13 Survival Must-Haves You May Not Have Thought Of
Think outside the knife! Photo by Germain Wu
I’ve read dozens, and I mean dozens, of lists telling me everything I need to have with me to survive. Usually there are no surprises. I know a flashlight, pocket knife, and water are musts, but every now and then I come across something that makes me say, “a-ha!” Here are thirteen of my favorites.
- Lightsticks. You can pick up one of these every time you wander into a Home Depot. They don’t need batteries and can be hung around the neck with a string making it easier to spot everyone in your party when it gets dark.
- Wool socks and sweaters. People have literally frozen to death wearing their layers of cotton knit tees and hoodies. For true survival conditions, nothing beats wool.
- Upholstery needles and thread. What if a sleeping bag or tent rips and you have no way of mending it?
- Roll of quarters. Handy for phone calls, but if you put it in a sock and wield it like a sling, you have a handy-dandy weapon!
- Pencils. Forget the pens. They can run out of ink and freeze in cold weather. With a pocket knife, you’ll always have a sharp pencil.
- Super glue. Professional hockey players always have this on hand to seal up small cuts, and the glue itself is harmless. Unless you get it in your eye, like I did. But that’s a story for a different type of post!
- Rubber bands. String just doesn’t cut it when what you really need is a rubber band
- Tampons in a cardboard tube. Did you know a tampon can be fit snugly into a bullet wound? Guys on the battlefield carry these with them. Honest! I’ve also heard they’re good for kindling.
- Paracord belt. It’s an accessory and survival tool in one!
- Waterproof wrist watch. Makes perfect sense. I had just never thought of it.
- Animal repellant trash bags. Use these when you’re camping and animals will stay the heck away from your trash.
- Safety pins.
- Dental floss. Besides helping to keep your teeth clean, I’ve heard it makes sturdy thread for mending.
What have I missed?
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Good ideas, never would have thought of the tampon for wound care. Thanks.
You and me both!! LOL
Hi Mom, I love the new look of your site! I also have checked out many, many lists and there is one thing I see almost all forget also. A cleaning kit for your weapon. These come in nice plastic containers, they are not too costly and are definately needed. One of the first things you are taught in boot camp, a dirty weapon is not a weapon anymore. Thanks and keep up the good work, you seem to hit on subjects others don't.
You're right about the cleaning kit. If you have a firearm,you'd better have some way to clean it and keep it conditioned. Thanks for visiting my blog!!
In the case of earthquakes, learn from my bad experience in the '94 Northridge event….keep your paper goods far away from your plastic water jugs — the bottles split when they hit the garage floor and walls.
An Army issue P-51… the bigger version of the P-38 can opener. They have a hole in them for wearing on your key chain or your your i.d. (dog tag) neck chain. Very simple, very small, and quite the lifesaver if you need to open a can. I purchased a half dozen cheap clearance can openers that can be used for barter. Also bags of individually wrapped hard candy will make good barter material or a treat at the end of a long day. P.S. make sure you have a way to keep that firearm dry… keep it by those paper goods last mentioned. lol
I like this list. Thanks! However, you can also buy the lightsticks in bulk on eBay, and other places I'm sure, for less. And you can get pencils, glue, and paper cheap cheap and cheaper at Target, Walmart, etc, when they clearance the back to school supplies – along with spare back packs for the kids to put their Bug Out Kit into (unless you just use last years back pack for that). Personally, I think hairbands are good in conjunction with the rubber bands. There are big ones designed for headband use as well as the standard size. They last for more years (or it seems like it at least) and they don't stick on things as easily. Rubber bands for braces are also good to have on hand if you need small rubber bands.
This widget may not be a must-have, but I think it's pretty high up on the "nice optionals" list. I've always wondered about the advice to fill a tub since, I don't know about you, but I do NOT want to drink anything from my tub most of the time. It's not like it's terribly dirty or anything, just not up to snuff for potability.
http://www.hurricanestore.com/product147.html
P.S. Yes, I do generally have a lot to say. That's why my screen name is most often BabblesLong.
Right at this moment, I'd be pretty hard pressed to go take a drink out of water from my tub, and if water becomes scarce for whatever reason, you sure don't want to waste it washing out the tub first! If you didn't have the Water Safe you mention, I wonder if those extra large black trash bags would work. You could probably fit three or four in a tub and then use a drop or so of bleach to make sure it was safe for drinking. I wish water didn't weigh so darn much. And yes, I hit the back to school sales pretty hard every August!
I have a waterproof watch (less than $15 from Target), but I also have a WIND UP watch. Once again, gotta love eBay. It was $.99 + shipping from China, for a total of maybe $15 (it's being shipped halfway around the world – that's not a mark up). If my batteries die, then I still have a functional watch, as long as I wind it. I think China's actually the perfect place to get a mechanical watch from since they probably have more than a couple areas where getting a watch battery replaced is easier said than done. Also, spare batteries and a widget so you can replace a dead one.