← Practical Prepping Podcast
Loading summary
Transcript291 lines
- [00:01]
A
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.
- [00:49]
B
Welcome to practical prepping. Today is April 27, 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. Hi guys, I'm Krista.
- [01:17]
A
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 for forward/552. Now let's get into those 17 multi use items that earn their keep when things go sideways.
- [01:34]
B
I like this idea. Number one on the list.
- [01:36]
A
Good old paracord, used for so many things. Use it for building a shelter. You can string it between two trees, throw a tarp over it. You've made an a frame shelter.
- [01:49]
B
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, learn.
- [02:05]
A
It's not the best option, but it can be used.
- [02:08]
B
We're talking about a real emergency here.
- [02:10]
A
Yeah, versus losing your life.
- [02:12]
B
Yeah, okay, sure.
- [02:13]
A
Use paracord on me.
- [02:15]
B
I think about this. You could do it as a bow drill. Also a little bit more labor intensive, but certainly doable.
- [02:21]
A
Yeah, you can use it for boot laces.
- [02:23]
B
Smart.
- [02:23]
A
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.
- [02:31]
B
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 over and around, that kind of thing.
- [02:44]
A
Another thing you can do with it is use it for anchor lines for your HF antenna For ham radio.
- [02:50]
B
Very smart.
- [02:51]
A
Which we have right here in the backyard.
- [02:53]
B
You know, a hundred foot hank of that 550paracord. It weighs almost nothing. But just think, it has almost endless applications.
- [03:01]
A
I even used it for a dog leash on two occasions.
- [03:04]
B
Right. I think you got a call of a stray dog that was running down the road.
- [03:07]
A
Well, I had that happen one time, but the first time that I did it was I put the dog's driver in jail.
- [03:14]
B
I see.
- [03:15]
A
Okay. The dog was riding with a drunk driver.
- [03:20]
B
I'm sorry, I'm laughing. It's not funny.
- [03:23]
A
It's kind of funny now.
- [03:24]
B
The dog was the innocent passenger.
- [03:26]
A
Yeah, the dog was the innocent passenger.
- [03:28]
B
So you had to use paracord to leash up the dog?
- [03:30]
A
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, 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.
- [03:51]
B
Okay, I see what you're saying.
- [03:52]
A
So it worked great.
- [03:53]
B
Okay. Number two, a bandana or something called a shama, you can use that. Obviously, a bandana is 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.
- [04:17]
A
Going forward, you can use it for a sling.
- [04:21]
B
That's true.
- [04:21]
A
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.
- [04:28]
B
Okay, smart.
- [04:29]
A
In an emergency, you can also use it for a tourniquet.
- [04:32]
B
Well, sure you can.
- [04:33]
A
A potholder.
- [04:34]
B
Yeah. If you're out camping and you didn't bring any kitchen towels to handle the hot pots, you can use that bandana
- [04:40]
A
signal flag, sun protection. You can use it as bandage. You can use it is cordage. If you tear it into strips, and if you cut it into four or five, six pieces, you can use it as toilet paper.
- [04:54]
B
Well, you know, you know, emergency is as emergency does.
- [04:58]
A
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.
- [05:08]
B
Well, there you go. Number Three on the list is good old duct tape. Let's talk about duct tape for a while.
- [05:14]
A
Duct tape is one of those things that you just really can't be without. And this. And our next Item, which is WD40. And there's so many uses for both of them. It's always been said that with duct tape and WD40, you can fix about 90% of life's problem.
- [05:30]
B
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 to loosen it up, you use the WD40.
- [05:37]
A
If it moves and shouldn't.
- [05:39]
B
Yeah, that's the rule.
- [05:41]
A
Yeah. But you can use it to repair gear. 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?
- [06:14]
B
Oh, I hadn't thought about that.
- [06:16]
A
Well, if you have sticky duct tape, sticky duct tape, you can use it as a bandage. You can use it to remove splinters.
- [06:24]
B
I had never thought about that. But that could be a really great use for duct tape.
- [06:28]
A
You can waterproof items with it, and you can even use it for fire tender. When you shred it up real small,
- [06:35]
B
you can patch tents with it, which is pretty cool.
