Survival Tampon

One of the most beneficial skills of anyone during an emergency is their ability to think outside of the box. Anyone can use an item for its intended purpose and you will receive little applause, but take an item and using it successfully for an unintended purpose is what separates the men from the boys. The tampon is a common hygiene product that more than half of the world is somewhat familiar with and an item this common deserves some thought into alternative uses for survival.

So tampons are sterile which means they can make excellent dressings for lacerations, GSW’s, and any other time where a bandage is needed and you don’t have anything but a tampon laying around.

It is very important for tampons to be kept dry and since the manufactures do such a good job at sealing these, the contents are often dry under almost any circumstance making for excellent fire starters.

After the contents are used to start you fire you can keep the remaining matches in the packaging to keep them dry.

The wrapper if opened carefully from one end can then be sealed shut by melting after filling it with air to use as a fishing bobber.

However small the string is it can be unwrapped and the small fibers tied together for a short amount of cordage.

Tampons can be cut and used to stop nose bleeds. First you should cut the tampon into thirds. Then take one third and place it into each nostril to block the flow of blood. Then take the remaining third and place it firmly under the upper lip. The part placed under the upper lip places pressure on the main blood vessels supplying the nasal region and will slow blood flow. Also remember to remind the patient to tilt their head forward tucking the chin against the chest to prevent extra blood from being swallowed which may cause emesis (puke).

I am not sure how common the need is for a survival fuse but the material could be ignited and may burn slow enough to give you time to get away. I am not to be held responsible if you make a bomb and blow yourself up.

The contents of the tampon can in theory be used to filter water as a pre filter but it doesn’t remove bacteria or chemicals so be careful when using this option.

The applicator tube can be used as a blow tube for concentrating oxygen on a set of coals while burning a container into a log. This is the same way the Indians used when making a dug out canoe.

It can be used as a lens cleaner. This may not sound very important but if you are dirt biking, motorcycling, snowmobiling, ect. clean goggles make all the difference. Add hand sanitizer to the tampon and apply to both sides of the lens for an anti-fog solution.

I have heard you could it as wadding for a muzzle loader but since I have no experience with muzzleloaders I cannot say for sure.

If you ran out of cleaning patches and you needed to clean your rifle barrel the cotton would be an ok substitute.

If anyone can disprove the muzzleloader idea, come up with more or better ideas feel free to add.