Having trouble with people snatching your top-secret stuff? Need help getting some privacy? Here’s a sneaky gizmo you can make to keep those snoops away. It’s a Talking Booby Trap: record your personalized message or sound effect, then hide it in a strategic place. When it’s disturbed, the intruders will hear your surprise warning message telling them to “Get lost!”
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Talking Booby Trap
Surprise enemy spies with the sound of your own voice.
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Steps
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Step #1: Prepare the Clothespin
- Disassemble the clothespin — the wire spring is too stiff for our purpose. Remove the bottom half of the clothespin, leaving the spring attached to only the top half, as shown.
- Wrap a small rubber band around the jaws of the clip 3–4 times. Slide the rubber band closer or farther from the fulcrum to adjust the tension. The clip should open easily, but still be able to close all the way.
- For an easier-to-use booby trap, add an optional extension to the top leg of the clothespin. Bend a small strip of stiff brass so that it lies flat when the clothespin is held open. Drill 2 small holes in the brass and attach it to the clothespin with tiny screws, as shown in the second photo.
Conclusion
After you record your own message and sound effects, you can use the Talking Booby Trap in lots of ways:
- Place a diary, journal, or any object on the brass tab. The weight of the object keeps the clothespin open and armed. Camouflage the booby trap by placing something else in front. If anyone lifts the book — whoop! whoop! — the alarm goes off. The snoop is busted!
- Use the Talking Booby Trap to shame your lunch-lifting co-workers. Hide it behind your food inside the fridge at work. If anybody touches it, the talking booby trap blasts: “Keep your hands off my lunch!” Now everybody will know the identity of the secret food thief!
- Tie a string to a small piece of paper and slip it between the clothespin jaws. Then tie the other end to any pilferable object. You’ll know if anyone tries to take it, because pulling the string trips the booby trap: “Step away from the camera!” You can use thin monofilament fishing line instead of string for a nearly invisible alarm.