- [06:39]
A
Anything that needs patching, your backpack, your poncho, your boots. I had an uncle that used duct tape to repair boots that he had worn for too many years, and he wore them for a couple of more years after that.
- [06:54]
B
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.
- [07:03]
A
I did that with a little vent window on my pickup one time when it was broken into, and I 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.
- [07:16]
B
Well, let's jump over to WD40.
- [07:18]
A
Yeah, WD40 stands for Water Displacement Formula 40.
- [07:22]
B
Okay. So they went through 39 formulas before
- [07:25]
A
they hit on this one. Apparently so. And it's more than just a squeaky hinge fix.
- [07:31]
B
Oh, it's got a lot of uses.
- [07:33]
A
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.
- [07:43]
B
Yeah, they make like a trial size bag.
- [07:45]
A
Yeah, it's, it's four or five inches tall. Something like that.
- [07:49]
B
Comes with that little red straw.
- [07:50]
A
Right.
- [07:50]
B
That you can poke in and spray down into a real specific spot.
- [07:54]
A
And it solves a lot of problems. Now, it's good for rust prevention.
- [07:58]
B
That's great.
- [07:59]
A
We mentioned loosening seized parts like screws,
- [08:02]
B
bolts, things like that.
- [08:03]
A
Temporary lubrication.
- [08:05]
B
Gotcha. Right.
- [08:06]
A
You can use it as an emergency fire starter.
- [08:09]
B
Now, how would you use a WD40 as a fire starter?
- [08:11]
A
Well, it's a petroleum product. It is flammable. Flammable. Take your duct tape, shred that up, squirt a little WD40 on there to help it, and use that as your firestop.
- [08:22]
B
Okay. Well, that's cool.
- [08:23]
A
It would work well. It cleans metal surfaces.
- [08:26]
B
Oh, like tools and whatnot. Things like that.
- [08:28]
A
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.
- [08:40]
B
That tree SAP.
- [08:42]
A
Well, tree SAP, yes. But out in the country we'd get old 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 WD40 will help it come right off. Yeah, just so many things that you could do with it. Now, you mentioned the tools. You can all up your axes, you can all up your machetes, you can oil up your knife, whatever. It's a good rust preventative. But what WD40 is not, is a proper gun lubricant.
- [09:21]
B
That's very important.
- [09:23]
A
You need to use a dedicated firearm oil for long term reliability.
- [09:29]
B
Very, very important. Particularly with the flammable part of it.
- [09:32]
A
Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. But probably the other oil is probably going to be flammable too.
- [09:37]
B
But it's more proper.
- [09:39]
A
But it's more proper. It's designed for the lubrication. It's not designed to do what WD40 does.
- [09:46]
B
Gotcha. 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.
- [10:06]
A
Yeah, we go through a lot of 55 gallon ones here at the house. We really do. And I think we've got some 40 that we use a lot. But that contractor bag, 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.
- [10:24]
B
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.
- [10:31]
A
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.
- [10:43]
B
Oh, boy.
- [10:44]
A
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, he's about calf deep, standing in the water and just fishing away.
- [11:04]
B
Well, there you go.
- [11:05]
A
It worked great.
- [11:06]
B
You know what else you can use that contractor bag for?
- [11:08]
A
Tell me.
- [11:09]
B
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.
- [11:31]
A
You can also put the sleeping bag in the contractor bag.
- [11:35]
B
You could do.
- [11:35]
A
Yeah. Keep it dry.
- [11:38]
B
Sure.
- [11:38]
A
Of course, you can use it for water collection, especially for rainwater. You can split it open, tie it up and let it collect your water.
- [11:48]
B
Right.
- [11:49]
A
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. Clear plastic works better for the solar steel, but you can do it with this. It is waterproof storage.
- [12:07]
B
There you go.
- [12:07]
A
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.
- [12:26]
B
So I'm guessing would you like capture some air into it, tie that off?
- [12:30]
A
Exactly.
- [12:31]
B
Kind of makes like a low balloon, so to speak, if you're in water.
- [12:34]
A
And you wouldn't want to have 55 gallons worth of air.
- [12:37]
B
No, just enough to keep it up because yeah, physics.
- [12:40]
A
Catch some of it to help you stay afloat.
