Survival Gear

I’m willing to bet that every single one of us has, at some point, dealt with a big ol’ hank of some kind of rope, or other cordage, that looks like this:

All neat and pretty and organized, UNTIL that fateful moment when you actually have to use it, and then, no matter how OCD you may be about unwinding it, it IS going to tangle, knot and kink, and you will waste time trying to get a useful piece of rope to use to fasten something.

It is an even more annoying situation if the cordage is wet and/or your fingers are cold.  The hank is also pretty big and bulky. 50 feet of 550 paracord is probably not a huge storage/carry issue. 200 feet of ½ inch rope, done this way, is almost as big as a sleeping bag in a stuff sack. My packs aren’t THAT big.

Old-time mariners apparently swore by flat coils on deck to store extra line for fast deployment. (I would assume they also swore AT them a lot – imagine the daily rum ration being passed out, and Jack Tar kicking the coil, and undoing a half hour’s work..)  Since I don’t live on a 100-gun frigate-of-the-line with a full crew of scurvy-knave-pirates to assist me in becoming the Scourge of the Seven Seas, this bulky, non-portable cordage storage idea doesn’t work real well.

Carefully-wound hanging coils also work pretty well, only a bit more tangle-prone than flat coils, but once again, they take up a lot of space, and are not at all easy to store inside a pack or EDC bag.

Where nautical lore fails, mountaineering-practice doesn’t.  I was taught this method by a climber-friend when I was in college, and so far, it has never failed me. The “knotting method” is called a “double chain sinnet”.

Spend 5 minutes looking at the photographs and practicing, and you will be able to do it with your eyes closed. It works with string, mason twine, bankline, paracord, clothesline, rope, whatever you have.

NOTE: If you knit or crochet, you can probably already do this better than I can. It’s basically a long line of crochet stitches. (note 2: if your cordage is already on a spool – leave it there as long as possible- spools are HANDY.).

1. Take the time to untangle, un-knot and un-kink your line (Spin the line between your fingers when it ‘wants to go in the wrong direction’).  Put the 2 ends together, and lay it out as evenly and neatly as possible. You’re just making a loop half the length of your rope.
2. At the “loop” end, tie a simple slip-knot – just an overhand with a loop slipped inside – does not have to be too tight. Tight is not your friend. If the ends are not perfectly-aligned, big deal.. nobody is grading you :)
3. Take both running pieces (“bights”) of the line, and pass a loop through the loop of the slip-knot.
4. Tighten slightly, and pass another loop through the loop you just made.
5. Repeat until you are almost out of rope.  Slip the 2 ends through the last loop, just to keep it from unravelling.

You will end up with a flat “strap” that can be used for tying down items to a pack or roof-rack, when needed. Climbers frequently carry their ropes, tied this way “Bandido Bandoleer” style, frequently with extra carabiners through the loose loops.  The big advantage is that the rope will now be able to conform to the size and shape on whatever you carry it in/on. (For example purposes, approx. 7 feet of paracord is now about 7 inches long and 1 inch wide)

To deploy your rope, you only have 1 “knot” to undo, then just give it a yank (Pull both ends outward). Assuming you didn’t pull anything too tight, it all pulls free in 1 tangle-free length. Even if it doesn’t save your life on a mountain or at sea, it can keep you from using a lot of bad language when you need a piece of rope. :)

On another note, this method also works well for easily stowing heavy-duty electrical extension cords from becoming tangled nests of annoyance when you need them. (In this usage, it is called a “Contractor’s Wrap”).

I was shopping at Big Lots yesterday and scored Halloween toy glow-sticks.  When the lights go out, glow sticks are cheaper and safer than candles and allow you to function without having to burn flashlight batteries.  I like that they are small and light weight.  I am considering these glow-toys for an Altoids-type survival kit, car-kit, purse and EDCs.

The glow sticks vary from 2 inches to about 4 inches in length. A package of 12 was $4. Watch out for the packages boasting 47 items – only 12 glow, the other things are connectors to make rings, necklaces and bracelets. They ARE toys. So, about 5-cents per glow stick.

These are the glow sticks that you break and shake to mix chemicals.  Given the price, and the fact that they were toys, I didn’t expect much in performance but thought they were worth the investment, if for no other reason than to keep the little ones entertained and feeling secure should the lights go out. The package included green, orange, blue and white sticks.

Well, let me tell you – I was impressed. They were very bright. Not bright enough to read with, but just one glow-toy cast a wonderful gentle glow throughout a rather large room. They glowed very bright for about 5 hours. After that they faded to about 50%, no longer illuminating the whole room but certainly bright enough to mark something you may want to find in the dark. At 10 hours they were pretty much done.

Stroll through the Halloween décor and toys section at your dollar store for interesting items that may be added to your preparedness supplies.

I have an old pair of well-worn hiking boots that I have used for years to do my yard work in. The last time I used them, while cutting the grass, one of the original boot laces finally broke.

My next door neighbor, who is an active duty Marine, was outside also. He observed me sit down on the ground and walked over to talk to me.  He saw that I was working to rethread the broken boot lace, so I could finish cutting my grass and made a suggestion.

He told me that instead of buying cheap boot laces at my local Walmart, do what he has done for years and use 550 cord, also known as paracord, to replace my boot laces. The idea made a lot of sense to me.

Military grade 550 paracord rope, known as Mil-C-5040 Type 3, is made of nylon so that it dries quickly and is mildew resistant. It is 1/8 inch in diameter and is rated to hold 550 lbs. There are seven (7) inner removable strands. Each inner strand will support approximately 35 pounds. This type of paracord was originally used on military parachutes.

