Any survival or disaster situation is naturally going to require you to get a little creative.
This is because resources in any survival situation are going to be rather thin, and you’re going to have to learn how to make the best with what you have.
Fortunately, finding yourself in a survival situation doesn’t just mean that you are limited to survival tools that you may not even have on hand at the time.
This is because you can easily take everyday household items that you probably already have an abundance of and use those items to make surviving significantly easier.
Here are the top seven overlooked everyday items in your house that you can use for survival, presented in alphabetical order:
1. ALUMINUM FOIL
Aluminum foil already has a great many uses around the house, and it likewise will for if and when you find yourself in a survival situation as well.
One of the best uses for aluminum foil will be to use it to help cook food in a survival situation. If all you have available is a fire rather than your stove or oven, you can wrap food in the aluminum foil and then place it next to the fire.
Another valuable use for aluminum foil will be to use it as a signal, since it can reflect the light of the sun. Additionally, you can also use aluminum foil will be to use pieces of it as a fishing lure, as fish are naturally attracted to bright objects.
2. BAKING SODA
If there’s only one personal hygiene item that you can have on hand in a disaster scenario, it should without question be baking soda.
This is simply because you can use baking soda to make virtually any other kind of personal hygiene item in existence, from soap to shampoo to deodorant to toothpaste to floor cleaner to dishwashing soap to laundry detergent.
All you really need to do is mix the baking soda with water in order to create a paste, and you can create any of those listed above.
3. COFFEE FILTERS
Another highly versatile but overlooked survival item is just an ordinary coffee filter. Besides the obvious use of using it to help make your morning cup of coffee, you can also use a coffee filter to filter through water, as fire tinder (mix with grease for the best effect), to wrap food, or as emergency toilet paper.
4. DENTAL FLOSS
Obviously dental floss can be used for oral hygiene in a survival situation, but you can use it for a great multitude of other purposes as well.
For example, you can use dental floss as fishing line, as a clothesline, to help build shelter, to make matches burn longer (simple wrap the floss around the matches), to set snares, for sewing, or as a tripwire.
NOTE: attach tin cans filled with a few pebbles to the tripwire, and you’ve created an emergency alert system. U.S. troops used this strategy to great effect to alert them to nearby Japanese troop movements in the Pacific campaign during World War II.
5. GARBAGE BAGS
It’s surprising that garbage bags don’t show up as often as they should in other lists of the best everyday items to use for survival, because they truly are among the most versatile items that you can possibly use for survival.
One of the best uses for a garbage bag will be to use it as a poncho, since you simply need to cut a few holes through it for your head and arms. You can also use a garbage bag as a makeshift tarp, as a mattress (simple stuff it full with leaves, grass, and pine needles), or as a wall or ceiling for an emergency shelter.
6. HAND SANITIZER
In addition to using hand sanitizer as a personal hygiene item in a survival situation, you can also use it to sanitize surfaces such as tables or knife blades, to help get fires going (sanitizer is very flammable), for treating mosquito bites (simply apply it directly to the site of the bite), or to remove stains from clothing.
7. PAPER CLIPS
In a survival situation, an ordinary paper clip will be one of the best alternatives to a normal fishing hook. Beyond that use, you can also use a paper clip to replace zipper tabs on a jacket, or as a toe or finger splint in the event of an injury.
BONUS: SODA CAN
Throwing a soda can away is the last thing you should do with it in a disaster situation. You can use the tab as a makeshift fishing hook (much as you could with an ordinary paper clip like we just mentioned), and you can also polish the bottom of the can with chocolate to help it reflect the sunlight for signaling. Alternatively, you can also clean out the inside of the can to use it for storage.
CONCLUSION
If there’s anything that you learn from this article, it’s that you shouldn’t neglect any ordinary items you have laying around the house. Chances are good that you can find at least one or two ways to use that item for survival in a disaster scenario.
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