- [12:43]
B
There you go.
- [12:44]
A
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.
- [13:04]
B
Okay.
- [13:05]
A
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.
- [13:24]
B
Absolutely.
- [13:25]
A
For years and years and years I carried a Colt 1911, 45 ACP. Kind of a heavy gun at times.
- [13:34]
B
Serious gun there.
- [13:35]
A
And so I was really surprised how much difference that it made when I went to a true gun belt and I ordered one that 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 people. Yeah. Looking for my belt. It looks good. Now mine's beginning to show some wear. 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.
- [14:23]
B
Good deal.
- [14:24]
A
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?
- [14:34]
B
I think so.
- [14:35]
A
Are you tired of carrying that heavy gun? Get a good gun belt.
- [14:39]
B
Heard ya.
- [14:40]
A
Now, you can find 1791 gun leather in local gun stores. But if you'll go to 1791 GunLeather.com and use the code PREP15, you'll save 15% on your order like I did.
- [14:57]
B
Okie dokie.
- [14:58]
A
That's 1791 GunLeather.COM and use the code PREP15. Now let's get to number six.
- [15:06]
B
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.
- [15:22]
A
Just don't go too heavy with it.
- [15:24]
B
Yeah, you've got to be a light touch.
- [15:25]
A
Go moderation with it.
- [15:26]
B
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.
- [15:36]
A
I call it rubbing it in.
- [15:38]
B
Rub it in. Now also you can take petroleum jelly and you can scooch some of that around on some cotton balls, throw them into a Ziploc bag and that becomes great fire tender.
- [15:47]
A
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.
- [15:57]
B
Number seven on the list.
- [15:58]
A
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.
- [16:11]
B
Okay.
- [16:12]
A
I don't like digging with my knife, but if I want to, I will dig with my knife.
- [16:17]
B
Right.
- [16:18]
A
And you can use the back of it or the spine of it with a ferro rod and throw out a lot of sparks.
- [16:24]
B
Super.
- [16:25]
A
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 KA Bar full size US Marine Corps knife.
- [16:47]
B
Okay.
- [16:47]
A
It's their version of the fighting knife.
- [16:49]
B
Okay.
- [16:50]
A
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.
- [16:59]
B
I see.
- [17:00]
A
But I can do a lot more with it.
- [17:02]
B
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.
- [17:33]
A
A lot of things you can do with that Mylar emergency blanket.
- [17:36]
B
Absolutely.
- [17:37]
A
Number nine, which we don't carry in our bags and I don't have it in the car.
- [17:41]
B
I think we ought to, though.
- [17:43]
A
I don't think I have it in the garage or the wood shop.
- [17:45]
B
Well, let's just let this be a
- [17:47]
A
definitely in the kitchen.
- [17:49]
B
Yes, indeed.
- [17:50]
A
And that's baking soda.
- [17:51]
B
Good old baking soda.
- [17:52]
A
I remember as a kid we used it as toothpaste.
- [17:55]
B
Yeah, you just dabbed a little water in there and sprinkled some bacon.
- [17:59]
A
So you can use it as deodorant.
- [18:01]
B
Okay.
- [18:02]
A
You can use it as a fire extinguisher for grease fires.
- [18:05]
B
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. Soda.
- [18:25]
A
Oh, 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. But she had it near in case of fire. Today we have the fire blankets and 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.
- [18:52]
B
I know a lot of folks that do a lot of house cleaning, use a lot of baking soda as a natural cleaning agent. Can be combined with some other types of elements to really make a good natural, non toxic type of a cleanser in your home.
- [19:05]
A
It's a pretty decent anti acid.
- [19:07]
B
You can just, you dissolve some in water and sip it. 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.
- [19:18]
A
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.
- [19:28]
B
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
- [19:36]
A
some of those up a lot of those different odors. You can also use it as a mild wound cleanser.
- [19:43]
B
How would you apply that?
- [19:46]
A
Well, you would probably mix it with some water and use that water to wash out the wound. 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.
- [20:11]
B
I understand that super glue may have been invented to use in combat hunters.
- [20:15]
A
That's what it was originally developed for, Battlefield wound closure. But it's great for gear repair. You can seal things with it. You can waterproof knots, you can fletch arrows with it.
