NationStates Jolt Archive

You are trapped in some kind of prison cell. There are seemingly no doors, and the only light emanates from a hole in the wall high above your head. The hole has iron bars across it. You scramble around in the poor light and eventually find a few things on the ground. Most of it is useless, but you do find:

a brick
thirty centimetres of string
a shard of broken glass
an oily cloth
a stale sandwich

How do you escape from the cell?

(There is no right or wrong answer to this - in fact I've just made it up on the spot. I was just interested to see everybody's powers of lateral thought.)

If you had clothes as well the only thing I could think would be to cut them into shreds and knot them together to make a rope though the chances of that holding you are negligible. These sorts of cells are called oubliettes in that you leave prisoners ther and forget about them so I don't think you could rely on a warden coming to see how you're getting on or do more than chuck some water and stale bread down at you. So anything involving that is unlikely.

What are the walls like? wet, brick or undressed stone etc.

stab myself with the glass shard, then part of me will escape.

When in doubt, fire eye-lasers.

Other than that, I would probably just rot in there or kill myself with the glass shard or brick.

When in doubt, fire eye-lasers.

Other than that, I would probably just rot in there or kill myself with the glass shard or brick.
hey i hey i've got the glass shard get your own

When in doubt, fire eye-lasers.

Other than that, I would probably just rot in there or kill myself with the glass shard or brick.
Do you realize how painful it would be and how long it would take to beat yourself to death with a brick???? :headbang:

You could build up a bit of speed by tying it to the string to get a sling shot effect to ensure maximum chance of fatality

The cell walls are made of some strange material you are unaware of. It is hard; impossible to break and impossible to climb.

Grab the high-powered cutting laser out of my pocket, and bust the hell out.

but seriously. In that situation, um...I don't see a way out. After waiting a few days, I'd just kill myself.

This depends on how far apart the iron bars are, and how strongly they're set into the brickwork, but here goes:
Make a rope from my hair (yes, it would take time, but it's possible), tie the brick to one end, then throw the brick through the bars so that it's secured the other side. Climb up rope. Get a handhold outside the hole, then use the brick to work the bars out of the brickwork. Then climb out, and I'm free. Free! Mwahahahahahahaa!!!!!

Wedge the string through the stale sandwich so that its running through the middle. You then tie two knots at either end of the sandwich so it creates a plumbline. You throw the sandwich end through the iron bars. The guard sees the sandwich and being very hungry goes to get it. Just as he reaches it however you pull it back through the bars and as he grabs through the bars, you cut his wrist with the glass shard. He then is stuck there and dies of blood loss, allowing you to take the key off him and escape.

(Proberbly would never work, but worth a try)

I'd dance the jolly brick dance until I collapsed. Then I'd sing. Then I'd probably just lie around.

After awhile I'd start talking to some rats, and we'd live happily ever after.

Until I die of starvation.

Wedge the string through the stale sandwich so that its running through the middle. You then tie two knots at either end of the sandwich so it creates a plumbline. You throw the sandwich end through the iron bars. The guard sees the sandwich and being very hungry goes to get it. Just as he reaches it however you pull it back through the bars and as he grabs through the bars, you cut his wrist with the glass shard. He then is stuck there and dies of blood loss, allowing you to take the key off him and escape.

(Proberbly would never work, but worth a try)

Good...except there's seemingly no door to unlock, which begs the question of how you got there in the first place...

Good...except there's seemingly no door to unlock, which begs the question of how you got there in the first place...
They chuck you through the hole then put the bars in.

Ah, but who are 'they'?

You are trapped in some kind of prison cell. There are seemingly no doors, and the only light emanates from a hole in the wall high above your head. The hole has iron bars across it. You scramble around in the poor light and eventually find a few things on the ground. Most of it is useless, but you do find:

a brick
thirty centimetres of string
a shard of broken glass
an oily cloth
a stale sandwich

How do you escape from the cell?

