17 Multi Use Items That Earn Their Keep When Things Go Sideways

17 Multi Use Items That Earn Their Keep When Things Go Sideways

When things go wrong, it is rarely the big, expensive gear that saves the day. More often, it is the small, overlooked items that can handle multiple problems without missing a beat.

The challenge is that most people prepare for comfort instead of capability. They pack single purpose items that take up space but fall short when situations become unpredictable.

In this episode, we focus on 17 multi use items that consistently prove their value. These are the tools that help you adapt, improvise, and solve problems in real time. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

When everything goes sideways, it's almost never the big expensive gear that makes the difference. It's the small, unassuming items that can do a dozen jobs without breaking a sweat. The problem is most people pack for comfort, not capability. And they end up carrying a lot of single-purpose stuff that won't hold up when things get unpredictable. In this episode, we're sharing 17 multi-use items that consistently earn their keep. Gear that helps you solve problems on the fly, and gear that has value when you actually need it.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Welcome to Practical Prepping. Today is April 27th, 2026. And this is episode 552. This is the Prepping Podcast with no bunkers, no zombies, and no alien invasions. Just practical prepping, where we teach everyday people how to prepare for life's emergencies, disasters, and crises. And we're here to help you get prepared.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Hi guys, I'm Krista. And I'm Mark. And if you'd like the expanded notes for this episode, which will include the list of the 17 items, go to practicalprepping.info forward slash five five two. Now let's get into those 17 multi-use items that earn their key when things go sideways.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

I like this idea. Number one on the list, good old paracord.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Used for so many things. You use it for building a shelter. You can string it between two trees and throw a tarp over it, and you've made an A-frame shelter.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Sure enough. You can even take it apart, little strand by strand, and separate that out to make fishing line. You can use paracord to set traps. Some have used it to improvise a tourniquet, and you need some training on that. So don't just put a tourniquet on someone.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

It's not the best option. No. But it can be used. You're talking about a real emergency here. Yeah. Versus losing your line. Yeah. Okay. Sure. Use paracord on me.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

I think about this. You could do it as a bow drill also. A little bit more labor-intensive, but certainly doable.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yeah. You can use it for boot laces. Smart. And I've actually done that before. When I broke one at work, I pulled out some paracord and I just made me a shoelace.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Okay. Well, that's pretty smart. You can string it up and use it for clothesline. And you can use it for gear repair and also strapping things down on a vehicle, you know, tying through the windows and open over and around, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Another thing you can do with it is use it for anchor lines for your HF antenna for ham radio. Very smart. Which we have right here in the backyard.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

You know, a hundred-foot hank of that 550 paracord, it weighs almost nothing. But just think it has almost endless applications.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

I even used it for a dog leash on two occasions.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Right. I think you got a call of a stray dog that was running down the road.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Well, I had that happen one time, but uh the first time that I did it was I put the dog's driver in jail. I see. Okay. The dog was riding with a drunk driver.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I'm sorry, I'm laughing. It's not funny.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

It's kind of funny now.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

The dog was the innocent.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Yeah, the dog was the innocent passenger.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

So you had to use paracord to leash up the dog.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Well, there was no leash. So I cut a section. I'd called a friend that actually knew the person that I was putting in jail.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

And I called this friend and he said, I'll come get the dog. And I didn't have any kind of a leash or anything. So I just reached in the bag and pulled out about six or eight feet and tied it to his collar.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Okay. I see what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

So it worked great.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Okay, number two, a bandana or something called a chema. Uh you can use that obviously a bandana's a bandana, but that can also function as a dust mask. We've talked many times about it being a water pre-filter. You know, if you're sourcing wild water and it's full of pebbles and stones and particulate matter, you may want to pour it through a bandana first to get the big crunchies out, then boil or purify the water going forward.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

You can use it for a sling.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

And that's one of the things that we were taught as young Boy Scouts was how to make a sling out of our neckerchief.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Okay, smart.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