- [20:30]
B
Nifty.
- [20:31]
A
Just all kinds of little things that you can do with super glue.
- [20:35]
B
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.
- [20:54]
A
Thank you, Diana.
- [20:55]
B
Diana, we really do appreciate your support. And you too friends can go to practicalprepping.info 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 $5 a month. Either one of those really helps us offset the expenses of our show. So please consider helping us out@practicalprepping.info support. Now back to the show. Let's get to number 11 on our list of 17 multi use items, which
- [21:25]
A
is a wool blanket.
- [21:26]
B
Oh, smart.
- [21:27]
A
A wool blanket will retain 80% of its insulating properties even when it's wet.
- [21:34]
B
Oh, it's phenomenal. It is a layering piece that way. Serving, of course is 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.
- [21:52]
A
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 practicalprepping.info 552.
- [22:17]
B
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.
- [22:34]
A
Yeah, you don't need the little ones for that. The big ones do work real well for it though.
- [22:38]
B
You can splint some small items and zip tie them together. You could even serve as an emergency boot lace 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.
- [22:51]
A
They're so handy. Number 13 is apple cider vinegar.
- [22:55]
B
It is one of those broad multi use products.
- [22:58]
A
Very much so. It's used in food preservation. It's a salad dressing. I like oil and vinegar on my salad.
- [23:06]
B
Oh yeah.
- [23:07]
A
It's a cleaning agent.
- [23:09]
B
Often sometimes combined with baking soda.
- [23:11]
A
Oh yeah, Vinegar and soda.
- [23:15]
B
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.
- [23:24]
A
Oh, okay, okay, I got you there.
- [23:27]
B
I don't mean cleaning your body.
- [23:27]
A
I was thinking my salad. No, no, because I had said I like oil and vinegar on my salad.
- [23:34]
B
We've moved on. We moved on to cleaning agent. Sorry, guys.
- [23:37]
A
We're just see what she has to deal with.
- [23:40]
B
My life is magic.
- [23:42]
A
This is constant for her.
- [23:44]
B
What else can it do, Mark?
- [23:45]
A
Well, I take it daily as a supplement in a capsule form for heart, health and blood sugar support.
- [23:52]
B
Okie dokie.
- [23:53]
A
And I've put a link to the one that I take that Krista ordered in the show notes and@practicalprepping.info featured and
- [24:04]
B
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.
- [24:28]
A
Yeah. Or bury it under your fire and let it cook in there.
- [24:31]
B
There's a way to do that.
- [24:32]
A
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.
- [24:43]
B
Okay.
- [24:44]
A
I mean, it is folded.
- [24:45]
B
It's a one foot square.
- [24:46]
A
It's a one foot square. 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 tinfoil? I said, yeah, I've got some. How much do you need? And what they were doing, and this was kindergarten, I think, and they were wadding it up and using it to dab into the paint and then dab on the paper.
- [25:14]
B
Oh, so they're making designs.
- [25:15]
A
They were making designs and crafts with it.
- [25:19]
B
So what else can we do with aluminum foil?
- [25:21]
A
It's a great signal reflector.
- [25:23]
B
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.
- [25:33]
A
Might could you can make a makeshift cup or a bowl out of it.
- [25:37]
B
You sure can, because it'll hold the form that you crimp it in.
- [25:40]
A
Right. You can use it for Faraday cage material.
- [25:44]
B
Okay.
- [25:45]
A
And a fire starter when it's bunched with tinder and it's shredded very small.
- [25:52]
B
Okay, that sounds cool.
- [25:53]
A
It will catch a flame there.
- [25:55]
B
All right.
- [25:56]
A
Number 15 is a multi tool.
- [25:59]
B
We do like a multi tool.
- [26:00]
A
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.
- [26:12]
B
It's amazing.
- [26:14]
A
My favorite of the what's available now is The Super Tool 300 by Leatherman.
- [26:20]
B
Okay.
- [26:21]
A
I love that tool. Now, I had the 200 that I carried for close to 20 years, and then we were on the side of the road one night. Police pulled us over to tell us that the trailer lights weren't working. I remember that night we were working on that, and he held a flashlight for me, and I left them on the trailer tongue.
