25 Amazing Survival Uses For Condoms That Can Possibly Save Your Life
A condom is not likely the first item that comes to mind when you are thinking of essential survival tools. Of course, your mind will likely jump to its intended use for contraception purposes.
While that is a valid benefit, what most people don’t realize is that condoms are actually great and versatile resources that are likely going to be available for other uses as well.
Being creative and thinking outside of the box while using an everyday item is the first step in getting the prepper mindset. You will begin to challenge the norms and push yourself to prepare for disaster creatively.
That said, a condom's waterproof and elasticity attributes can lead to many creative survival uses. Let's take a look together.
1. Hold Water
The elasticity of a condom should be utilized if you have one in your survival gear pack. Imagine that your only water bottle forms a crack or you come across a stream with no way to bring back water.
You can fill up a condom to temporarily store this water for yourself. Believe it or not, a single condom can hold up to 2 litres of water inside!
Make sure that you protect the latex if you fill it to full capacity, because one puncture can form a leak. Wrapping it in a cloth or a sock can help.
2. Bandage Wounds
Condoms can be kept inside of your first aid kit. If you ever run out of bandages, you can create your own with the help of a condom, some cotton, and medical tape.
For an open wound, protecting it from the elements is essential to avoid infection and to speed the healing process.
Once the bleeding has stopped, you can place a piece of cotton on the affected area and tape a condom over the top to create a water-resistant seal for your wound. If you have a limited supply, just use pieces of the condom so you can change your bandage frequently.
3. Food Storage
If you have any foods that need to be kept in a cool, dry place, you can use condoms for storage. Condoms can be just as useful as regular plastic bags, if not more useful.
They are durable and can protect your food from any moisture that tends to seep through. For when you are on the move, they are also perfect because they will not take up too much space in your bag.
It is highly highly recommended that you use condoms that are non-lubricated for your survival pack. Any other variety could contaminate your food and even defeat the purpose by becoming too slick to be easily handled.
4. Start And Maintain a Fire
With some water and a condom, you can make a pseudo glass to focus sunlight. Check out the video above.
If you do not have the patience. Condoms are flammable! Most people would never think of what would happen if you lit one on fire, well, for obvious reasons. If you only had a condom and a match, you would still be able to start and maintain a small flame.
By placing a lit condom amongst any dry tree branches and leaves, you can find in the surrounding area, you should be able to start a decent fire. For something that lasts you a little bit longer, you can actually fill a condom with fire-starter of your choice.
Because the latex is flammable, it makes for a great casing to hold the rest of your flammable items in place.
5. Make-Shift Gloves
Condoms make great makeshift latex gloves. In any risky situation, you will probably want to keep your hands free of germs or bacteria. Placing your hand inside of a condom is the equivalent of wearing a protective glove.
It will expand to fit your hand snugly. When you are treating injuries, wear gloves to prevent the spread of disease and infection. In addition, you can use these gloves when you are cooking.
Say that you caught some fish or shot a small game during the day that you would like to prepare, these gloves will come in handy.
6. Slingshot
Having a slingshot is actually a very valuable tool as a prepper. It can be used for self-defence, hunting animals, and even as a form of passing entertainment.
Find yourself a sturdy y-shaped branch, and tie each end of the condom to the ends of the branch. This is a relatively easy tool to make, and you can strengthen it as you find better materials in the wild.
Some preppers even create their own darts to shoot from their makeshift slingshots. For those who don’t have the time and tools to make their own ammo, you can collect rocks that can serve the same purpose.
7. Protect Gun Muzzle
Condoms were meant to use as protection, as we all are aware, and the same concept applies when protecting your gun. You can actually wrap the muzzle of your gun with a condom; this is a trick that many experienced preppers will turn to.
By having this layer of latex over your muzzle, it will stay free of dirt and other debris. When you have a gun with you, the last thing that you will want to happen is for it to break or malfunction due to the elements.
When you are not using your gun at night, you can ensure that it stays clean and usable when you need it. Yes, you can still fire with a condom wrapped around it. Interesting video on this above.