(There is no right or wrong answer to this - in fact I've just made it up on the spot. I was just interested to see everybody's powers of lateral thought.)
No Saddam, i'm not going to give you escaping tips.

I would find the shard of broken glass, I would slit my wrists to make it look like I was attempting suicide. I would make it serious enough to have to be taken to the hospital. I know they will post a guard outside my room, but I would be allowed a phone call and or visitor.. I would then use the phone to call up some of my less than upstanding citizen friends to come and break me out of the hospital. I will smell freedom by morning! :cool:

(Of course I'm assuming that I'm in a cell because the police put me there, I have other ideas if I was kidnapped) ..lol

No Saddam, i'm not going to give you escaping tips.

lol

Unfortunately, you are wrong - where are the Mars Bars?

All right, this is what I'd do...

First I'd put the sandwich inside the oily cloth and tie the cloth into a bag. The cloth is oily so no air would get in or out. Then I'd wait till the rotting sandwich has produced enough methane to fill the bag.
While waiting for this, I'd rub both the brick and the shard of glass to the wall to make a special silicon-mass which reacts highly effectively with methane. I wouldn't use the whole shard since I might need a weapon.
I put the methane-bag in the corner, pile the silicon-mass on it and pull the string which opens the bag. The following reaction will either blow away a part of the wall and thus open a way to freedom or it might also kill me with methane-poisoning. Who cares?

Yeah, yeah, I know. I watched too much McGyver when I was a kid.

Ah, but who are 'they'?
'They' are your captors/imprisoners. Either that or something else.

'They' are your captors/imprisoners. Either that or something else.

You mean like...killer sloths?

You mean like...killer sloths?
Yes...though the only sloths I've ever talked to are quite nice really. I'd think they'd be more likely to be killer iguanas.

You are trapped in some kind of prison cell. There are seemingly no doors, and the only light emanates from a hole in the wall high above your head. The hole has iron bars across it. You scramble around in the poor light and eventually find a few things on the ground. Most of it is useless, but you do find:

a brick
thirty centimetres of string
a shard of broken glass
an oily cloth
a stale sandwich

How do you escape from the cell?

(There is no right or wrong answer to this - in fact I've just made it up on the spot. I was just interested to see everybody's powers of lateral thought.)

take the glass shard, break it into two halves
put the two halves together to make a whole
climb out the hole

Okay, here's what you do. First, take the stale sandwich and wrap it in the oily cloth. Then, wrap the string around the shard of broken glass so it forms a crude handle - now you got a shank. Leave the stale sandwich with its' oily wrappings in a corner for a few days. The combination of oil, cloth, stale bread, and rotting (whatever was in the sandwich) will attract rats and other vermin. Using the brick, kill all the rats. Eat them, and then use the shank to skin them. Rinse and repeat until you have enough rat skins to make a rope.

Tie the rat-rope to the brick, and then stick the oily sandwich remnants to the brick. Throw the brick at the grate until the sandwich sticks to it, and wait another few days. By now, the sandwich will be so foul it's insane, and the oil will only help the foulness. This lethal combination will act like an acid, and melt the bars. Again, tie the brick to the rat-rope, and then put the shank between your teeth (you might need it if some guards or something come by). Throw the brick through the hole, and then climb the rat-rope.

Trust me, it'll work.

idtake off my shirt and my pants, and use the glass shard to cut long strips, which get woven in to a thick rope. rub the oily cloth up and down the rope, working the oils in. maybe i'd want to pee on it too, just to be sure it was wet. then i wrap it around tow of the barsand use the brick to twist them out of their moorings. climb out, wearing the rag as a sort of loincloth, tied on with the string. as i run, i'd eat the sandwich.

take the glass shard, break it into two halves
put the two halves together to make a whole
climb out the hole

Or, if you can get close to the bars (stand on the brick perhaps?), rub your hands together until they're sore, then use the saw to cut your way out.

lol you know what i'd do? i'd pull myself up and out of the barred hole in the cieling. no one specified the size of the room or the spacing of the bars.