In an emergency, you can also use it for a tourniquet. Well, sure you can. A pot holder.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

If you're out camping and you didn't bring any kitchen towels to handle the hot pots, you can use that bandana.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Signal flag, sun protection. You can use it as bandage. Sure. You can use it as cordage if you tear it into strips. And if you cut it into four, five, six pieces, you can use it as toilet paper.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Well, you know, you know, emergency is as emergency does.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

That would not be suggested for the route to go at home. But if you're out in the wild and you have to go, you just have to go.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Well, there you go. Number three on the list is good old duct tape. Let's talk about duct tape for a while.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Duct tape is one of those things that you just really can't be without. And this and our next item, which is WD-40, and there's so many uses for both of them. It's always been said that with duct tape and WD-40, you can fix about 90% of life's problem.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

That's right, because if something is loose and you need it tightened up, you use the duct tape. And if something is tight needing loosening up, you use the WD.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Right. If it moves and shouldn't that's the rule. Yeah. But you can use it to repair gear. Right. You can seal windows with it. This was taught in the sheltering in place when we had chemical munitions plant not too awful far away from us. And that was one of the things that they taught was covering doors and windows with the plastic and then taping around the edges of that. So you could do with do that with duct tape as well. But do you know that it also can be used as an emergency bandage?

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Ooh, I hadn't thought about that.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Well, if you had sticky duct tape, sticky duct tape, you can use it as a bandage. You can use it to remove splinters.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

I had never thought about that, but that could be a really great use for duct tape.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

You can waterproof items with it. And you can even use it for fire tender when you shred it up real small.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

You can patch tints with it, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Anything that needs patching, pack, your poncho, your boots. I had an uncle that used duct tape to repair boots that he'd worn for too many years.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

And he wore them for a couple of more years after that.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Well, something else, you can use it as an emergency vehicle window. You'll not be able to see out of it, but if you don't have any glass there and you need some coverage, you can just make yourself a duct tape window.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

I did that with a little vent window on my pickup one time when it was broken into and they broke that little vent window out. And that's exactly what I did was I made a duct tape cover over it until I could get it replaced.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Well, let's jump over to WD 40.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Yeah, WD-40. It stands for Water Displacement Formula 40.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Okay, so they went through 39 formulas before they hit on this one.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Apparently so. And it's more than just a squeaky hinge fix.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Oh, it's got a lot of uses.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Yeah, it's compact. I like having the big cans of it at home and in the garage, but I also like having the little cans in my bag and in my car.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Yeah, they make like a trial-size bag.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Yeah, it's it's four or five inches tall, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Comes with that little red straw that you can poke in and spray down into a real specific spray.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, and it solves a lot of problems. Now it's good for rust prevention.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

We mentioned loosening seized parts, like screws, bolts, things like that. Temporary lubrication.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Gotcha, right.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

You can use it as an emergency fire starter.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Now, how would you use a WD-40 as a fire starter?

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Well, it's a petroleum product. It is flammable. Take your duct tape, shred that up, squirt a little WD-40 on there to help it, and use that as your fire starter.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Okay. Well, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

It it would work well. It cleans metal surfaces.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Oh, like tools and whatnot, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Tools, yeah. You can use it to remove grease from your tools. It will remove tar, sap. You can even use it on your car to remove tar that.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

And like tree sap at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Well, tree sap, yes, but out in the country, we'd get oiled roads. It was tar and gravel, is what it was. And sometimes you'd wind up with these small flakes of tar that had thrown up on your car from your wheels. And WD-40 will help it come right off. Yeah. There's just so many things that you could do with it. Now you mentioned the tools. You can oil up your axes, you can oil up your machetes, you can oil up your knife, whatever. It's a good rust preventative. But what WD-40 is not is a proper gun lubricant.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

That's very important.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

You need to use a dedicated firearm oil for long-term reliability.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Very, very important, particularly with the flammable part of it you can't.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah, well.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Yeah, but probably the other oil is probably going to be flammable too.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