8. Tourniquet
Most of us have a general knowledge about first aid treatments. We also know what to keep in a first aid kit. If an injury is sustained and there is heavy bleeding, making a tourniquet above the wound could help reduce the loss of blood.
Although, using a belt would work the same, you may need to keep your belt on to hold your essential tools close to your body.
The elasticity of a condom makes for a great tourniquet! You can tie it tightly above almost any wound to control bleeding and increase your chance of survival.
9. Fishing Bobber
While you are fishing, having a bobber is going to help you to get food. A bobber is also intended to keep your bait suspended at an easily accessible level.
If you inflate the condom slightly and tie it off like a balloon, you can then attach it to your fishing line.
If you have a little bit of cattail fluff in your supply, you can fill the condom with a small amount to create a more stable bobber that won’t get blown away in case of a strong gust of wind.
10. Fastener
This is a simple but effective use; condoms can be used to tie things down. For example, if you set up base and going to cook, you are probably going to want a trash bag nearby (see below).
You can use a condom to fasten your bag to a tree so it will not get blown away and so that you do not forget it and unintentionally leave litter. You can tie virtually anything to branches or trees with a condom.
If it begins to rain and you need to secure a tarp in between some trees to form a canopy, using a few condoms should work swiftly.
11. Keep Matches Dry
Rain can be both a blessing and a curse when you are living as a survivalist. While having water is a powerful resource, it can often affect some of your survival tools are not meant to get wet.
If you are concerned about your matches or other firestarter, place them inside of a condom and tie off the end. You can use these water-resistant pouches for nearly anything that will fit inside.
This method also works well for securing important papers and other items that would not survive sitting out during a storm.
12. Target Practice
There are bound to be times when you are going to be posted somewhere with nothing productive to do.
If you have a couple of condoms to spare, you can inflate them and fasten them to tree branches to create your own target setup. Maybe you would like to improve your accuracy with a slingshot or even with your gun.
Target practice is a good way to pass the time, but it is also a way to improve your survival skills in a fun and practical manner. This is a very simple way to use condoms, but it could prove to be beneficial to you later.
13. Emergency Float
Even for the most advanced swimmers, being caught in a strong current can prove to be a scary experience, especially while unprepared. It sounds funny, but blowing up a condom could save your life.
As it was previously mentioned, condoms can hold up to 2 litres of liquid. This means that inflating one at nearly maximum capacity could serve its purpose as a floatation device.
This is something that can be done during a last resort, and while it may not be as effective as a life vest, it could still potentially save a life.
14. Signalling
In case you are out of flares, do not have a gun on you, and have nothing reflective to use, condoms can help others locate you if you get lost.
Creating some kind of signalling device is one of the most important things that you can do if you become separated from your group. Luckily, certain brands of condoms come in a variety of different colours.
Slightly inflating a colourful condom and then tying it onto a long branch can serve as a sort of flag for you to wave and be located.
15. Keep Animals Away
Just as condoms can be used to draw attention to you, they can also be used to deter animals from messing with your crops or homestead.
By keeping slightly inflated condoms tied to your tent or other areas that you want to remain clear from intrusion, this creates a distraction.
The object due to not being able to identify it will likely frighten wildlife such as deer and birds. Think of it as your makeshift scarecrow, in place to keep intruders away.
16. Create Distraction
You may encounter several times where you will need to make a little bit of noise. This can serve as a purpose of distraction, help with rescue, etc...The condom wrapper can be used here.
Like any survival tool, it is important that you get the most variety of uses out of the item. Utilizing the wrapper can provide a slight distraction from an animal encounter.
It can also serve as a way for others in the vicinity to hear you coming. You can use this noise for virtually any purpose that you see fit.
17. Trash Bag
When you are on the move and you don’t have a way to dispose of your trash, you can use a condom. Keeping your trail clean while you are mobile is extremely important. While a condom is a small solution, it is far better than leaving your remnants behind on the ground.
