The rules are simple: You get a challenge, and you get a list of five objects. Using no more than two of those objects, you have to solve the challenge. Then you add new objects to the list, to keep it at five, and post a new challenge.

First challenge:

You are locked in a madman's basement, the madman is on his way to get his torture equipment, and will be back in five minutes.

Your available resources:
1. Baseball bat
2. Fishing rod
3. Swiss army knife
4. Bowling ball
5. Frisbee

Give an example post?

2. Fishing rod
3. Swiss army knife

This really is a true madman, since he keeps his sporting goods in his basement instead of his torture devices. So I assume his method of torture will be equally mad...

I use the Swiss army knife to cut a length of fishing line from the rod and setup a trip wire near the door to the basement.

The madman enters and trips, falling to the floor, along with an iPad playing a Justin Bieber music video compilation. He hits his head on the floor and passes out. Meanwhile, I use my two tools to hang the iPad from the floorboards above and leave the madman to awaken, his twisted fanboy eccentricity becoming his own torture chamber.

Alone camping in the woods, a bear stumbles upon your camp at dawn. Don't get mauled or eaten:

1) Fishing Rod
2) Swiss army knife
3) Frisbee
4) Backpack with various foods inside
5) Sleeping bag

Seekeroftruth's post serves as a good example, except you need to remove and replace the objects you used. So the current list would be:

1. Baseball bat
2. Backpack with various foods inside
3. Sleeping bag
4. Bowling ball
5. Frisbee

I pick numbers 2 and 5.

Quickly, I dig out all of the foods I think the bear would most like from my backpack, and place them on the frisbee. I then throw the frisbee, making the foods spread in a long line away from the camp. As the bear investigates, I run in the opposite direction, leaving the rest of the food behind to keep the animal further occupied.

New scenario:

Zombies! You are trapped in a small cabin, with a dozen zombies between the door and your car.

Your resources:
1. Baseball bat
2. Chainsaw
3. Sleeping bag
4. Bowling ball
5. Smartphone

I choose 1 and 3.

I wrap the sleeping bag around my torso to prevent as many scratches and bites as I can, and I go out swinging with the baseball bat and make a break for the car. The bat is silent (more or less), so it shouldn't attract any more.

New scenario:

You are stuck on a desert island with help two days away at best.

Your resources:
1. Flatscreen Television
2. Chainsaw
3. Ball of Yarn
4. Bowling ball
5. Smartphone

~SE++

On your desert island find a banana tree. Use the chainsaw to cut down the tree, leaving only a stump. Scoop out a bowl in the top of the stump. The bowl will fill with clean drinkable water and refill itself for a few days. Using the ball of yarn and some limbs from the banana tree make a few fishing polls. Catch some fish, drink some banana tree water and wait for rescue.

New scenario:
While sailing around the world you run out of gas and find yourself floating aimlessly.


Your resources:
1. Flatscreen Television
2. Tire iron
3. Candle
4. Bowling ball
5. Smartphone

4. Bowling ball
5. Smartphone

First thing I do is call the boat manufacturer with my Smartphone and complain that their fuel gauge is poorly made. Then I google "how to use the big piece of cloth attached to that big pole in the center of my boat," and eventually learn how to "sail" around the world the old fashioned way.

Oh, and I throw the Bowling Ball overboard to lighten my cargo weight and thus increase my speed.

New scenario: While making a routine deposit at my bank, 3 men in masks enter and start waving around guns, about to rob the place.

1) Flatscreen Television
2) Tire Iron
3) Candle
4) Checkbook
5) An Apple

1: Flatscreen TV
5: An Apple

I realize that the FDIC will cover any of my losses from the robbery, and that it's probably a bad idea to risk my life over someone else's money. I lie down on the floor with my hands on my head, then go home and watch TV while eating an apple.

New scenario:
You've just died, but when you go to the afterlife, you find out that the god(s) that await(s) you (a/we)ren't the ones you chose to worship in life. You don't want to go to hell.

Resources:
1: a shotgun
2: a water bottle
3: a laptop with internet access
4: a deck of magic cards
5: an unused condom

@Cato, the rules state you only replace the resources you used, so Tire Iron, Candle, and Checkbook must remain and you get to add two new items...

Well, this dies a while back, so I'm just going to replace the ones Cato used with the same numbers that he posted, which leaves me with:

1) Shotgun
2) Tire Iron
3) Candle
4) Checkbook
5) Unused Condom



I use a Checkbook and hope that this god is greedy enough to want material goods.

New Inventory:

1) Shotgun
2) Tire Iron
3) Candle
4) Human Tooth
5) Unused Condom

New Scenario:
Trapped inside a subway tunnel that has collapsed.

~SE++

Easy, if I can assume that I have a way to light the candle. I move the candle around the edges of the collapse, looking for drafts (which would make the candle flicker). Once I find somewhere that has air coming through, I use the tire iron to widen the hole until I either can get through, or have ensured an air flow which will keep me alive until rescue comes.