But it's more proper for the bigger.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

But it's more proper. It's designed for the lubrication. It's not designed to do what WD-40 does. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Okay. Five on the list would be those heavy-duty contractor trash bags. This is a specific type of trash bag. It's the heavier plastic, it's a larger size. It usually accommodates 55 or more gallons and just can hold up because of its thickness.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Yeah, we go through a lot of 55 gallons here at the house. We we really do. And I think we've got some 40 that we use a lot, but that contractor bag, uh, we've got them in the car, we've got them in the bags, we've got them at home, but you can use it as an emergency poncho.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Right. You just cut a hole in the middle and two on the side, and you've got poke your head through and your arms, and it's a great poncho.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Uh yeah, we were fishing in Port St. Joe, Florida one time. Six of us had gone down. We did this. I did this with my dad for 23 years. And one of the guys had failed to bring his rain gear.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

It's always going to rain on us at least one day on that trip. So we look over there when we ran into Tommy and Gary at that point, and there's there's Tommy wearing a garbage bag poncho that he had made. And he's standing out there. Yeah. He's about calf deep, standing in the water and just fishing away. Well, there you go. It worked great.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

You know what else you can use that contractor bag for?

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Tell me.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

You can actually make that into a makeshift sleeping bag liner. It would actually be great, particularly if the temperature is cold or it might be kind of windy or breezy, and that sleeping bag, which has a lot of thermal cover, it still may not be enough. So you can actually slip that into your sleeping bag and slip those legs right in there, and it just produces another layer that'll hold the heat in.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

You can also put the sleeping bag in the contractor bag.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

You could do, yeah, and keep it dry.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Sure, of course. You can use it for water collection.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Especially for rain water. You can split it open, tie it up, and let it collect your water.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

You can use it as a ground cover under your sleeping bag. You can even use it as a solar steel component if you want to. Okay. Okay. Clear plastic works better for the solar steel.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

But you can do it with this. It is waterproof storage.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

You can put things in that bag. Used to do this with our things that we were carrying and we're going fishing. We were sitting in the back of the pickup. We'd put them in trash bags and tie them up so that if we hit rain on the way, they stayed dry. But you can also use it for an improvised flotation device.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

So I'm guessing would you like capture some air into it, tie that off?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Kind of makes like a low balloon, so to speak. If you're in water.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

And you wouldn't want to have 55 gallons worth of air.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

No, just enough to keep it up because yeah, physics.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Catch some of it to help you stay afloat.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Now something I carry almost every time I leave the house is my Springfield Hellcat RDP in a 1791 gun leather holster. Now, if you want a handcrafted American-made holster made with American sourced leather, 1791 gun leather is for you. Okay. If kydex is your preference, they've got you covered there. Whether you prefer inside or outside waistband carry, they've got. Regardless of whether you carry leather or kydex, you need a belt that's designed for carrying a firearm. Especially if you carry a larger firearm.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

For years and years and years, I carried a Colt 1911 45 ACP. Yeah, that's uh kind of a heavy gun.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Serious gun there.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

And so I've I was really surprised how much difference that it made when I went to a true gun belt and I ordered one. Now it looks like a dress belt. I'm actually wearing it. Well, I was wearing it. I am wearing it right now. I had to dig under my belly and see what was under there. Yeah. Looking for my belt. It looks good. Now mine's beginning to s show some wear. I've I've been wearing it 12 years. Like I said, it just made carrying a heavy gun so much more comfortable. And I still have that belt and wear it most days, but it's starting to show some age, especially when I'm wearing dress pants. So on Friday, I ordered a new 1791 gun leather gun belt.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Good deal.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

They're both practical and stylish, and they definitely make carrying that larger firearm a lot more comfortable. Am I making my point right there?

