There are so many weird , random, and oddly specific things in this world. Things that are used for purposes you wouldn’t even be able to guess just by looking at them.
That’s where a list like this comes in handy. It’ll teach you a thing or two about those random things that people couldn’t identify on their own. Gotta love the internet, right?
“Fiberglass with 1″ rubber on one end that glows in dark – total length 1’9″ – it’s light and flouts – could be a bobber but nothing to hook it to a line….maybe you could spear some bait on the pointy end and then let it bob?”
Sometimes, the simplest answer is the right one. This person thought that this mysterious object could be a bobber for fishing, and it was! The glow in the dark part is for night fishing.
“What sort of process are these used for? They came out of a shop that made custom cameras.”
Those little letters inside of that box? They’re for a thing called a pantograph . Pantographs use small engravings to draw larger versions. It’s kind of hard to explain, and it’s super weird, but that’s exactly what these letters are used for.
“Panel in apartment (USA) appears to be audio visual related but don’t know what the up down and power (?) is for.”
Reddit user glaeser-joey asked the original poster a simple question: “Are there speakers installed in the house anywhere? This looks like an input with volume control.” As it turns out, that’s exactly what this panel was for. Gotta love the internet.
“Gauge on a tank, found in a bathroom above the sinks.”
Considering the fact that there’s what looks like a pressure gauge on the tank, it seems like something serious.
And yet, as Reddit user Fawksie points out, it’s a “tank feeding a central liquid soap dispensing system.” I guess the gauge is just telling how much soap is in there.
“Partner went to an estate sale and came home with an old tin full of these things.”
Would you believe me if I told you these things are used to keep curtains up? Well, it’s true!
“It’s for a certain type of curtain that doesn’t have a pocket sewn in. The pointy part goes into the curtain a bit like a safety pin, and the other bit gets hooked through a metal or plastic loop on a curtain rod.” Reddit user MuppetManiac points out.
“Wife ordered rolls of thank you stickers on eBay. This came instead.”
The likeliest answer here is that this person was sent some fertilizer sticks by mistake. The Reddit community is pretty against this person planting these, though. Whatever it is, it could be invasive to the native ecosystem. Which is a bad thing.
“What is this item being auctioned off online? There are the only pictures available.”
Nothing like a series of cryptic shots of an item that’s hard to identify. There’s no way people could figure this one out, right?
Wrong. It didn’t take long before commenters found this , the exact wire stripper that the thing in the pictures just so happens to be.
“Miniature pool cue holder?”
No, not a pool cue holder. Redditor coupebuilder figured it out quickly, identifying it as a ” Dinkelspiel pipe stand rack from the 20s.” Pipes as in the tobacco kind, which makes sense given the time period this vintage piece of furniture happened to come from.
“Large, cube shaped object attached to some sort of duct near a dam. Would normally be under the reservoir water; seems to be made of a translucent material?”
This is another weird thing with a simple solution. It’s a filter for incoming water. The same way you’d have a filter on a furnace or a pool pump, this keeps debris and lake stuff from getting caught on the inner mechanisms.
“Estwing specialty hammer from BiL cabin shed. He doesn’t know what it’s for either.”
Gotta hand it to people who know things. Redditor codece knows things that we don’t apparently, since they were able to identify this tool.
“It’s a discontinued product that Estwing called a “weight forward hammer” designed for more ergonomic hammering. It’s not specifically for roofing.”
“Tiny bundle of sticks stuck to the siding of my house. I’ve seen these my entire life, and have never known what makes them or what they are for.”
Is it bugs? It has to be bugs. There’s no other explanation for why random twigs would attach themselves to a house. But what kind of bugs are they?
Well, as the fine people of Reddit were able to point out, this is a bagworm moth casing.
“4-5” long, solid metal and fairly heavy for its size.”
Another really weird object that you probably wouldn’t be able to identify on your own. But as it turns out, some people are really good at finding out what random objects are. Like this locomotive reverser key , which several Reddit commenters found quickly.
“What game is this? You roll dice with colors and numbers and place the colored pegs on the wheel accordingly while trying maintain balance.”
This strange, colorful board is for a game called Dingo Disc . You place the pieces on the disk and try to balance them without the whole thing falling over. It’s like if Sorry and Jenga had a baby.
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“Found a mysterious plastic gadget at a local thrift store in Canada. Two transparent pieces of plastic fixed to a black plastic base without any branding or marks anywhere.”
It really doesn’t look like much, does it? But, it’s apparently a knife holder. A cheap one, as Reddit user anoneone points out, but a knife holder nonetheless. Who would’ve thought?
“Some kind of wire spoiling machine? Seems to have arms to hold wire, a motor and a guide in the front.”
Multiple people on Reddit chimed in on this one. It’s apparently a tire changer, and an antique one at that. I can’t get over the fact that anyone would be able to figure this one out, let alone multiple people.
“What are these pegs at the end of my bed used for? We thought they were for shoes, but there are 9 of them.”
The Reddit comments seem to think these are pegs for holding ropes in order to keep mattresses up. Maybe these ones are just for decor, though, since they don’t seem to be needed to keep that mattress from falling over.
“Not sure what the holes at the top are for. Looks like a mailbox and doorbell.”
This thing looks like it could be a bunch of things. And according to Redditor jackrats, it’s a bunch of things at once . It’s an antique speaking tube, intercom system, and mailbox . Talk about an object of many talents.
“Found in italian dumpster, around 1980-90’s, (official brand was incorporated in 1939) has some gears but they are disconnected.”
Reddit user jackrats (who’s apparently on an object identifying roll), found what this one was very quickly. It’s a planimeter for drafting. They come in a bunch of different sizes and shapes , but they all do pretty similar things.
This one here is part of a long, box-like unit.
“What is this green tap valve between the Hot and Cold tap? It’s a kitchen sink in South West UK.”
My guess would probably be that there’s a hot, cold, and other valve on here. But… that doesn’t tell us much, does it?
Luckily, you don’t have to listen to me, because someone else out there knows what it is. Reddit user Dry-Response-8577 identified that valve as one for filtered water. So you don’t have to drink regular tap water if you don’t want to.
“Wood cabinet with slats inside in the laundry room.”
Many different people weighed in on this on Reddit. The consensus is that those slats are some kind of ventilation unit, likely to help cool the house. That would make sense since it seems that the person who posted this is from California, which is a hot state.
