BCA cards: what are they good for?

MarkS

Moderator
This is not intended as a serious topic - please save any serious replies for elsewhere.

The conversation at the York Caving Club pub meet this week drifted on to what we've all used our BCA cards for. There were a bunch of different things, the most common certainly being as an emergency ice-scraper.

My favourite use was definitely when someone locked us out of a climbing hut, and we carefully removed a window to regain access. My BCA card came in very handy the next morning for applying putty to seal the window back in.

So BCA cards: what are they good for? Bonus points for photos!
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Good for cutting out emergency guitar plectrums - but only previous years' cards as the current one is a crucial asset, on occasions.
 

Maj

Active member
I've used an old card for getting a concave finish on silicone sealant.

Maj.
 

GarDouth

Administrator
Cheese.
 

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nearlywhite

Active member
I have used them in first aid - duct tape around them but they also are nice for giving a bit of structure to the dressing and stopping seepage reaching the tape.

Mainly though, brie.
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
I tried to (unsuccessfully) break back into my current flat 2 weeks ago, using mine. disappointing!

They need to be better at Yale locks.
 

Duncan Price

Active member
When you stay in a hotel room which requires that you put your keycard in a slot to make the power come on (e.g. Jury's Inn, Brighton) the BCA card is a useful proxy and means that you can leave your laptop/phone etc. on charge* but take your room key with you to the bar.

RAC membership cards work just as well - I use whatever is in my wallet that I don't mind forgetting.

* some hotel chains have got wise to this and require your actual room keycard (must be something to do with the RFID tag) but I can generally find a circuit that stays live when the others are off - e.g. the charging point for the free mobile Wi-Fi dongle (Royal Plaza, Singapore)

 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
damian said:
Smoothing resin when installing anchors
Removing ticks (by cutting a notch).

That's an interesting one; please could you give a little more detail about how the tick removal can be done?
 
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