SPEAKER_01 14:34

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

Are you tired of carrying that heavy gun? Get a good gun belt. Heard you. Now you can find 1791 gun leather in local gun stores, but if you'll go to 1791gunleather.com and use the code PrEP15, you'll save 15% on your order like I did.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Okie dokie.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

At 1791GunLeather.com and use the code PrEP15. Now let's get to number six.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

All right, back to the show. Number six on the list is Vaseline, which is petroleum jelly. Comes in a variety of different labels. You can use it obviously for skin protection, but you can also use it as a rust preventer on your tools. It's a great leather conditioner.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Just don't go too heavy with it. Go moderation with it.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

I'm using on leather, I will actually apply it and then I buff off, you know, as much as I can just to leave on just enough conditioning without it being too heavy saturated.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

I call it rubbing it in.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Rub it in. Now also you can take petroleum jelly and you can scoosh some of that around on some cotton balls, throw them into a ziploc bag, and that becomes great fire tender.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

It's one of the best fire starters available to us today. And if you're going to start that fire and you're going to use a ferro rod, then you probably need a good fixed blade knife.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Number seven on the list.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

That's number seven on the list. You can cut with it, obviously. You can do food prep. You can do self-defense with it. You can do batoning of wood. You can dig with it.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I don't like digging with my knife. Yeah, absolutely. But if I have to, I will dig with my knife.

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

And you can use the back of it or the spine of it with a ferro rod and throw out a lot of sparks. Super. There's some budget-friendly knives that are pretty doggone good. One is the Mora Knife Companion, and it is a fixed blade knife, and I will put this in the episode notes and a link to that. In my bag, I carry a K-Bar full-size U.S. Marine Corps knife. Okay. It's their version of the fighting knife. Okay. This one actually went through Vietnam, but it's heavier. So it's kind of a trade-off in the amount of weight that I have there.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

I see.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

But I can do a lot more with it.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Okay. Now, number eight on our list, a Mylar emergency blanket. Now, obviously, you can use it for hypothermia prevention. But did you know you can also use that lightweight folded square as a signal reflector? It can be a solar oven liner, pretty smart. It can be an insulation for your makeshift shelter. You can use it for rain catchment, and you can even lay it out on the ground as a barrier against overnight moisture. So those are some great uses for the floor.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

A lot of things you can do with that Mylar emergency blanket.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Number nine, which we don't carry in our bags, and I don't have it in the car.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

But I think we ought to, though.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

I don't think I have it in the garage or the wood shop.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Well, let's just let this be a lesson done.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Definitely in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yes, indeed.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

And that's baking soda.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Good old bacon soda.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

I remember as a kid we used it as toothpaste.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Yeah, you just dabbed a little water in there and sprinkled some bacon soda.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

You can use it as deodorant. Okay. You can use it as a fire extinguisher for grease fires.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

You know, that's handy to know just in your kitchen. I actually had a flame up on one of our electric, we have an electric stove, and something kind of got down below the little coils, and it wanted to burn, and some flames came up. And I knew that I could throw flour, you know, like cooking flour, but I hadn't thought about baking soda.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

You know, my grandmother kept a box of baking soda near the stove. It wasn't over the stove, so she would have to reach through fire.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

But she had it near in case of fire. Okay. Today we have the fire blankets, and you know if we have to, we can pop open one of those fire blankets and throw it over the stove or whatever. But that's just something that else that you can do with baking soda.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

And and a lot of folks that do a lot of house cleaning use a lot of baking soda as a natural cleaning agent. It can be combined with some other types of elements to really make a good, natural, non-toxic type of a cleanser in your home.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

It's a pretty decent antiacid.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

You can just you dissolve some in water and sip it.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

And it's also a laundry booster. It can actually change the pH of the water and can help your detergent work a little more effectively.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

It's something we do with it from time to time, and we kind of go back and forth with this, and that's keep it in the refrigerator as a refrigerator deodorant.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Yeah, I think we learned that back in the late 60s, early 70s to open the top off the box and just put it in the back of the fridge, and it does actually absorb some of the different odors.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Yeah. You can also use it as a mild wound cleanser.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

How would you apply that?

