Regular people who went undercover in jail uncovered 13 'ingenious' life hacks inmates use to surviv

August 26, 2024

When you're serving time in jail, you usually don't have access to even the most basic of amenities.

That means if inmates want to exercise, make birthday cake, or put on make-up, they'd have to get creative with what few resources they have.

The resourcefulness of inmates was one aspect of jail life that was highlighted on "60 Days In," an A&E documentary series that wrapped up its fourth season on Thursday. The show followed nine law-abiding citizens who volunteered to go undercover as inmates at Atlanta's Fulton County Jail and southern Indiana's Clark County Jail for two months to expose problems from within the system.

While some of the inmates' "life hacks" were innocuous — like making jewelry and decorations out of potato chip bags — others involved using household materials to make contraband drugs.

"A lot of this stuff is ingenious, it really is," Fulton County Jail chief jailer Mark Adger told Business Insider. "If they would just put their minds to legitimate work, a lot of these guys would probably be millionaires."

Here are 13 of the most inventive things the inmates came up with behind bars:

Inmates don't have access to exercise equipment, but they still found an ingenious way to work out. They made their own weights by filling a trash bag with water, wrapping it in their jumpsuit, and slipping it through a broom handle.

Inmates passed the time by playing games involving dice made from toilet paper.

They got creative with the few food items they bought from the jail's commissary. For example, they'd melt down hard candy and turn it into taffy.

And on special occasions, they'd pool ramen noodles, cheese, canned beans, and other items to make 'nachos.'

And on birthdays, inmates made 'jail cake' using dough from crushed-up cookies, cappuccino mix, and peanut butter cups. Then they'd microwave a wrapped Hershey's bar, cut off the corner, and drizzle melted chocolate over it.

Inmates transformed snack boxes and potato chip bags into accessories and handicrafts.

Inmates would discreetly make hooch, a homemade alcohol made from fermented fruit and sugar. 'I've never drank it before, but it is my understanding that hooch tastes and looks absolutely terrible,' Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel told Business Insider.

80% of Clark County inmates were there on drug-related charges, and they'd often devise unusual ways to catch a buzz. One popular way was with a 'crack stick,' made from a crushed electronic cigarette filter coated with Orajel pain reliever.

Many inmates got tattoos during their stint behind bars. They made tattoo machines with the battery pack and motor from a Walkman, rubber bands, paper clips, and a pen.

Female inmates came up with creative ways to style their hair, like making hair dye out of powdered drink mix, conditioner, and water.

They'd also make face masks out of lotion and crushed-up nuts.

Eye shadow is made from colored pencils, chalk, and baby powder.

And they'd curl their hair with tampons and ripped-up towels.

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