Multi-use items

[mkirby]

Thought it might be good to have a thread on the things people bring to save on weight that have a bunch of different uses.
This could be stuff that a smart person could use for lot of stuff, or stuff that's manufactured to be that way

I'll get the ball rolling.

Hemp Twine

uses
1. making jewlery (fun and profit)
2. hanging a shelter tarp
3. tying stuff onto your pack
4. tying stuff onto you
5. holding pants up (really great if your belt breaks)
6. holding something closed (food containers, broken pockets, etc.)
7. sewing (if you've got a big needle, hemp is tough stuff)



Other stuff?

 

[finn]

My crocheted paracord water bottle holder- over 350ft of olive green paracord which can be unraveled in an instant.

Uses:insulates and protects my steel water bottle and allows me to carry it around hands free.
The unraveled paracord holds a few hundred pounds, can be used to crochet strong items, as a shoelace, anything where you need something really strong. One of the white inner strands can be used as fishing line or for sewing, and the outer sheath, either alone or with the inner strands in it can be used for wrapping handles or as a lanyard.

Note: you'll need a lighter to melt the ends, else you'll have to put a knot in the end to keep the whole thing from slowly becoming a frizzball.

PS. You can also fill it up with rail spikes and swing it, in case you need to crush a skull or something.

 

[mkirby]

Plastic Poncho

1. poncho
2. tent
3. ground cloth
4. makeshift waterproof bags
5. rain collection (sometimes the only drinking water available)
6. emergency patches

 

[Dameon]

I don't carry anything that I can't imagine more than one use for. Really, the uses of your equipment are only limited by your imagination, and it'd be hard to list all the uses I can imagine for everything I carry, especially since imagination can get a good kick in the ass by survival.

 

[connerR]

My friend has a knife with a hollowed out handle, kind of like this:
http://scorpionsurvival.com/store/images/guardian/TSK.jpg

The handle has needles, string, matches, fishing hooks, band-aids, etc. He likes it a lot.

 

[connerR]

Duct tape, ......'nuff said...

very true. I've seen duct tape used in so many ways.

 

[mkirby]

i keep seeing this book at goodwill which supposedly lists 1001 uses for duct tape. can't remember what it's called, but it's square, thick and orange.

 

[Geoff]

platic garbage bag

-keeps your pack dry
-you can make a pancho out of it
-carry stuff
-you can tie stuff to yo or your pack with it
-fill it with something heavy to use as a weapon

i'm sure the possibilities are endless

 

[wildboy860]

the kleen kanteen or other metal water container. u can use it for boiling water or cooking some other food and they make them in many different size and you can get a water bottle attachment so you can drink on the fly. check em out.

 

[oldmanLee]

The redoutable WW2 vintage P-38.Took mine and sharpened one edge,cut a semi-circular notch in the far end,filed one corner down for an eyglass screwdriver,another to a fairly medium sized screwdriver,wrapped a piece of plastic tubing around it so it doesn't cut my pocket.Still opens cans,but can do minor cutting,and the semi-circular notch scrapes a ferrocerium rod like nobody's business.

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

shoes..seriously- they can be beer holders..feet protectors..a club-like weapon, door stop, cut a hole in the soul and its a stash..all of these things i have used it for, im sure that there are many other uses that i havent come up with yet

 

[wildboy860]

I can't beleive nobody mentioned dental floss! helps to clean your teeth & used as sewing thread and it's stronger.

 

[sleep]

Coins can double as screw drivers.

Belts make a good dog leash in a pinch.

A cellphone with or without service makes a good alarm clock, calculator, or can be used to call 911. They also have a few old school Atari type games on them to help pass the time.

 

[boucaneer]

it's my casio tidal watch, it tells me how high the tide is, which way the tide is going if i cant see it, 4 different time alarms and a snooze alarm, it tells the time in digital and by the hands so can be used as a compass as well, moon chart for telling when it will be a new moon, quater,half,three quaters or a full moon for calculating the cover of darkness at night, countdown timer and alarm, a stopwatch and a light.

man! reading all that and thinking about it, makes me feel so spoilt, just by a watch.

 

[finn]

I find myself using a bandanna as a flyswatter, smiley-style with the knot at the end. You can hit the fly once it lands on something with any part of the bandanna, and it will usually either kill them outright or stun them.

 

[little_owl]

A leatherman multi-tool.

 

[Dishka8643]

Bicycle inner tube. Can be used for all kinds of things.

a. ranger bands
b. tinder
c. Comfy belt/ strap
D. cordage
G. grip for knife handles and such
H. flexible, waterproof patches for knees and elbows

 

[EastCoast315]

A .357 magnum-

1. Safety against animals
2. Safety against people/crackheads/the law
3. Hunting
4. Trapping (if the animal's not dead on arrival)
5. Fishing (if the water's clear)
6. Starting fires
7. Potential distress signal
8. Conversation piece
9. Breaking Locks
10. Scaring people out of a squat (?)

The list goes on and on

 

[NBDDreamer]

I'm not sure if carrying a .357 mag is worth the trouble of getting pulled off of a train, being searched, and having to explain why I have a .357 mag. That and, if your crackhead is within 20 feet, chances are you won't be able to squeeze off a round before he's got you pinned. The quandary of hanguns; sometimes they're more trouble than they're worth.

 

[trotsky]

12x6 duck canvas or other sturdy cloth:
sleep under it/make shelter, use as a blanket, fix clothes, etc