Dental Floss: An Important Survival Tool

You probably will want to throw in a pack of this or a couple as it can come in handy for a multitude of uses, doesn't take much room and weighs almost nothing.

Very good return on the investment.

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Some of the uses this product may offer you out in the field.

Floss can be strung between two locations and used to support a light weight fabric or other material to build a shelter. You may need to use more than one thickness but it will work and it will support quite a bit of weight.

Food is always a concern if stranded in the wilderness or escaping a disaster area. Floss can be used with a hook, weight and branch to make a fishing pole. It can also be knotted in a criss cross pattern to make a fishing net which can be used to trap fish or can be attached to branches and used to scoop them out of the water.

Floss can be used to mend. It can mend holes in a fish net. It can mend a hole in clothing or a back pack. It can also be used to downsize clothing. If you are with children, for example, and you need to use adult size clothing or gloves to keep them warm and protected, you can simply sew a seam using dental floss to make the item a more kid friendly size, and thus easier to move around in and warmer because it is more snug to the body.

Dental floss is perfect to use when you want to tie down or secure something. If you need to secure branches, for example, when making a shelter the floss can be used to tie them on. If you have newspapers or magazines and you want to use them as kindling until you can get some wood or bark to dry out, roll them tightly and secure with dental floss. Now they will burn about the same amount of time as a medium sized branch.

If you should have to cut a piece of rope and need to keep the ends from raveling simply wrap dental floss around the end several times. It will adhere to itself and works great.

If you should break a shoe lace floss works well to replace it.

If you need to hike out, and never do this if there is any chance someone is looking for you, tie floss around the bottom of your pant leg, at the ankle, making the fabric snug. This will prevent wind and snow from going up the leg. During summer months if you are walking through tall grass it will protect you against ticks and other insects. This is an important tip even if you aren’t leaving the area, tie up those pant legs.

Once you run out...then what?? lol

I know....

You use natural fibres which can be found in almost all plants. Stinging nettles are abundant in most countries, and they are an excellent alternative to dental floss

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


What if your stuck in a place without plants?

I see your point but it's reusable...just wrap it back up...probably last quite awhile. Might give you the time to collect things like the fibers you mentioned.

Originally posted by kro32
reply to post by loves a conspiricy

 

What if your stuck in a place without plants?

I see your point but it's reusable...just wrap it back up...probably last quite awhile. Might give you the time to collect things like the fibers you mentioned.

Unless your in a desert or in Antarctica chances are there will be a huge variety of plants.
I do get what your saying It would definitely be something you could use whilst you looked, and made the fibers, i dont know how long floss would last, especially if it were under constant strains.

Another good thing with floss is that you can fit huge lengths into a tiny packet....so it would probably be a good method in that respect

Mate

To be honest I'd suggest taking fishing braid instead of dental floss. Much stronger and more durable.

Braid Fishing Line

Cheers

reply to post by myselfaswell


The only problem with what your saying is, that there arent that many fishing shops.
I live in the countryside, and to my knowledge there are no fishing shops....or shops that would sell fishing line.

Floss can be found in almost every shop....excluding the obvious of course (book shops, car show rooms etc).
Even the little corner shop sells floss

I suppose you could order it online, but thats assuming everyone has internet. And assuming you had prior warning.

reply to post by kro32


I love floss. I floss my teeth every single day cause I have gum disease

So aside from using floss to prevent losing my teeth, I can use it for my survival!

I have tried using dental floss for sowing, it does tend to stretch a lot and degrades after a few days, especially if exposed to the sun. Fishing braid is much better, some good quality cotton or similar sowing thread can also hold up reasonably well, not sure if it would be any good for fishing. I would go for solid wire or a wire trace when strength is critical.

Mate

If I were you I'd get some just to see what it's like.

Braid is actually pretty dangerous particularly the heavy duty stuff say 100lb breaking strain plus. It's breaking strain strength to thickness ration is pretty unbelievable.

And also with the thinner stuff, which you can buy waxed coated, you can use as dental floss as well, just don't go too crazy with it though.

Off the top of my head a couple of potential uses including those above;

Fishing (Obviously)
Dental Floss
Sewing / Mending
Guy rope / string
Rabbit Snare
Cutting (Ask any fisherman who's ever used it, goes through flesh like you wouldn't believe)

Cheers