There is also a cheap after market five (5) strand and one strand paracord. I DO NOT recommend this type of paracord. They are NOT as strong or durable.

In order to replace your boot/shoe laces with paracord, you will need several items.

1. Scissors works best or a sharp pocket knife can be used.
2. A butane cigarette lighter.
3. Paracord of your preferred color.

I went to my local Army surplus store and inquired if they had any paracord. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of colors and patterns that Paracord came in. The paracord came in packs of one hundred (100) feet.

Be sure to purchase only seven (7) strand paracord. I purchased brown paracord to match the color of my work boots and my new hiking boots. To my pleasant surprise, the paracord is made in the U.S.A. Not many things are still made in the U.S.A.

I took out the old boot laces from my new hiking boots and used them as a length guide to cut the new paracord boot laces. I cut the paracord to the same length as the old boot laces, 72 inches. I cut the ends of the new paracord boot laces on a 45 degree angle. I then melted the paracord ends with a butane lighter.

While the ends were still hot and pliable, I rolled and pulled the ends of the paracord strands to shape them before the ends cooled and hardened. Be careful, these ends are VERY hot while pliable. If the melted ends flair, the flared ends will not thread through the boot/shoe lace eyelets. When melting the ends of the paracord, be sure to melt all of the seven (7) inner strands and the outer colored cover together.

Take both cut ends of the paracord and hold them together. Tie a figute 8 knot at the bottom of the “U” or half way point. This way when you put them in your boots/shoes, the knot will stop the paracord from shifting so the ends will not become longer on one side and short on the other side of your boot/shoe.

There are several reasons to use Paracord as boot/shoe laces:

1. Paracord is MUCH stronger than standard boot/shoe laces.
2. In a disaster or survival situation, you can take the Paracord from your boot/shoes; strip the seven (7) white strands of cord from inside the colored cover. You then use the colored cover as boot/shoe laces and have seven (7) strands of cord to use for whatever purpose you may need cord for. My boot laces measured 72 inches long, times 7 inner strands that would give me a total of 42 feet of cordage per shoe lace or a total of 84 feet of cordage using the inner strands of both boot laces for whatever I may need. Unlike a survival kit or bug out bag, this cordage is with you whenever you wear your boots or shoes that you have replaced the standard shoe or boot laces with paracord.
3. Paracord comes in MANY more colors and patterns than standard shoe laces come in.

I had a problem keeping the Paracord boot/shoe laces tied. So I just added an additional knot after tying the bow and the problem was solved. I have also been told that a little hair sprayed on the paracord boot laces will help them from becoming untied. However, I have not tried the hair spray idea yet.

I have also replaced the shoe laces in my tennis shoes with paracord. This works well also.

I took my two grandsons camping a couple of weeks ago. While camping, I showed them my paracord boot laces. Both of them wanted to know if I would change out their shoe laces in their cross trainer shoes that they wear and replace them with pacracord. When we returned home from camping, I took them to our local Army surplus store and let them pick out the color and pattern that they wanted. They picked a more colorful patterned paracord than I had picked. I replaced their shoe strings with the paracord that they had picked. They both love their new paracord shoe strings.

There are many ways you can use paracord. Some of the things you can use paracord for are: fishing line (the inner strands), make bow-drill for fire-starting, make a splint, make fishing line (the inner strands), sewing thread (the inner strands), trip wires alarms, make a shelter and many, many more. The ways of using paracord are only limited to your imagination and resourcefulness.

When buying paracord, be careful not to buy the white colored one. It stains easily and the stain does not come out.

WARNING: DO NOT use paracord for rappeling or to suspend your weight for ANY reason. People have tried and have gotten badly injured doing so.

I have had a very frustrating last couple of weeks with can openers. My “good” $10 hand held, comfortable to operate, can opener from Wally World lasted less than 2 years – whatever happened to quality?

Right in the middle of opening a can the gears stripped. Fine, I’m a prepper, I have another little metal hand held can opener.

Well, that lasted about 3 days and the gears stripped on that. So I went down to the pantry and brought up my third backup metal can opener from the dollar store and that didn’t even get through one can!

I had bought my husband a P-38 for his key chain a while back and ended up using that to open the can. The next day I went to the grocery store and bought a “better” can opener for $4, which lasted a week before the gears stripped on that one!

Now imagine being in a crisis situation where those cans of food are absolutely critical and you don’t have the option of just going out and buying another can opener – not good.

So, this last week I bought 10 P-38s at our local Army Surplus/prepper store – Minnesota Joes. Less than 60 cents apiece, these are standard GI issue.

The ex-military guy at the store explained that the name came from the number of turns it took to open a standard C-ration (or was it K?). Anyway, it comes with a handy little hole on the edge to put on a keychain and folds flat. Stick it on the can as shown above, catching the lip of the can in the cut out, and rock it back and forth and the can will open.

The blade can be re-sharpened and is handy in the kitchen to cut bags open with. My only complaint is the size, with my old arthritic hands. BUT it opens the cans with no gears stripping!

Now, if your preps include manual can openers (especially from the dollar store), and you are using an electric can opener because it is easier on the hands, I suggest you actually use your manual can openers and see how they hold up for you. If you become frustrated like I did, the humble P-38 may be an option for you as well.

There is very little worse than having a whole pantry of canned goods and not being able to open any of it except with a metal chisel, hammer and a strong likelihood of injuring yourself.