How much trash do you throw away each day? As a survivalist, you need to look at all of the items that you have on hand – including what you’ll toss in the trash – and suppose how else you’ll use them.
We’re definitely not saying that you should hoard everything and throw away nothing, but there are still plenty of things that we all commonly throw away that can be immensely helpful when it comes to survival — and that may end up saving your life.
Here are 10 commonly discarded items that you can use for survival:
- Old towels and rags. Almost all people have old towels and rags lying around somewhere. Don’t throw those old towels and rags away; instead, wash them and set them aside for when you’ll need them in a survival scenario. You can use them to make bandages, stitch them together to make blankets, or rip them up into smaller shreds to start a fire.
- Gardening hose. Garden hoses are used mostly for transferring water from one place to another place. This same principle applies in a survival scenario, but to gasoline instead of water. You’ll use a gardening hose as a gas siphoner to get rid of the last ounces of gasoline from abandoned vehicles.
- Empty food cans. Even after you’ve eaten the food out of the cans in your pantry, don’t discard them! Empty food cans serve a multitude of uses during a survival scenario. You can string them along across your property and then fill them with pebbles to make an alarm system, otherwise you can use them to cook food. You also can use them to assist organize items.
- Empty soda cans. The same basic principles that apply to food cans also apply to soda cans, but with soda cans you can take away the tabs and fashion them into fishing hooks.
- Garbage bag. Several survival specialists truly consider the simple garbage bag to be one of the most versatile survival items of all time. It doubles as a poncho so long as you cut three holes for your head and arms in it, and it can be used in the construction of a shelter. It also can be used as a bag to move your survival items.
- Socks. Rather than throw away old socks, keep them around for survival. While they don’t purify water, they’ll facilitate to filter it by removing most of the sediment that’s visible. Cotton socks are a wonderful source of tinder for starting fires.
- Altoid tins. Altoid tins are merely excellent for creating miniature survival kits that you can fit in your pocket. They’re durable and can be tightly shut to ensure that everything is kept together. Inside an Altoid tin, you’ll store things like small knives, compasses, matches, lighters, bandages, gauze pads, needles and thread, fishing line, hooks, medications, kindling, and so on.
- Paper clips. One of the most ubiquitous items in America is none other than the paper clip. You’ll use it as a fishhook, as an antenna or as a splint for fingers and toes. You also will use it for sewing or for hanging up clothes on a line.
- Egg cartons. Egg cartons are merely great for planting seedlings and making small gardens that you can take with you on the go.
- Old ChapStick. Many people like to throw away old ChapStick tubes when the actual ChapStick is almost out, but we advise that you save as many as you’ll. When applied to open wounds, ChapStick will seal the wound off against outside elements to (hopefully) prevent an infection from developing. When rubbed against cloth, cotton balls, or maybe wood, it’s a good fire-starter and will hold a flame.
