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Dental floss?

FortyTwoBlades said:
Has anyone ever thought about putting a pack of dental floss or, its beefier cousin, dental tape in their kits as emergency cordage/sewing material? I've used it for repair job stitching before and I can tell you that once you mend something with dental floss it will NOT need to be repaired there again. For basic lashing purposes it would probably do quite well, also.

It's very compact and lightweight, and you have about 50 yds. in one roll.

Thoughts?
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I take it out of its dispenser and wrap it in cellophane. It's almost as useful as duct tape.
 
Another option to dental floss (commonly teflon or nylon ) could be dacron (or kevlar)and use it to manufacture a bowstring also. The dental floss could be a bit stretchy.
 
Well, the main, secret use of waxed dental floss is in Non-destructive Entry (NDE). Which has been mentioned in the Urban BOB thread. It has to be waxed. Locks pick in two directions, to the unlocked position (Captain Obvious!) and also the locked position. If you pick a lock to the locked position, well, it doesn't open and you have to start over again and pick it the other direction or use a plug spinner which is yet another Locksmith tool. I have owned HPC, A-1 and Rytan plug spinners and as far as I'm concerned, they all suck.

If you pick the lock in the wrong direction, remove the pick and then hold the lock in that position with the turning tool (tension wrench) and pack it with waxed dental floss which will form a correctly cut key inside the keyway! Once you pack it in place with the pick until you cannot get anymore in the keyway, turn the plug back past the normal position to the unlocked position. Old Locksmithing trick of the trade. ;)
 
Very interesting Don, thanks!

I have dental floss (unflavored but waxed) in all my kits. I even carry a credit-card sized dispenser with my EDC (it's about 30 feet or so of floss), which is flat and easy to carry.

So many uses and quite compact...every kit should have a role! I also carry some kevlar thread with needles, another tough product but more expensive.

Medical tape (the cloth type) is also one of my staples. You can even wrap a sprained ankle if needed.

ROCK6
 
Don Rearic said:
Well, the main, secret use of waxed dental floss is in Non-destructive Entry (NDE). Which has been mentioned in the Urban BOB thread. It has to be waxed. Locks pick in two directions, to the unlocked position (Captain Obvious!) and also the locked position. If you pick a lock to the locked position, well, it doesn't open and you have to start over again and pick it the other direction or use a plug spinner which is yet another Locksmith tool. I have owned HPC, A-1 and Rytan plug spinners and as far as I'm concerned, they all suck.

If you pick the lock in the wrong direction, remove the pick and then hold the lock in that position with the turning tool (tension wrench) and pack it with waxed dental floss which will form a correctly cut key inside the keyway! Once you pack it in place with the pick until you cannot get anymore in the keyway, turn the plug back past the normal position to the unlocked position. Old Locksmithing trick of the trade. ;)
Click to expand...
OR
you just use a rubber band to flip the tension wrench over ... 2mm width of inner tube works well ...
the above trick really seems a waste of dental floss to me ... but if push comes to shove it is always good to know yet another way ...
 
Don, that is very interesting but I am very disappointed. I thought we were gonna be talking about making a garrote or doing Hojo Jitsu with floss.- George
 
I love the stuff, always a roll in my possibles pouch. I have made a bowstring out of it for a 40 pound bow before too, but its stretches a LOT. I find dacron bow string material too "springy" to be of use for anything but making bow strings.
 
While I don't carry dental floss in my kit, I do use the dispenser as a compact way to carry 50 lb test fishing line.
 
luckykitty said:
OR
you just use a rubber band to flip the tension wrench over ... 2mm width of inner tube works well ...
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to get into a spat with you but I'll believe it when I see it.

...the above trick really seems a waste of dental floss to me ... but if push comes to shove it is always good to know yet another way ...
Click to expand...

You pull it right back up and you can use it again for other things, just not for sutures or flossing your teeth. :)
 
mercop said:
Don, that is very interesting but I am very disappointed. I thought we were gonna be talking about making a garrote or doing Hojo Jitsu with floss.- George
Click to expand...

ParaCord would work just fine. ;)

One person used dental floss and toothpaste to cut through steel fence wire to escape a correctional facility.
 
I'll give it a try, it wouldn't be the first time that something that costs four cents beat something that costs $25.00 - 40.00 which is what plug spinners cost. As a matter of fact, if I thought that way, I wouldn't have found the waxed dental floss in the old books, either.

Is that your YouTube video?

You pick as well?
 
It is not my video, but I pick as well. Learned the rubber band trick from an old locksmith.
Though I don't have troubles with plug spinners - mine is a home made device from a lockpicking buddy ...
 
luckykitty said:
It is not my video, but I pick as well. Learned the rubber band trick from an old locksmith.
Click to expand...

In order for something like this to be very valuable, it has to have a very, very high precentage rate of working or it's useless. If it doesn't work it means it stopped in the lock position and you have to start over again. You know this if you pick locks, this is to explain to others reading this that don't know.

If the method doesn't work well, you will end up re-picking cylinders anyway so why use a plug spinner to begin with, if you are going to end up picking it again you could just reset the turning tool and pick the thing again now that you know which way it picks to the unlocked position.

With the rubber band, I tried it four times within about a minute on a picked five pin Schlage going right and left back and forth. Works incredibly well!

I think I would keep waxed dental floss just in case I run into something that I either cannot secure well like a padlock or because there is a tight turning cylinder that would not respond well to this method. The lock has to be in very good working order for the rubber band to work or a plug spinner.

Though I don't have troubles with plug spinners - mine is a home made device from a lockpicking buddy ...
Click to expand...

How does it differ from a Rytan plug spinner or the HPC Flip-It?
 
The flat spring is stronger, cause in fact there are two bristles from a street cleaning machine acting as one spring. So if you could tweak the springs in the commercial ones they'd work a lot better.
 
The A-1 Security Mfg., I don't even know if they still make them, has a coil spring. The HPC Flip-It and the Rytan have flat spring steel springs in them that take a twist. A combination of turning the tool and hitting the button is supposed to spin the plug but they have just never worked for me at all.

The rubber band idea works on a lock at this time that:

1. Works perfectly, mechanically.

2. Has no drag on the tailpiece, i.e., it's not connected to the deadbolt assembly or other bolt.

So, I am hoping that this is not a case of something working in a laboratory but not out in the field. There are a lot of people that will tell you flat out that raking is useless and for the amateur and that single pin picking is the only way to go. That's true in a lab you have set up but not true in the field. Because of awkward hand positions, cold weather and a host of other issues, if you actually want to be able to open locks in the field, you better know how to do everything.

If the lock is tempermental with the correct key, the rubber band method is probably not going to be very successful. If the lock cylinder functions properly but there is some issue with the boltworks attached to the tailpiece, again, might not work well or at all and you would have to go to waxed dental floss or a really excellent plug spinner which you seem to have. But before you rely on that thing, test it out on cylinders that you are likely to find out in the field, i.e., ones that have not been maintained very well.

On a stand-alone pin tumbler cylinder that works properly and no linkage attached to the tailpiece, the rubber band method is a dream come true really. I hope I get good results later on with other locking devices.

Next step, inertia opening padlocks with pantyhose and a baton! ;)
 
I always tell people to keep their locks in good working condition, and notifiy me of any change of this, apart from my regular service tour.
You will not be able to use a rubber band, if the lock is so hard to turn that the owner has broken off their key in it ...
 
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