New Inventory:

1) Shotgun
2) Deck of Cards
3) Spork
4) Human Tooth
5) Unused Condom

New scenario:

You are a stagehand at a large variety show. One of the performers is late, and they need you to entertain the audience until he gets there.

Use the deck of cards to do a magic trick where I put an unknown card in the unused condom and seal it, then sign a card, and then make it appear to swap places with the one inside the unused condom. Huzzah for close up magic.

1) Shotgun
2) Half Gallon Waterskin
3) Spork
4) Human Tooth
5) Leatherbound Book

New Scenario:
You've killed a man, the police are chasing you down a dead end alley, and you need to make an escape. Capture is not an option.

~SE++

Choosing 1 and 4

I fake my own death by killing the hobbo in the alley with my shotgun (apparent suicide) and scattering my own teeth near the corpse after switching our clothes. Without my fingerprints and with the face mauled beyond human recognition, they will be forced to rely on my dental records to identify my body. While the police clean up my new crime scene, I chill out by sleeping at the bottom of the nearby dumpster until nightfall.

New inventory:

1) Mint Ken Griffey Junior Rookie Year Baseball Card
2) Half Gallon Waterskin
3) Spork
4) a Book of Matches
5) Leatherbound Book

Scenario: You locked your keys in your car, and the local locksmith holds a personal vendetta against you.

Easy! No.5 is a book about picking car locks, which includes instructions for how to open my model car's door with a spork.

New inventory:

1) Mint Ken Griffey Junior Rookie Year Baseball Card
2) Half Gallon Waterskin
3) Rubber Mallet
4) a Book of Matches
5) Accordion

Scenario: Through a series of wacky misunderstandings, you are set to speak at the pentagon about new terrorist strategies and possible counterstrategies. You are expected to give an interactive demonstration.

Using only a baseball card and a book of matches I give a demonstration on how even the simplest of objects can be used as tools of terrorism. I fold up the Mint Ken Griffey Junior Rookie Year Baseball Card into a crude but sturdy talon. Then I use the book of matches to light the card on fire. The Pentagon brass are unimpressed with my "terrorist fire claws", so I move onto plan B and throw the book of matches at the nearest official. He suffers a scratched cornea. Baseball cards an empty matchboxes are now banned on US airlines.

1) Juicebox (full)
2) Half Gallon Waterskin
3) Rubber Mallet
4) Harmonica
5) Accordion

Scenario: A wacky series of misunderstandings has lead to your arrest! Escape from prison using only two of the five items listed above.

i play the harmonica so badly and so loudly in my cell that a guard comes to shut me up. i refuse, and when he moves to grab the harmonica i snatch the gun from his belt and shoot myself in a spot on my torso i know will seriously wound me, but will not be lethal. i am transferred from prison to a hospital for treatment, where i slowly convince one of my nurses that her coworker has been sleeping with her husband and telling her children that donald trump is a great leader and man. weeks go by. once the paranoia really sets in, i give the nurse the rubber mallet i had my friend carlito smuggle into the hospital for me, and whisper "you know what to do". the nurse attacks her coworker in the hallway just outside, and in the ensuing chaos i change into scrubs and casually exit the hospital.

1. Juicebox (full)
2. Half Gallon Waterskin
3. Bust of Gregor Rasputin made entirely of saltpeter
4. Large pink eraser
5. Accordian

Scenario: you must restore the leaning tower of Pisa to its original angle to appease the new dictator of all of southern Europe, who has OCD.

Easy. I fashion the accordion and waterskin into a hydraulic jack. I place the accordion under the tower, use the waterskin to pump in water until it rises to full height (this may take several trips) and pile rocks up underneath to hold the tower up while I readjust my accordion.

1. Juicebox (full)
2. Laser pointer
3. Bust of Gregor Rasputin made entirely of saltpeter
4. Large pink eraser
5. Sledgehammer

Scenario: Use two of the five items listed above to win your school talent competition.

I pick items 1 and 3.

I perform a comedy routine centered around offering Rasputin a juice box.

1. A large pumpkin
2. Laser pointer
3. Air mattress
4. Large pink eraser
5. Sledgehammer

You have decided to heed the call, and do your part in keeping the streets safe. You are going to become a vigilante, nay, a superhero! Unfortunately your budget is not too big. Figure out a way to fight crime using only two of the above listed items. The future of the city depends on it!

Easy. Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot, so I carve out the pumpkin and place it over my head, becoming the Avenging Jack O' Lantern! Since vegetables alone are not enough I employ a sledgehammer for enhanced persuasion.

1. Powerboat motor (no boat)
2. Laser pointer
3. Air mattress
4. Large pink eraser
5. 200ft. of rope.

The Scenario: You've crash landed on a deserted island in the middle of a public park. Civilization is mere meters beyond vocal range, and waving frantically just makes people think you're saying hello. Contact help or make an escape using only 2 of the above items.