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Well, you would probably mix it with some water and use that water to wash out the wound.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

You could put some of it in the wound and wash it out, but you can use it to cleanse that wound. And then you go to number 10, which is super glue, and you use it to close up small cuts.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

I understand that super glue may have been invented to use in combat home.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

That's what it was originally developed for battlefield wound closure.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

How about that?

SPEAKER_00 20:20

But it's great for gear repair. You can seal things with it. You can waterproof knots.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

You can fletch arrows with it.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Nifty.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Just all kinds of little things that you can do with super glue.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Smart. Now, do you learn from our podcast show? Are you getting new ideas for your prepping? Do you somehow receive value from practical prepping? Would you help us by giving back a little? Now, Diana is a very longtime supporter of our podcast, and she is bringing us today's cup of coffee.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Thank you, Diana.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Diana, we really do appreciate your support. And you too, friends, can go to practicalprepping.info slash support and you'll find ways that you can support our show. You can do a one-time gift or you can purchase a coffee membership. It's only five dollars a month. Either one of those really helps us offset the expenses of our show. So please consider helping us out at practicalprepping.info slash support. Now back to the show. Let's get to number 11 on our list of 17 multi-use items.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Which is a wool blanket.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Oh, smart.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

A wool blanket will retain 80% of its insulating properties, even when it's wet.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Oh, it's phenomenal. That's a layering piece that way. Serving, of course, as bedding, but you can also use it as a poncho. It can be used as a ground cover, even an emergency stretcher if you folded it over to make a stretcher, and two people can be on either end and lift a person up on it.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

The merino wool is probably what you want to go with. I know you want to go with merino wool if you're doing socks. It's not So scratchy. But we have listed in the show notes a 100% merino wool blanket. In case you're looking for one, just go there and we'll have that linked at practical prepping.info forward slash five five two.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Up next is number 12, good old zip ties. And we're talking about the assorted sizes. Obviously, with zip ties, you can secure your shelter tarps, you can repair gear, you can bundle some cables together, you could even create handcuffs. Enough said.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah, you don't need the little ones for that. The big ones do work real well for it, though.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

You can splint some small items and zip tie them together. You could even serve as an emergency bootlace if you had to. Again, if you're out of boot laces or if they've been torn, just use some zip ties and use it that way.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

They're so handy. Number 13 is apple cider vinegar.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

It is one of those broad multi-use products.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Very much so. It's used in food preservation. It's a salad dressing. I like oil and vinegar on my salad.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

It's a cleaning agent.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

Often sometimes combined with baking soda.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Oh, yeah. Uh vinegar and soda.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yeah. It forms kind of like a bubbling, foaming, like a volcanic action, and it can be great at like tearing up the grease that's in your oven. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

Okay. I I got you there.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

I don't mean cleaning your body.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

I was thinking my salad.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

No.

unknown 23:30

No.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Because I had said I like oil and vinegar on my salad.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

We've moved on. Okay. We moved on to cleaning agent. Sorry, guys.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

We're just see what she has to deal with.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

My life is magic.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

It's it's this is constant for her.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

What else can it do, Mark?

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Well, I take it daily as a supplement in a capsule form for heart health and blood sugar support.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Okie dokie.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

And I've put a link to the one that I take that Krista ordered in the show notes and at practicalprepping.info forward slash featured.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

And number 14 on the list, aluminum foil, the heavy duty brand. We're using that specifically because it's just heavier, it holds up longer, and sometimes you can even reuse it if you clean it. Now you can actually form a cooking packet. That's what a lot of people like to do when they're camping, or even at home. You can put your chicken and potatoes and vegetables in a aluminum foil packet, seal it all up and heat it up, grill it, and there you go.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Yeah, or bury it under your fire and let it cook in there. There's a way to do that. I carry a 12 by 12 square of aluminum foil that is folded up so many times that it is about the size of a carpenter's pencil.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Okay. I mean, it it is folded and it's a one-foot square.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

And when I was working as an SRO at the school one time, one of the teachers came by and she said, Is there any chance you would have some tin foil? I said, Yeah, I've got some. I how much do you need? And what they were doing, and this was kindergarten, I think.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

And they were watting it up and using it to dab into the paint and dab on the paper.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Oh, so they were making designs.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

They were making designs and having crafts with it.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

So what else can we do with aluminum foil?

