Hair

If the SHTF I plan on cutting my hair short. I don't want it to be a hindrance by getting caught up in branches or falling in my eyes or blowing into a tangled mess. My question is.. is there a use for cut hair? I'd be cutting off like a foot and a half. Vanity is not a survival skill.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


well if you cut it now instead of waiting for sthtf then you could donate it to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


Found these with this search string uses+for+hair. Many more at that search.

Top Ten Strange Uses for Human Hair

3. Help people grow food. A company called SmartGrow uses imported human hair from China and India to make a gardening product. The hair is weaved into mats that help protect the plant’s roots from weather and insects.

4. Clean-up Oil Spills. Some years ago NASA was testing a technique to use human hair to clean up ocean oil spills. No word on whether this made it out of the prototype stage.

5. Make clothes. Some people have weaved hair into a fabric and made clothes. Style dash recently reported on a dress made this way. And this barber has even made a hair bikini.

6. Create furniture. When you spend all day cutting people’s hair you have the strangest ideas. Here is an ex-assistant hairdresser who managed to create a chair out of human hair. The fiber is spun into a material like fiberglass and forged into the shape of a chair.

7. Craft a work of art. It took 42,000 hair cuts, but artist Wenda Gu was able to create a giant banner using human hair. It was first displayed at Dartmouth College’s Baker-Berry Library.

8. Making soy sauce. As if you needed another reason to avoid things made in China. Here is a company that used human hair to make soy sauce. Since human hair is rich in protein, they were able to treat it, remove the amino acids, and pass it off as soybean oil.

9. Nesting material. Birds will use almost anything to make nests and human hair is no exception. This bird watching site even suggests putting out bags of hair clippings to help birds make nests. Here’s someone who uses hair clippings to provide a nest for their pet rat.

10. Crafting a rope. Native Americans were known to twist hair fibers together to make strong ropes. Eventually, they used horsehair but there are still people who practice the art.

I guess the Rapunzel story wasn't far off...

It can be used as a fiber for cordage and textiles. American Indians used human hair for making ropes and cords before horsehair became available to them.

This is a little more gruesome, but German U-boat personnel wore socks knitted from human hair in WWII.
It was said to have particular qualities that were good for a damp environment. I consider it a little gruesome because the hair came from concentration camps.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


I know cleaning up oil spills was in the list I posted above, but I wanted to add that I don't think it's prototype anymore because I remember that was one of the thing they used in the recent Deepwater "spill". I think also that hair could be used to clean up various spills, not just oil.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

I will never eat soy sauce again!

I saw these, thanks. I was thinking more along the lines of a "survival" use. I guess as a weed barrier and nitrogen source for the garden it would work, but I'd think from one person there's just not enough. I do have enough to make a small thin rope - wonder if its strong enough to fish with?

From what I read it burns way too fast to be a good tinder and stinks to high heaven when you get it to light. Just seems a waste to throw it away. Guess I could set it outside for birds to build a nest from.

reply to post by iamnot

I'm a rugged country girl and have very few vanities, but the one vanity I won't give up until I absolutely have to is my hair. I know it sounds selfish but when you work like a man all day and dress in jeans and work boots having long hair just gives back a bit of feminine self esteem. It took me five years to grow this long and would take me five more to regrow.

I'm looking for uses for it if TSHTF...at which time I'll chop it all off.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


I would keep it long and just braid it.
If the braids get in the way,then I would
cut it.

reply to post by mamabeth

I thought about that Mamabeth, but then I got to thinking it might be a good thing to be mistaken for a man at a distance, especially if I were somewhere alone! I wouldn't have to worry so much about combing, brushing or cleaning it either. It seems to me that having short hair would eliminate a couple of hassles associated with long hair.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


In that case, use it for a decoy to distract while running away. Chop off hair, place it sticking out under the bed and hopefully you'll be as far away as possible by the time anyone figures anything out.

2nd option, use it as a weapon. Hair makes a great whip and eye poker.

I am female and i have short hair, I prefer it that way ( mainly because when it was long it kept trying to kill me). However, I plan on high tailing it to the middle of nowhere when this starts to go down. As such, i will most likely be growing my hair back out. I do this because of the amount off body heat you can loose from your head. I will just pull it into a braid or something to keep it out of the way.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


I don't think you need to worry about SHTF. Keep your hair.

reply to post by Forgoten_Whisper

I've thought about keeping it, but the longer it gets the longer it takes to brush out. I could see it quickly becoming a tangled web of knots and burrs, a catch all for every seed, twig and bit of pollen around. I'd have to practically keep it braided 24/7 to be able to get through it with a brush at all. A knitted cap might help in the cold months but in warm months it could be a real pain. Short = no muss, no fuss.

reply to post by SeenMyShare
yes there is use for hair in survival , rope, small animal snares, bow string, thread, paint brush, for passing time away or to paint a sos. hair can be use as kindling to make fire, moccasins, and belts, sounds gruesome, but this is survival, and there is no room for the faint at heart live or die.

reply to post by SeenMyShare


True; I grew up mostly in Tx and with long hair the summers were quite hot to say the least. I can honestly say though that even running through the woods full of mesquite trees my hair was never tangled in thorns or any type of brambles.

Granted, while in the woods during the summer I may just say * it and cut it all of.

Cut off your hair?

I guess the Benjamite & Celtic parts of me wouldn't ever consider getting rid of the source of my power. I'd resort to braiding it long before I'd ever consider cutting it!

Needless to say, having had long hair for all of my adult life, the only time it gets in the way is during mating rituals. I suppose considering how much hair I leave everywhere I go, it probably wouldn't be difficult to track me, however.

I sincerely doubt you will care about your hair IF the SHTF. Long or short it will be as meaningless as the length of your toe nails. If you feel you will be on the run and your long hair will be an impediment then cut it but what a horrible existence that would be where there is no safety in the struggle to survive SHTF. "where are you going to run? where are you going to hide?"-nowhere

Originally posted by SeenMyShare
If the SHTF I plan on cutting my hair short. I don't want it to be a hindrance by getting caught up in branches or falling in my eyes or blowing into a tangled mess. My question is.. is there a use for cut hair? I'd be cutting off like a foot and a half. Vanity is not a survival skill.

You (if you are guy and not a girl) are lucky to have such great long hair. I ITSHTF will not have hair tangling worries as mine has been deserting me since my thirties so I have to keep it short so not to look like a mullet head.

Edit to say .I see you are a girl ,so in that case keep it long ,because when there are only a few people left ,you will look more attractive to the tough guys who also survived the shtf scenario. All the other women who foolishly shaved their heads maybe mistaken for lesbians and thus ignored by the men giving you the pick of the guys to carry on the human race with.

Hair is there for a reason,it would be best to let your body do what it does naturally.

It serves to protect you by insulating from extreme temperatures and to protect your skin from the sun and abrasions.

reply to post by hal_keno
True,the way things are now,there is nowhere to go.....

But then,what exactly is it that so many are trying to escape from.

Kinda like an alcoholic who constantly feels the need to escape his situation....

When in actuality,he is trying to escape himself.....