In addition to being something you have to nag about to get taken out, a simple trash bag can be a valuable resource yet often not considered survival item. From an emergency rope to an impromptu medical item, read on to find 10 interesting ways you can use a trash bag that just may save your life.
1. Emergency Poncho. Staying warm and dry is essential to survival, and you never know when you could get stuck in a downpour, especially in the Pacific Northwest! Keeping a 55 gallon trash bag in your vehicle and backpack is a wise idea. All you have to do is cut a hole in the bottom of the bag, and then flip it on over yourself. If you have a smaller bag you can wear it over your head as a makeshift rain hat. Bonus: The trash bags will also keep in your body heat.
2. Mattress. Fill a trash bag with leaves to make a layer to keep you off the cold ground. You can also do the same to construct a pillow or even as a comfy seat cushion for sitting around the campfire.
3. Water. A trash bag can be tied around branches and left overnight. Condensation will collect from the leaves, drip into the bag, and you have fresh drinking water. Or you can line a ditch with one to collect rainwater. You can even fill one with water, hang it from a tree, poke holes in it and voila! You have a makeshift shower! If you let a black bag full of water sit in the sun all day, you will have the pleasure of a warm shower.
4. Emergency Rope. Cut a plastic bag into strips and braid that into a rope. You can attach items to your backpack, tie your extra food in a tree to keep away from predators, or hang your lantern from the tent poles for an impromptu game of blackjack.
5. Carrier. Think Mark Twain here. Throw your valuables in it, and tie it to a stick! Or you can go all fancy and make a backpack if you are a creative type! Then there’s the old standby of placing your food in the bag and tying it to a tree so the predators do not rummage through your camp.
6. Medical. Use as a tourniquet, bandage cover or compression bandage.
7. Greenhouse. Clear plastic trash bags taped securely together make an excellent makeshift greenhouse when supported by a wooden or PVC structure.
8. Toiler Liner. When the power goes out line the toilet or a bucket with a garbage bag. Makes for easy removal of waste.
9. Travois. Before vehicles people needed a way to transport their belongings or the injured. They developed a type of stretcher and pulled that along with man power or dogs. If you ever find yourself in a situation where a heavy load must be hauled over a distance, build a simple travois and cover it with trash bags to keep the loved ones or supplies inside dry.
10. Compost bin. Heavy trash bags can be used as compost bins for the spring garden, and hidden away easily by just folding a flap. Dig a hole almost the size of the bag and begin filling with compost waste. When needed to hide, just close the bag and cover with native debris.
Do you have an interesting use for trash bags? Please share yours in the comments below!
10 Uses for a trash bag
In addition to being something you have to nag about to get taken out, a simple trash bag can be a valuable resource yet often not considered survival item. From an emergency rope to an impromptu medical item, read on to find 10 interesting ways you can use a trash bag that just may save your life.
1. Emergency Poncho. Staying warm and dry is essential to survival, and you never know when you could get stuck in a downpour, especially in the Pacific Northwest! Keeping a 55 gallon trash bag in your vehicle and backpack is a wise idea. All you have to do is cut a hole in the bottom of the bag, and then flip it on over yourself. If you have a smaller bag you can wear it over your head as a makeshift rain hat. Bonus: The trash bags will also keep in your body heat.
2. Mattress. Fill a trash bag with leaves to make a layer to keep you off the cold ground. You can also do the same to construct a pillow or even as a comfy seat cushion for sitting around the campfire.
3. Water. A trash bag can be tied around branches and left overnight. Condensation will collect from the leaves, drip into the bag, and you have fresh drinking water. Or you can line a ditch with one to collect rainwater. You can even fill one with water, hang it from a tree, poke holes in it and voila! You have a makeshift shower! If you let a black bag full of water sit in the sun all day, you will have the pleasure of a warm shower.
4. Emergency Rope. Cut a plastic bag into strips and braid that into a rope. You can attach items to your backpack, tie your extra food in a tree to keep away from predators, or hang your lantern from the tent poles for an impromptu game of blackjack.
5. Carrier. Think Mark Twain here. Throw your valuables in it, and tie it to a stick! Or you can go all fancy and make a backpack if you are a creative type! Then there’s the old standby of placing your food in the bag and tying it to a tree so the predators do not rummage through your camp.
6. Medical. Use as a tourniquet, bandage cover or compression bandage.
7. Greenhouse. Clear plastic trash bags taped securely together make an excellent makeshift greenhouse when supported by a wooden or PVC structure.
8. Toiler Liner. When the power goes out line the toilet or a bucket with a garbage bag. Makes for easy removal of waste.
9. Travois. Before vehicles people needed a way to transport their belongings or the injured. They developed a type of stretcher and pulled that along with man power or dogs. If you ever find yourself in a situation where a heavy load must be hauled over a distance, build a simple travois and cover it with trash bags to keep the loved ones or supplies inside dry.
10. Compost bin. Heavy trash bags can be used as compost bins for the spring garden, and hidden away easily by just folding a flap. Dig a hole almost the size of the bag and begin filling with compost waste. When needed to hide, just close the bag and cover with native debris.
Do you have an interesting use for trash bags? Please share yours in the comments below!
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