SPEAKER_00 25:20

It's a great signal reflector.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

See, that's kind of smart. Again, if you're hiking, you're one of those people that slides down a cliff and you're stranded, maybe having a piece of aluminum foil and a little bit of bright sunshine can really save the day.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Might could. You can make a makeshift cup or a bowl out of it.

SPEAKER_01 25:37

You sure can because it'll hold the form that you crimp it in.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Right. You can use it for Faraday cage material.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

And a fire starter when it's bunched with tinder and it's shredded very small.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Okay. That sounds cool.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

It will catch a flame there.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

All right.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Number 15 is a multi-tool.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

We do like a multiol.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

We do like our multi-tools, and I'm wearing mine right now. It's got pliers, screwdrivers, scissors, saw, knife, can opener, wire cutters. It's got a file on it and a lot more.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

My favorite of the what's available now is the Super Tool 300 by Leatherman.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

I I love that tool. Now I had the 200 that I carried for uh close to 20 years. And then we were on the side of the road one night. The police pulled us over to tell us that the trailer lights weren't working.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

I remember that night.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

We were working on that, and he held a flashlight for me, and I left them on the t trailer tongue.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Yeah, we drove all the way back home. It was about another 30 miles. And he you looked at me and said, You know what I think I did? And I said, No, you're gonna have to tell me. And he said, I think I laid my knife up on the edge of that trailer and then took off. And we actually went back and looked on the side of the road. That's how much we love that multi-tool.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

But the Super Tool 300, it's got all kinds of good stuff in it, but it also has replaceable wire cutters and a saw.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

Oh, that's very cool.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

It's made of stainless steel. Now, here's an interesting thing about the Leatherman Super Tools is that there was one made specifically for NASA, and all of the astronauts carried it on the shuttle. Very cool. Now it had some tools on there that were specific to the shuttle.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

I don't know what all those were, but I thought that was very interesting that they chose the Super Tool 200 and had it built for that. Gerber also makes a great multi-tool.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Oh, they do.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

In fact, I'm carrying a Gerber right now. We put the Gerber truss on the website on the in the show notes and on the featured items. So if you're looking for one, we've got the Leatherman there, we've got the Gerber there. But there are other models. But here again, you get what you pay for when it comes to a multi-tool.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

And I think they probably have the best warranties on the product as well.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Yes, they definitely do. But you can pick up cheap ones. Cheap ones will do at times, but if you're gonna invest in one, get a Gerber or a Leatherman.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Number 16, tarps.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

Good old tarps. You know, they come in, I don't know how many sizes, 30 sizes.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 28:30

From small to ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

And all kinds of thicknesses and and there's different purposes for different ones. You can make an emergency shelter with it. We mentioned that with the paracord. You can use it for rain catchment, ground cover, gear protection. You could make a privacy screen with it. You could build a stretcher with it with two poles that you cut down in the woods. You can use it for solar steel construction. We carry an eight by ten in the car.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

But we have six by eight in the get home bag.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

You just never know when you would do that. You just never know.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

And and if we had to get out and get home, we'd throw the eight by ten in there because honestly, Krista and I are not gonna fit in a six by eight very well.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

True.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

I mean, I I'm I'm six four and she's bumping six foot. So uh we're gonna stick out there. But we carry the inexpensive blue poly tarps in the car.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

The kind that you can get at Harbor Freight, Northern Tilly.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

