The Surprising Survival Uses For A Condom

In my previous blog posts, I wrote about ordinary, everyday things that have surprising survival uses here and here.  I’d like to add this post discussing the practical survival uses of condoms to those.

This rubber thing has been invented to protect men and women from passing STDs during sex but you will soon learn that it can be used in more ways than its intended purpose especially in a survival or emergency scenario.

Start a fire with it

Latex condom can be ignited easily with an open flame, making a really good fire tinder. It will burn for several minutes, giving you enough time to build a fire.

Here’s a YouTube video showing how well condom works as tinder:

Carry fire starters in

You can also use condom to carry your fire starters in and keep them dry. Condom is made to be waterproof so it’s perfect for this purpose. Simply stuff it with your best tinder or fire starters like matches and lighters and put it away. A condom can also act as a water-proof storage for other articles like socks, tobacco box, small medication kit, etc. You can even put food in condoms and hang them in tree branches to keep them from animals.

Use it as a water container – but be extra careful

A condom can carry up to 2 liters of water but when using it as a water container, you have to give it some sort of support. This is because a condom, when expanded and carrying water, becomes very delicate and easily punctured. If you have no other options for carrying your water but a condom, fill the condom inside of a sock. Here’s a video demonstrating how to make the perfect condom water carrier:

Use a condom as wound dressing

Expect injuries to happen during an emergency so it is practical to always have a first aid kit with you. But what if you find yourself in a situation where your first aid kit is depleted or lacking of wound dressing? Well, a condom is a very good alternative. Simply nip the edge and wrap the condom around the wounded area. This will keep mosquitoes and flies away and prevent infection.

Use it as a surgical glove

A condom can be used as a crude rubber glove when applying first aid to your wound or to someone else’s. A glove can keep any dirt in your hands off the wound and at the same time protect you from possible infection especially when you are attending to the wound of another.

Fishing bobber

Fashion a fishing bobber out of a condom and some cattail fluff. Stuff the cattail fluff in the condom, tie it and you have a bobber that’s perfectly buoyant and doesn’t get blown around in the wind easily.

Slingshot

Yes, you can make a slingshot using condoms and it can be good enough to hunt small game with. Watch this YouTube video by willowhavenoutdoor:

Gun muzzle protection

Military people are known to protect their guns from water, grains, sand and dirt by covering their gun muzzles with condom. The condom does the job of keeping dirt from entering the rifle barrel and clogging it but does not obstruct firing at all.

So there you have it, the reasons why you should start including condoms in your emergency kit. As always, your comments are welcome.