Did you know that you’ve been tying your shoes with a potential fire starter? It’s just one of the survival uses for shoelaces. More on that later.
For thrill-seekers, an adventure trip entails – trekking, deep-sea diving, bungee jumping, river rafting, and many more. The real adventure is something that gets the adrenaline pumping like Free Soloing a climb that’s impossible like Alex Honnold.
The real adventure is when you are stuck at a place and have to look for ways to get out of the place and situation. Surviving against the odds requires the presence of mind, courage, inventing/gathering tools in the vicinity.
Acquiring some knowledge and learning a few survival hacks doesn’t hurt either. With that being said. In this post, we’re covering 10 of the best ways to use shoelaces to survive.
10 Survival Uses For Shoelaces
Shoelaces usually do not cross our mind as survival tools, but they have been found to be useful in various circumstances. They are stretchable and strong that makes them immensely useful.
Let’s look at some brilliant ways of using shoelaces.
1) Use Them As A Rope
Tie all the shoelaces together to form a long rope that can be tied to a tree. Use this to haul yourself up.
This rope can also be used to tie-up things together when the bag you are carrying is no longer useful.
2) Build A Makeshift Shelter
The most important thing when you are outdoors is Shelter. It saves you from the elements of nature like dust storms, wind, and rain. Dig the ground and place some strong tree branches or sticks whichever you can find in the vicinity. Take a tarpaulin and tie it using shoelaces to make a shelter.
3) Tie Your Shoes With A Fire Starter
Fire is the most important of all when stuck in the wild. It is quintessential for cooking food and for keeping the wildlife at bay. Setting fire with regular shoelaces is a bit difficult and needs some expertise. Instead, customized shoelaces made of paracord and built-in flint rods are available that can start a fire quickly with fewer efforts.
4) Hang Food For Cooking
You can create a fire under a long low-lying tree branch and hang your food from there using shoelaces so that the food will slowly cook and will be ready for consumption. Tie the shoelaces around the branch and place the food on them carefully so that it doesn’t fall down and is just above the fire.
5) Use As a Belt
It can be used to fasten up loose pants and to keep the sleeves and other loose clothing in place when they come in the way of work. It may not be the best survival belt out there. But for one that you can make yourself, it holds up for the task.
6) Provide Support
In the unfortunate event of a fracture or dislocation of joints, shoelaces can be used to support the particular body part. For example, for arm fracture, you can tie the shoelaces over the shoulder and under the arm such that shoulder supports the arm.
7) Hunting Purposes
Make a small loop and place it on the ground and hide it with leaves.
Place fruit in it.
If a small animal comes by and tries to eat the fruit, pull up the string thus trapping the animal’s foot in it.
It can also double-up as a fishing line. Attach a hook and if you don’t have a hook just cut out the aglet ( the plastic or metal part at the end of a shoelace) and fray the ends of the shoelace and drop it in the water.
The frayed end will give the appearance of a worm.
8) Slow Down Blood Flow
In case of a snakebite or attack by a venomous creature, tie the shoelace tightly to the area above the bite to slow down blood flow to avoid the poison from spreading to the other parts of the body.
This gives you enough time to receive the necessary medical care.
9) Keep Track of Your partner
If you and your partner are lost in the woods, you both need to stay together.
Parting ways to search for means to get out is never a good idea.
You can tie one end of the string of shoelaces to your waist or wrist and the other end for your partner. This way you won’t separate. ( You may need a lot of shoelaces for this. )
10) For Identification Purposes
It is easy to forget your way in a vast unfamiliar place. Tie a shoelace ( preferably different colored ) to a tree as you pass by. In case you are lost, you can find your way back by identifying the shoelaces.
Conclusion
You don’t need the most sophisticated gear or special forces training for survival. Just creativity and the use of simple objects can get you out of many survival situations. Learning a few of these skills and hacks makes you much more self-sufficient in general.
The more you learn, the more prepared you’ll be overall.
Just keep an open mind and do not panic at the opportune moment.
Do you use your shoelaces in any of these ways?