if you strike an attacker's vagus nerve (on the neck, just below the ear), it will cause intense pain. strike too hard and it may cause death.

if your attacker is close and facing you, kick them in the knee with the sole of your foot. most blows that low can't be blocked, and a broken or sprained knee will certainly slow them down.

if someone has hold of your wrist, don't try to pull away - it likely won't work. instead, rotate your hand so that your thumb falls right between their thumb and index finger. then, jerk your hand away by bending your arm at the elbow.

to lessen your odds of getting into a parking lot accident, back into the parking space. that way, you can see traffic as you pull out.

in a hand-drawn raffle, you are more likely to win if you wrinkle your entry.

birds poop on red cars more than any other color. (they are least likely to poop on green cars.)

how to win at rock-paper-scissors: - if you lost the last round, choose the option that would have beaten your opponent's last choice. - if you won the last round, choose an option that your opponent did not choose.

to slightly increase the odds that you will win at dice, start the dice rolling with the winning number on top.

if you have to guess in a multiple choice test, pick the middle choice, then use that same choice each time you have to guess.

to win at monopoly, buy these properties in this order: - railroads - orange properties - light blue properties

a study by popular mechanics magazine found that, if you mark a package 'fragile', it is more likely to be damaged during shipping.

if you're ever locked in a car's trunk. kick out the tail lights and wave to other cars through the hole.

if you're ever locked in a car's trunk, kick out the tail lights and wave to other cars through the hole.

thinking about sex reduces the discomfort when you need to pee but can't.

someone is more likely to respond favorably if you speak into their right ear rather than their left. this includes romantic suggestions.

test scores tend to be higher if the test takers write down their feelings about the test before taking it.

if a blizzard strands you in your car, stay put. run the engine and heater 10 minutes in each hour, with a downwind window cracked to prevent exhaust buildup. make sure your tailpipe is free of snow, and turn your dome light on if it's dark to make you easier to find (but be careful not to run the battery down).

during a wildfire, turn on all of your light before you evacuate to make your house more visible to firefighters. also, to eliminate backdraft, close all of your windows and open your fireplace flue.

if you have a watch and it has an hour hand, you can use it as a compass. point the hour hand toward the sun. in the northern hemisphere, the point halfway between 12 and the hour hand is north. in the southern hemisphere, line the 12 up with the sun instead.

crayons make great candles in an emergency - just light the paper covering. a can of shortening with a strip of cotton fabric in the middle as a wick does, too.