Spy Stuff (Hidden Containers)

Spy gear is cool as historical fact but, even better, you can adapt it for use in life today. Two fun examples I currently use are presented below.

Spies have obvious need to conceal messages. The way they do this is by converting ordinary objects (which attract no suspicion) into secret containers. During the Cold War, for instance, spies from Russia took American coins, split them open and hollowed them out. The coins, when re-attached, were indistinguishable from others in circulation. Russian spies then put secret messages into the coins which were safe from detection and could be easily transmitted to another person. (Messages were often on "microdots," shrunken words that could be read with a magnifying glass.)

Another smart device was a smoking pipe (back when smoking was common). The pipe contained a secret chamber in which a paper message could be contained. An ingenious part of this idea was that if the spy was afraid of being caught, he could twist the handle of the pipe, opening the secret chamber to the burning bowl of tobacco and the message would be instantly destroyed. Problem solved!

Now how can this stuff help you and me? Let me show you...

I have -- and you can buy one on Amazon for $10 -- a hair-brush I carry for travel. Nobody suspects the hair-brush of being anything other than that and, yet, it is a terrific place to store money. On the road, you often want to conceal some cash in case you lose your wallet. The hair-brush has a hollow handle which can hold up to twelve bills ($1,200 if you use hundreds). This spy-idea protects your extra cash on trips because no thief who breaks into your luggage or hotel-room is going to steal a hair-brush. Here's a picture:

This model comes in black, purple and red. Only $10. And it brushes hair, too!

Another spy idea I use is what appears to be a construction bolt (large screw). The bolt is hollowed out and the inner chamber is reached by twisting the top part off (which on a normal bolt doesn't move). Again, nobody would suspect this ordinary object of having a secret compartment.

Do you know what I use this for? To carry powdered jalapeno hot sauce. I toss it in my pocket along with my keys and when a restaurant meal is bland, I pull out the bolt, unscrew it and toss some instant heat onto my dish. Yay!

As shown above, learning how to be a spy can help you live normal life better!