As a survivalist, you need to be thinking about the bigger picture concerning your survivability. There are either friends or foes around you. Without knowing who is which, you wouldn't want anyone to able to track you.
Having the first mover advantage prevents the rug getting pulled under you.
18. Prevent Splinters
Handling many different types of tree branches and brush will put you at risk of getting a splinter or two. Although, it is more of an inconvenience than a detrimental ailment, being stuck with a splinter can become highly uncomfortable.
In a worst-case scenario, you might even develop an infection. An unconventional but proven useful method of protection is to wear a condom over your fingers to protect yourself when cutting and handling these splintery branches.
While the durability of a condom is not that high, it is ample for these small prevention measures.
19. Store Your Small Electronics
If you have a cell phone or a small radio, you can place it inside of a condom to protect it. Although, you probably should not submerge the device in water, the condom will help to prevent most moisture from seeping through.
Sometimes, you can even use your phone while it is inside of the condom if the latex is stretched thin enough. This is also a good way to protect your electronics from being coated in dust or grime.
The same theory applies with batteries or other items that could potentially be ruined by water and dirt. You can't get supplies easily then. You have to make do with what you have.
20. Care For Your Feet
While living as a survivalist, it is easy to forget about your self-care routine. Although it may not be the most important priority, it is still essential that you keep yourself in top shape.
Without your health and wellness, you will not be able to carry out the daily tasks. If you find that the climate is forming cracks and dryness into your feet, you can coat them in lotion and then place that foot into a condom.
It will look funny, but the condom will help to lock in that moisture from the lotion.
21. Secure Items to Your Belt Loops
Having your essentials at hand is important. While you are on the move, you need to have your essential items at the ready.
On your belt loop, you are likely going to have a plethora of items attached such as your hunting knife, gun, electronics, and other tools. You can use a condom to fasten things to your belt loop if they do not have the proper holster or attachments.
Alternatively, if your belt breaks and you have nothing to hold these items in place, you can use condoms until you are able to fix or replace your belt.
22. Lubrication
Depending on the type of condoms that you have available, some are going to come lubricated. While this can prove to be messy or impractical for plenty of the above-mentioned uses, it could actually be appropriate in other ways.
If you are trying to reduce friction, you can take a lubricated condom and apply it to the impacted areas. This is where your creativity will come into play, but keeping it in mind is an additional alternative use for a condom that most would never think of.
23. Compost
It is important to keep a compost pile while cooking in the wild. You will see a build-up of food scraps, and you can quickly toss them into a condom to keep the compost contained. Honestly, you will need to at least see a dual use for most things.
If you set up a post while you are exploring, you can save all compostable items that you would want to bring back to your home base. The compost can help your crops and essential trees grow.
It is always good to keep this nutrient-rich mix available for the months of the year that are drier. Having a sustainable food source is a key to success as a prepper.
24. Open Jars
Due to air pressure and climate, jars can prove to be difficult to open. Whether it is a jar of food or a jar of ointment, not being able to open it can hinder you.
If you place a condom over your hand, you can give yourself some additional grip while trying to open jars that are stuck in place.
Make sure to use a non-lubricated condom for this trick, and you will see that the additional friction provided will make opening jars a lot easier on the hands.
25. Contraception
Last but not least, its intended purpose. Duh, we all know that a condom is meant to be used for practicing safe sex. How is essential for survival?
Imagine that you are living life as a survivalist, limited access to any services. If there is a pregnancy and no available resources around to maintain the woman’s health, many problems could arise.
Not to mention, there is a risk of catching any sexually transmitted diseases with no proper access to a health clinic. Even though it seems like the obvious, safe sex practices are relevant in any environmental situation.
Summary
To survive, your body and mind both need to be strong. Preppers have the advantage over the average person because they know how to think outside of the box.
While most people would snicker at the thought of using a condom for anything other than its intended purpose, you will find that the options are plentiful. Having an item that is so versatile and durable in your supply case is going to make life after SHTF easier and safer.
Several of these tricks should also inspire other creative uses of condoms as survival gear, so don’t be afraid to think of your own.