All kinds of places you can pick those up. They're lightweight, they're they're really a waterproof cover. They are durable to some degree. They're waterproof until you run your knife through it. Uh it gives you all kinds of protection for camping. We keep some much larger ones here in the garage in case we were to have to repair a roof after some type of a weather opening.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Absolutely. You see that a lot after a tornado in these areas where the roofing companies come out and just to keep coverage, they start throwing the blue tarps up there.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

And so we've got everything it would take to tarp uh about half of this house if we had to. But we've also got some heavier ones, the gray and the silver that we use for some other things.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

And they fold up nice and flat, so they're really easy to keep to carry in your car.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Number 17.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Last but not least, salt. Good old salt. Salt is practically as old as mankind and has been used for food preservation, for curing meat, for obviously for seasoning and taste. But salt performs a very important function as well as an electrolyte replacement. You often hear trainers and athletes talking about sprinkling a bit of like pink Himalayan salt in their drinking water because they want their kidneys to operate at a more optimum, and just plain water all day actually flushes out so much electrolytes.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

Most mornings I start my first glass of water with a pinch of pink Himalayan salt in there.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

And it's strictly for the electrolytes. Right. It's great for so many things. You can use it for cleaning. I've seen it listed as a cleaner to you clean cast iron.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

I actually have kosher salt because it's a heavier grain. And I will throw in some kosher salt and a little dab of cooking oil and scrape that in there together. It cleans the pot and also reseasons the iron as well. Did you know you can also take salt, maybe rock salt or a heavier salt, use that as an ice melt in the wintertime for your sidewalks, your driveways, your walkways. You can use salt to tan leather if you're into that. If you've field-dressed an animal and you want to use the hide for something, and you can use salt for leather tanning.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

It's also a pretty good barter item.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Well, that's true, because sometimes it might be very necessary for a group that doesn't have any salt to trade something to get some salt.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

Now I think you've got also in our list that you can use salt for wound cleaning.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Yes, you can.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Now, salt on its own can burn really big.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

It's gonna burn. Basically, what you're doing is making a simple saline solution.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

And you do it with one teaspoon of salt, two cups of water. And it needs to be clean water. Clean pure water. Yeah. If you're out in the wild, you need to boil it and let it cool and then make your solution. Yes. And then you're basically making a saline solution to wash out the wound.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

Yeah, that's a very good way to go about it.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

All right. There's 17 multi-use items.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

And you don't have to wait for a crisis or an emergency to make use of these types of items.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

No.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

This is great, just for the everyday use. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Yeah, I carry some things in my EDC bag that I really don't expect other folks to be carrying. But yesterday I had use for a pair of slip joint pliers. The channel locks is what we used to call water pump pliers. And honestly, what it was was that we had gone to visit my mother, and my sister brought us in two bottles of water and gave one to each of us. And neither one of us could open that bottle of water.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

I mean, we're not weak, and we tried and tried and tried. So finally he's like, you know what? I've got tools in my EDC bag. And I said, Of course you do, prepper man.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

And I reached in there and I got those pliers and I just ripped off those. Wasn't any big problem then.

SPEAKER_01 33:39

But that's an excellent prepper story right there.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

But there's just so many things that are multi-use. And so get away from looking at single use. Now there's some times that I mean, how many uses can you find for a pharaoh ride?

SPEAKER_01 33:55

Okay. Well, I mean, certain things.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Certain things have to be single use. But look at these multi-use items.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

It's practical, it's money-saving, it's smart, it's forward-thinking, and it teaches your children some new skills and things to think about as well. You know, pass on this information to your kids and help them learn how to use items in a multi-use way, in a safe way, because, you know, it's just smart. You're just using your God-given wisdom to try to just make it through every day. And then this way you've got 17 items that they alone can perform dozens and dozens and dozens of functions.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

So we think that that is a really cool thing to have.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

And we just wanted to bring that to you today. But please help us out by giving back a little if you've received value from practical prepping by going to practical prepping.info forward slash support and give us a little love. And thank you for being here today. And as Krista always says, Stuff happens.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Stay prepared.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

And we'll see you next time.