5 Everyday Items You Can Repurpose for Survival

Lots of us think that we’re prepared for a disaster. We’ve got supplies socked away: extra food, water filters, communications equipment, clothing, fuel, and a generator, even weapons. But, you can’t expect disaster to strike when it’s convenient. In fact, you should expect them when it’s not.

The real way to prepare is to mentally prepare. You need to have a mind that is limber, creative and able to adapt to your surroundings almost immediately. That means not just having things on hand in your home to help you get through a disaster, but knowing how to turn the things around you into important tools.

We drew up a list of common, household items that you are likely to find anywhere that can help you in a survival situation. It could be the end of the world or even just a few days where you’re trapped somewhere unfamiliar during a bad storm or separated from polite society by a wildfire. In either case, knowing what you find around you can do for you could give you a big edge when it comes to increasing your odds to make it out alive.

1. A condom

This is no joke. The latex construction of a condom gives it a waterproof membrane that could serve you in a couple of key ways. The first is that it can keep water off things you need to keep dry, like a matchbook that you use to light signal or cooking fires. You can also fill it with water to stay hydrated, but you’ll want to make sure that you don’t stretch it too far or you’ll pop it.

2. Eyeglasses

A good set of glasses can be helpful above and beyond whether you need them to see. Depending on how thick they are, you can use them to focus the sun’s light as a kind of magnifying glass. The same quality that would allow you to use them to burn ants will let you start fires with them. In a wilderness survival situation, water and warmth are probably the two biggest challenges you have and this addresses one. The other thing you can use glasses for is to signal low-flying aircraft or search parties if you’re lost.

3. Dental floss

The primary quality that makes dental floss such a great way to clean teeth can make it an overlooked tool with great potential during survival situations. It is really strong for its size. You can increase its strength by braiding it up and either tie things together. It’s also thin enough that it’s hard to see, which when combined with its strength makes it perfect for setting basic snares to catch food.

4. Socks

One thing you probably don’t have to hope you luck across in a survival situation are socks. Like the other things we’ve looked at, socks have a few different uses. The first one is that they are obviously a way to transport things that are too small to carry in your hand. If you run across a blueberry bush while looking for a way back to civilization, you can carry all of that food in a sock. The second is that if you’re wearing cotton or wool socks, you can scrape off a little bit of lint and use that as tinder to start fires. Finally, you can use them as crude filters for drinking water. The pores are far too large for you to drink water without fear of bacterial or viral contamination, but you can remove solids well enough before boiling water to make it safe to drink.

5. Aluminum Cans

One thing that aluminum cans have going for them is that they are nearly ubiquitous. Cans people dropped on the ground 30 years ago are still there. Cans people dropping into streams 30 years ago are still there. If you find yourself in a survival situation, you can count on finding aluminum cans. What they offer you is a way to transport liquid. If they are still whole, you can fill them with water and carry them around. If you find a few of them, you can also tear them apart and double up the aluminum strips to make a cutting edge. An aluminum point won’t cut metal, but it’ll cut fabric easily enough and maybe even allow you to gut and clean a fish if you can land one.

Summary

We looked at five everyday items you can find around the house that will help you in a survival situation. It’s not intended to be an exhaustive list. In fact, what we’d like to suggest is that the real lesson is that this list helps you think creatively about everyday objects. Just about everything has some kind of utility in a survival situation if you can identify what strengths it has that you can use.

This post was written by Adam from HealthyHandyman.com – Feel free to check out his blog for more resources related to finding the right gear & equipment for your DIY, Woodworking or home improvement needs.

(The image was found at https://pixabay.com/en/aluminum-can-coca-cola-drink-87966/ by the way)