Brown bomber
House: House boat
I would love to try the fire hose on the locked door handle trick using an elevator like on Twice Stung! I did try heating my key to get into my frozen car and it worked like a charm!
Barry
"The bag's not for what I take. It's for what I find along the way!" "EXACTLY!"
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)