Field Improvised Fixes, whats yours?

[tmorg]

#1 military 550 cord/parashute cord
#2 Lighter
#3 zip ties
#4 chem lights

[cmiller683]

Found that as summer came around, and I stopped wearing long-johns under my jeans, that my belt was a little too loose. Took a fired .22lr casing and a chunk of 2x4 to punch a new hole, and it worked like a charm. Can't even tell it wasn't factory.

Windshield wipers tend to get forgotten about when washing our cars, and we replace them far sooner than need be. Take a couple of those rubbing alcohol swabs out of your med kit and clean your wipers. You'd be amazed at the road grime that comes off it.

JB weld can be an amazing thing. I had to replace the gasket for my air intake manifold on a 99 Chevy K1500, and cracked the manifold when re-threading the EGR valve. Slapped some JB Weld on it and it saved me $300 for a new manifold. This was a year and a half ago, and I have had no problems.

If you're running a little low on antifreeze, and your car starts to overheat, of course you add water! But, what if you don't have any water? And what if you have to take a piss? Problem solved.

[till44]

Cotton balls covered in vaseline make great tinder and will burn for 5-7 minutes alone. I keep a few in a ziplock in all my packs and cars.

Soap on a fan belt will aid in traction and temporarily prevent squeaking and slipping.

Super glue works just as well as stitches.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

Raw honey for healing wounds. The sores diabetics get on their legs seem to respond to this quite well.

The glass filament out of a 1000watt Sodium Halide light bulb works great as a sharpening rod.

Dryer lint as tinder works great. Also keep some duct tape with your fire kit to stick the tinder to when the wind is blowing hard.

I have others just can't think of them right now.

Raw honey is not a good idea: Use pastureized honey. Raw honey has all sorts of spores in it that can cause trouble, ESPECIALLY in immunocompromised people.

Plain white sugar is good too. So is white sugar mixed with betadine (so it's damp). The sugar pulls water from the wound, making it impossible for bacteria to grow.

Dryer lint (or a cotton ball) and vaseline, in a 35mm film can (still available at the film developing counters at drug stores and Walmart) makes terrific tinder.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

I carry a piece of picture-hanging wire (braided wire) in my kit...it can be used to fix all sorts of stuff, and is easy to work - you can just tie knots in it, and it's easy to grab with hands.

[RogerinTPA]

I carry a piece of picture-hanging wire (braided wire) in my kit...it can be used to fix all sorts of stuff, and is easy to work - you can just tie knots in it, and it's easy to grab with hands.

If you could list the various uses that you use, that would be appreciated, thanks.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

If you could list the various uses that you use, that would be appreciated, thanks.

I've used it to tie a separated vibram sole back onto a boot, fix a broken fence, re-attach a pack to frame (tried para cord but it wore through), made snares out of it... It's more durable in some applications than para cord or dental floss (both of which I also carry).

I've also started carrying a piece of hot-glue stick...to fix things like canteens. Melt a bit of the glue with a flame and drip onto the repair.

[EW1066]

You can use CORN CHIPS as tinder to start a fire. They burn quite readily and will burn for several minutes. The kids may be mad that you used their Doritos to start the fire but they"ll get over it.

Vince

[LHS]

I had a muffler fall partway off my old truck on a road trip between Phoenix and Denver. I was carrying my medieval kit for an event up in Denver, and had a brainstorm. I used my two-hander tourney sword to lever the muffler back into place, then lashed it to the undercarriage with the wire wrapping from the hilt. It held until I got to a Meineke in Denver.

[BradCMSP]

Just happened the other week, friend's throttle cable snapped in my lot.

What did we do?

Braid that bitch together, wrap with stripped wire and soldered it tight. Worked like a charm!