- [26:42]
B
And, yeah, we drove all the way back home. It was about another 30 miles. And you looked at me and said, you know what? I think I did. And I said, no, you're going to 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.
- [27:00]
A
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.
- [27:10]
B
Oh, that's very cool.
- [27:11]
A
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. Now, it had some tools on there that were specific to the shuttle.
- [27:31]
B
Okay.
- [27:32]
A
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.
- [27:43]
B
Oh, they do.
- [27:44]
A
In fact, I'm carrying a Gerber right now. We put the Gerber truss on the website, 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.
- [28:06]
B
And I think they probably have the best warranties on the product as well.
- [28:10]
A
Yes, yes, they definitely do. But you can pick up cheap ones. Cheap ones will do at Times. But if you're going to invest in one, get a Gerber or a Leatherman.
- [28:23]
B
Absolutely.
- [28:24]
A
Number 16 tarps, good old tarps, you
- [28:27]
B
know, they come in I don't know how many size, 30 sizes, who knows, from small to ridiculous and all kinds
- [28:33]
A
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 8 by 10 in the car, but we have 6 by 8 in the get home back.
- [29:06]
B
You just never know when you would
- [29:07]
A
need a car and, and if we had to get out and get home, we'd throw the 8 by 10 in there because honestly, Krista and I are not going to fit in a six by eight very well. I mean I'm, I'm six four and she's bumping six foot. So we're going to stick out there. But we carry the inexpensive blue poly tarps in the car, the kind that
- [29:33]
B
you can get at Harbor Freight, Northern
- [29:34]
A
Tulum Freight, all kinds of places you can pick those up. They're lightweight, they're really a waterproof cover. They are durable to some degree. They're waterproof until you run your knife through. 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 event.
- [30:01]
B
Absolutely. You see that a lot after a tornado and these areas where the roofing companies come out and just to keep coverage, they start throwing the blue tarps up there.
- [30:09]
A
And so we've got everything it would take to tarp 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 and they
- [30:22]
B
fold up nice and flat so they're really easy to keep to carry in your car.
- [30:26]
A
Number 17.
- [30:28]
B
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, 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 electrolyte.
- [31:00]
A
Most mornings I start my first glass of water with a pinch of pink Himalayan salt in there. And it's strictly for the electrolytes. It's great for so many things. You can use it for cleaning. I've seen it listed as a cleaner to clean cast iron.
- [31:20]
B
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 re seasons the iron as well. Did you know you can also take salt, maybe rock salt or 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.
- [31:54]
A
It's also a pretty good barter item.
- [31:57]
B
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.
- [32:04]
A
Exactly, exactly.
- [32:06]
B
Now I think you've got also in our list that you can use salt for wound cleaning.
- [32:10]
A
Yes, you can.
- [32:11]
B
Now salt on its own can burn really bad.
- [32:14]
A
It's gonna burn. Basically what you're doing is making a simple saline solution.
- [32:19]
B
Okay.
- [32:20]
A
And you do it with 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of water and it needs to be clean water.
- [32:26]
B
Clean pure water.
- [32:27]
A
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.
- [32:40]
B
Yeah, that's a great way to go about it.
- [32:42]
A
Alright. There's 17 multi use items and you
- [32:46]
B
don't have to wait for a crisis or an emergency to make use of these types of items. Oh no, no, this is great. Just for the everyday use.
- [32:53]
A
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.
- [33:24]
B
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.
- [33:32]
A
And I reached in there and I got those pliers and I just ripped off those. Wasn't any big problem then.
- [33:40]
B
Hey, listen, that's a, that's an excellent prepper story right there.
- [33:43]
A
But there's just so many things that are multi use and so, so get away from looking at single use now. There's some times that, I mean, how many uses can you find for a ferro rod?
- [33:56]
B
Okay, well, I mean certain things, certain
- [33:57]
A
things have to be single use. But look at these multi use items.
- [34:02]
B
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. So we think that that is a really cool thing to have and we
- [34:36]
A
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 practicalprepping.info support and give us a little love and thank you for being here today. And as Krista always says, stuff happens, stay prepared and we'll see you next time.