Tip of the Week…Dental Floss an Important Survival Tool… Really!

March 03, 2010 Comment

This week we added dental floss to our General Store and I asked you to get a few extra. I always tell people to get a few extra mylar emergency blankets because they have so many uses besides warmth. On March 4, 2010 there was a rescue in the Sierra mountains in California of a man who had been lost while hiking and he had endured two nights in snow storms. When they found him he was waving his mylar blanket as a signal to the helicopter rescue party.

How many times have you searched for a piece of string? The next time just grab the dental floss. Today lets concentrate on uses away from home. There are also many reasons to have dental floss in our survival gear.

Dental floss is made of durable and strong material. Instead of using wire or string, you can use dental floss to hang mylar blankets, or tree boughs to make a wind break. You can also use it to hang food in a tree to keep it from animals who may be about.

Floss can be strung between two locations and used to support a light weight fabric or other material to build a shelter. You may need to use more than one thickness but it will work and it will support quite a bit of weight.

Food is always a concern if stranded in the wilderness or escaping a disaster area. Floss can be used with a hook, weight and branch to make a fishing pole. It can also be knotted in a criss cross pattern to make a fishing net which can be used to trap fish or can be attached to branches and used to scoop them out of the water.

Floss can be used to mend. It can mend holes in a fish net. It can mend a hole in clothing or a back pack. It can also be used to downsize clothing. If you are with children, for example, and you need to use adult size clothing or gloves to keep them warm and protected, you can simply sew a seam using dental floss to make the item a more kid friendly size, and thus easier to move around in and warmer because it is more snug to the body.

Dental floss is perfect to use when you want to tie down or secure something. If you need to secure branches, for example, when making a shelter the floss can be used to tie them on. If you have newspapers or magazines and you want to use them as kindling until you can get some wood or bark to dry out, roll them tightly and secure with dental floss. Now they will burn about the same amount of time as a medium sized branch.

If you should have to cut a piece of rope and need to keep the ends from raveling simply wrap dental floss around the end several times. It will adhere to itself and works great.

If you should break a shoe lace floss works well to replace it.

If you need to hike out, and never do this if there is any chance someone is looking for you, tie floss around the bottom of your pant leg, at the ankle, making the fabric snug. This will prevent wind and snow from going up the leg. During summer months if you are walking through tall grass it will protect you against ticks and other insects. This is an important tip even if you aren’t leaving the area, tie up those pant legs.

I’m sure there are many more creative uses for floss in the wild and at home. This week as you add floss to your general store add a few to your 72 hour and car kits as well.

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