If you need to jump-start a fire, soak cotton balls/cotton pads in petroleum jelly or paraffin wax. Throw one in the fire before you light it.
If your car door lock is frozen shut, insert a straw into the keyhole and blow air through it. The lock should thaw after a few breaths.
Create a makeshift heater if your power goes out in the winter. Light two candles, set them on a glass plate, put three bricks around them, and set a terra-cotta pot on top of the candles. It may look small but can heat an entire room.
Create a lasso that removes ticks with a mechanical pencil and string.
Create your own camping lantern by strapping a headlight (facing inward) around a full jug of water. This will prevent the glare that comes from headlamps and other camping lights.
Doritos make great kindling when you need to create a fire in a bind.
Putting a wick in a jar of vegetable shortening will create a long-lasting candle.
If you have a flat bike tire, pack the inside of the tire evenly with leaves or grass. This will allow you to ride it to a safe place.
Make matches waterproof by dipping the match heads in nail polish.
Putting chapstick on small cuts can stop the bleeding. It can also help soothe bug bites and rashes if you don’t have anything else to use.
Keep an Altoids tin with corrugated cardboard with you for a small heat source on hikes/trips.
Turn a soda can into a makeshift fishing rod by taking off the tab and fashioning it into a hook. Take a piece of dental floss or string and tie it around the outside and put something in the mouth of the can to keep it from sinking.
If you are caught in a fire and need to immediately protect your lungs, the cups of a bra work as a debris mask.
Baby oil can be used to help protect your face from frostbite.
If there’s an emergency, you can use crayons as a source for light and fire. Crayola crayons are made of paraffin wax that can be set aflame, and the paper on the outside acting as a wick that burns the crayon slowly.
Create an improvised compass by placing a leaf in the center of a puddle or cup of water and placing a sewing needle on top of it. The magnetic fields of Earth will naturally orient the need to point north/south. This trick has helped save thousands of people when they were lost.
If you have absolutely no other way to store drinking water in a bind, an unscented condom will hold up to a gallon of water.
If you don’t have heat to boil water, add one or two drops of unscented bleach to a bottle of water and let it sit for half an hour.
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