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8 Uncommon Prepping Supplies You Can Use In The Wild
Your prepping supplies kit doesn't have to be expensive nor does it have to be extensive. In fact, you can turn common items into extraordinary survival tools.
These simple household tools and other uncommon items will make you want to consider your prepping kit.
RELATED: Prepping On a Budget
Top 8 Unusual Prepper Supplies
1. Chopsticks
If you think chopsticks are merely for eating sushi, then you haven’t seen anything yet, these are excellent survival items.
When you are stuck in the wild, fire is a necessity, and to build a fire, you will need a fire starter.
You can invest in lighters, matches, or even state-of-the-art fire-starting devices. Or you can save your extra buck by using chopsticks. These are useful because they are made of wood and are highly combustible.
To make your recycled chopsticks more combustible, let them dry further in the sun. This will remove excess moisture in the wood.
When thoroughly dried, these thin wooden utensils would be superb for starting a fire. This will save you the hassle of making kindling materials in wet and humid areas.
2. Lint and Cardboard Rolls
Lint and cardboard rolls belong to the trash bin. Or do they? When you are in the wild, this seemingly useless garbage could be gold.
Like chopsticks, lint and cardboard rolls could be used as superb fire-starters.
The process is simple. In just a few seconds, you make yourself a makeshift fire-starter without breaking a sweat.
First off, fill the cardboard roll with lint. After that, you can wrap it with old newspaper. This will make your lint and cardboard roll fire-starter more combustible.
If you camp in a wet or snowy area, this ingenious device would be perfect. Starting a fire anytime will be a breeze.
3. Safety Pins
Safety pins are a simple yet clever invention. But apart from its original usage and fashion-worthiness, a safety pin is a mean survival tool that should always be part of prepping supplies.
These can be used as do-it-yourself fish hooks, makeshift tweezers, and clothes hangers. Aside from these, you can also use them to create hygiene and medical tools.
A bunch of safety pins, on the other hand, can be utilized to craft an improvised arm sling. You can make one out of pins and a t-shirt for first aid purposes.
In worst-case scenarios, sterilized safety pins have been used by medics to close gaping wounds. The possibilities are endless.
4. Cable Ties
Zip or cable ties are common items that can be used uncommonly as part of your prepping supplies.
In the wild, though, cable ties can be an alternative to duct tape. A reliable home repair product, cable ties also have a multitude of functions outdoors.
To begin with. Cable ties can be used to build a shelter. Light-weight yet sturdy, it can bind poles and fabrics to erect tents.
Compared to ordinary strings and rubber bands, cable ties are consistent. It is an excellent binding material. It won’t easily break under pressure.
This is why you should have loads of it in your bug-out bag. Cable ties, among many other uses, can fasten bags, secure tarps, make traps, tie plants, and craft arm slings.
RELATED: Prepping Supplies 101: Getting Ready For a Pandemic
5. Old Fabrics
Old fabrics from blankets, curtains, and sheets could be used as an essential part of your prepping supplies. Using the old fabric as survival items, though, is nothing new.
Old and worn-out clothing is repurposed as bags, jeans, beddings, army uniforms, and many more. With a little bit of ingenuity, these seemingly worthless items can be transformed into useful materials.
If you are bound to live in isolated areas, old fabrics can build tents, catch fish, trap wild animals, and dress wounds.
6. Tote Bags
Grocery bags, especially heavy-duty ones, are excellent prepper materials. Tote bags made of canvas or polyethylene, for instance, are impressively tough.
They can withstand wear and tear for a much longer period compared to ordinary bags. This specific quality makes tote bags ideal for use in rugged settings.
Need to carry bundles of wood from the forest? No sweat. Use a tote bag.
Since totes are manufactured using high-quality materials, they will never crack from extreme heat or cold. Some are even water-resistant, so you can also use them in repairing tents and making jackets.
7. Tampons
Surprise! Who would’ve thought that tampons would be included on this list? But if you think we are pulling your leg, think again.
Seriously, a tampon is an excellent survival item. It should be included on any sensible list of prepping supplies. So, how is a tampon essential for preppers?
In the absence of real bandages, tampons can be used to treat wounds. With some safety pins and old fabrics to hold everything together, you are all set.
8. Pantyhose
Pantyhose is an amazing survival item. It may look weird on this list but trust us, it works. Even military men have been known to use it as blister-proof materials worn under their socks.
Aside from preventing foot blisters, pantyhose can be used as an improvised mosquito net. If you hate ticks and leeches, wearing one would also help keep these pesky pests at bay.
Want to catch some fish? No problem. Use a pantyhose as a makeshift fishnet. You could also use this clothing article as a self-defense weapon. Just fill it with stones, and you have an instant bola.
It’s really not about the material alone if you want to survive in the wild. Elaborate and conventional prepping supplies can be augmented with the use of uncommon items that can be found in your home. Creativity with a good dash of imagination is the key!
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What are the most important items in your prepping supply list? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Up Next:
- 5 Easy Steps To Building The Ultimate Survival Food Kit
- List of Things NOT To Do When SHTF | Prepping for SHTF
- How To Make A Perimeter Alarm
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Diehard
September 17, 2021 at 12:06 PM
I do not agree with #7. I have read in several other articles NOTto use tampons for wound treatment.
Bemused Berserker
September 17, 2021 at 2:19 PM
I agree Diehard, 100%. 40 years in Health Care (10 as a Paramedic) dismiss this urban legend. The goal of “Stop The Bleed” is to provide direct pressure to the vessels hemorrhaging in the wounded tissue. Tampons are designed to absorb blood, not stop the flow of blood. A properly hemostatic gauze packed wound exerts 156 mm Hg of pressure directly on the bleeding vessels. Tampons simply do no have enough material in them to exert that needed amount of pressure. The average amount of gauze required for hemorrhaging wounds varies between 3 to 6 feet. No Trauma Instructor I studied under, advocated the use of Tampons beyond the designed purpose, absorbing menstrual flow.
Keep the Tampons in their rightful place, your supplies of Feminine Hygeine Products.
Stock up on gauze. Hemostatic Agent Treated Gauze is best, but plain gauze will do in a pinch as long as you use enough of it.
Meledie
September 18, 2021 at 3:27 AM
Tampons do have a good use in your BOB. In addition to the obvious use, they’re an excellent source of tinder for starting fired. As to nylons, they’ve saved my feet from blisters, a major concern when hiking. They also keep you warmer.
Darrell Finley
September 28, 2021 at 4:09 PM
Tampons keep you warmer??? Am I missing something here?? I don’t know where you put them and it isn’t any concern of mine..Get a real medical kit and you won’t need half ass nitwit supplies. I’m a man and could make it without carrying sissy items…
Malpqueen2.0
November 20, 2022 at 4:29 AM
DO NOT USE TAMPONS!!! It’s bad enough we are currently going through a tampon shortage in 2022. Women need those. Geeze I can’t believe you don’t think through everything and other people’s need. It’s like buying baby wipes for a quick clean up of your body. They have personal wipes for that kind of thing.