Or, if you can get close to the bars (stand on the brick perhaps?), rub your hands together until they're sore, then use the saw to cut your way out.

oh yeah, i'd forgotten that one. i remember my answer to stuff like this used to be-
look at the window, look away, look at it again, see what you saw, take the saw, cut the glass into two halves, put the two halves together to make a whole...etc

Put the brick in a pulley system with the string and oily rag. Get the brick to the top of the cell, lay down with the base of my head facing up, and then drop the brick from the top of the cell.

Quick and relatively painless.

lol you know what i'd do? i'd pull myself up and out of the barred hole in the cieling. no one specified the size of the room or the spacing of the bars.

oooh, clever! because if someone wanted to imprison you they'd put you in a room with a window big enough to climb out of! :rolleyes:

Actually, most clothing, with the exception obviously flimsy stuff, is strong enough to support around two to thre hundred pounds (dunno what that is in kilo's)

any way, I'd use the transmitter hidden in a false tooth to call in my personal special ops team and spring me from the prison, if that fails (though it wouldn't unless the place was being guarded by the entire population of China) I'd make my clothes into a rope, tie the brick to it and use it to climb up to the grating, they grating is probably movable (it's unlikely that theyd throw me down and then go to a lot of trouble to keep something that I couldn't possibly climb up to from moving) so I'd get thatout of the way and climb to freedom in the confused aftermath of my specops raid.

I would wrap the oily cloth around the bars, and use the broken glass to focus the light onto it. The cloth catches fire which has such intense heat that the bars start to melt. If the bars are too strong to melt completely, I pound them with the brick to shatter it in its weakened state. Using the brick to batter any remaining encumberances (i.e. sharp bits of non-totally melted bars) I then pull myself out.

You are trapped in some kind of prison cell. There are seemingly no doors, and the only light emanates from a hole in the wall high above your head. The hole has iron bars across it. You scramble around in the poor light and eventually find a few things on the ground. Most of it is useless, but you do find:

a brick
thirty centimetres of string
a shard of broken glass
an oily cloth
a stale sandwich

How do you escape from the cell?

(There is no right or wrong answer to this - in fact I've just made it up on the spot. I was just interested to see everybody's powers of lateral thought.)


Wait for a guard to come in at food time. Beat his head in with the brick. Exchange clothes with him. Leave him lying dead or unconscious in my cell while I proceed to act normal and leave the prison.

Wedge the string through the stale sandwich so that its running through the middle. You then tie two knots at either end of the sandwich so it creates a plumbline. You throw the sandwich end through the iron bars. The guard sees the sandwich and being very hungry goes to get it. Just as he reaches it however you pull it back through the bars and as he grabs through the bars, you cut his wrist with the glass shard. He then is stuck there and dies of blood loss, allowing you to take the key off him and escape.

(Proberbly would never work, but worth a try)

I think you'd be surprised quite how SHORT 30 centimetres of string is...

I would do the clothes rope thing. I'd also use the cloth, rub it on something and use the glas to light it and hope to burn something out. Or, I'd look at how the bars are kept onto whatever their framed into, and find some way to destroy that form of fastening.

I would do the clothes rope thing. I'd also use the cloth, rub it on something and use the glas to light it and hope to burn something out. Or, I'd look at how the bars are kept onto whatever their framed into, and find some way to destroy that form of fastening.
Use your hair (unless you haven't got much). It's extremely strong, and if you use every hair, very long (again, unless you haven't got much).

Easy. I would first take the gunpowder i hide and take the jelly jar i stole from the other guy put the gun powder in the jelly jare seal it, make a tad whole in it, use the 30 cm of rope drenched in gasoline i stole from the warden after i escaped and light it near the opening. It will alert the guards then i will use my inate german power to blow them up.

play dead and wait for them to carry me out