not mine but worth the repost. pretty creative.

http://artofmanliness.com/2012/06/05/survival-tampon/

Do me a favor for the next five minutes.  Try to forget everything you know about tampons.  I know, it’s hard.  But pretend that this is the first time you have ever seen or heard of the item below, and it is a new survival product on the market: the Tactical Adventure Medical Preparedness Outdoors Necessity (T.A.M.P.O.N.).



All kidding aside, a tampon really does have a ton of uses to a survivor.  One could even argue for including a couple in your survival kit.  Ultimately, I’ll let you be the judge.

Before I get into the details of this post, a brief history of the tampon might surprise you.

The tampon is actually regulated in the US by the Food & Drug Administration as a Class II Medical Device.  The word “tampon” is a derivative of the French word tapon which means “a little plug or stopper.” My research indicates that tampons were used as early as the 19th century as battle dressings to plug bullet holes.  There are even accounts of tampons being used as wound plugs in modern warfare.   A friend of mine told me that it’s not uncommon for Army Medics to carry tampons in their med kits.  They are also the perfect product for a bloody nose.  There seem to be mixed accounts of whether the tampon was used as a feminine product before or after its use on the battlefield.

Regardless of intended use, the common tampon has many practical survival uses.  I’ve highlighted a few survival uses below


TAMPON Survival Use #1: Medical Bandage



Tampons are sterile, come very well-packaged in their own waterproof sleeves,  and are designed to be ultra-absorbent — making them the perfect first aid bandage.  They can be opened and then taped or tied over a wound as an improvised dressing.  And, as I’ve already mentioned, they can be used to plug a bullet hole until more sophisticated medical attention can be administered.  Accounts of this use date back to World War I.  Many items in modern society were first developed as a facet of military research — tampons may very well be one of these products


TAMPON Survival Use #2: Crude Water Filter



Another excellent tampon survival use is as a crude water filter.  While it will not filter out biological, chemical, or heavy metal threats, it can certainly be used to filter out sediments and floating particulates.  This would be considered a 1st Phase Filter, which can drastically increase the life and efficacy of your main water filter.  You can also use a filter like this before boiling to filter out larger particulates.  In this example, I’ve pushed a tampon into the neck of an empty water bottle.  I poked a small hole in the cap and then poured in dirty water to filter through the tampon and into the container below.







The water dripped out nearly crystal clear.

TAMPON Survival Use #3: Fire Tinder



Nearly everyone knows that cotton makes excellent fire tinder.  When the dry cotton fibers of a tampon are pulled apart and hit with a spark or flame, they will burst into a nice steady fire.  If you’ve done the right amount of fire prep work, you can easily split 1 tampon into 3 or 4 fire-starting tinder bundles.  Add in some chapstick or petroleum jelly, and you’ve got an even better fire-starting tinder.




TAMPON Survival Use #4: Crude Survival Straw Filter



Yes, I have a tampon in my mouth — don’t laugh! As a last ditch water filter, you can make an improvised Survival Straw from the plastic housing and cotton from a tampon.  As you can see in the photos below, just tear off a bit of the cotton and stuff it into the plastic housing.  I find it better to leave a little bit sticking out to make the housing pieces wedge tightly together.

Again, this filter will not PURIFY your water by removing biological, chemical, or heavy metal threats, but it will filter out sediments and particulates.  This would be a last ditch effort if no methods of water purification were available.



TAMPON Survival Use #5: Wick for Improvised Candle



In the photo above I used the string on a tampon as a wick in an improvised candle which I made from rendered animal fat and a fresh water mussel shell I found down by the creek at Willow Haven.  After the string soaked up some of the fat, this candle burned solid for 20 minutes while I took the photos and still had plenty of wick left.  Pine sap would have also worked as a fuel.


TAMPON Survival Use #6: Cordage



The string attached to a tampon is a cotton twisted cord typically made up of several 4-6″ pieces of twine.  Though it’s not much, it is usable cordage.  This amount of cordage could easily be used to make a Paiute Deadfall Trap.

I’m sure there are also numerous other uses for small amounts of quality cordage.  For example, I also use this cordage in the next Survival Use below…

TAMPON Survival Use #7: Blow Dart Fletching



The blow gun certainly has its place in survival history.  From Native Americans to tribes in New Guinea, the Blow Gun and primitive darts have put food on the table for thousands of years.  They are silent and deadly hunting tools, especially for small game.  Oftentimes, especially here in the US, natural cotton was used as blow dart fletching.  Thus, the cotton from a tampon is a perfect candidate to make cotton-fletched blow darts.  I used the string on the tampon to lash it into place on this bamboo skewer.

Watch out birds and lizards — you may get shot by a tampon-fletched blow dart!

TAMPON Survival Use #8: Blow Tube for Coal Burning Containers



Yes, I have a tampon in my mouth — again.  This time, though, I’m blowing instead of sucking.  Wow…this section is off to a really weird start.  In a survival scenario, a simple container can make the difference between life and death.  A water-tight container can be used to carry water, boil water, and cook meals.  Natural water-tight containers aren’t easy to make or find.  A very practical and useful improvised container can be made by using hot coals to burn out a cavity in a log or stump.  A blow-tube (in this case the plastic tampon applicator) can be used to intensify the hot coals to burn the cavity.

Using the tampon applicator blow-tube, it took me about 30 minutes to coal burn a cavity large enough to hold 2 cups of water.  If necessary, I could then boil and purify this water by adding in several red hot stones that had been heated in a fire.

TAMPON Survival Use #9: Waterproof Match & Fire Tinder Case



In wet and damp conditions, keeping fire-starting tools such as matches and tinder dry can be a challenge.   The waterproof tampon package/sleeve makes an excellent improvised “dry-sack” for any items that are moisture sensitive.  Just fold over the top 2-3 times and tie it off with the tampon string and you’ve got a great waterproof match case.

TAMPON Survival Use #10: Survival Fishing Bobber



Fishing with hook and bobber is an incredibly effective method — especially when using live bait such as grubs and worms.  A thorn hook, some natural braided line, and a tampon bobber make the perfect combination for a survival fishing rig.  Watch out Blue-Gill!

Make the bobber with the tampon package/sleeve by folding over and tying off the top to create a little bubble that will float your bait.  If the package isn’t water-tight, just put some of the cotton inside and it will float just fine.  Then, simply tie it to your fishing line.



Conclusion

I am a huge fan of multi-functional products that can serve double or even triple survival duty.  For the size, weight, and cost, a tampon has an impressive list of survival functions.  If nothing else, this post is another lesson in the importance of looking at everyday products through the eyes of a survivalist.  Creativity and innovation are critical.

So what did you decide?  Are you manly enough to include a tampon or two in your survival kit?

Remember, it’s not IF but WHEN,

A lot of Joes put a few in their IFAK

Makes sense to me. I'm a big fan of making do and traveling light.

Funny but I never thought of the Chapsitck thing but I've put PJ in a CS sized container before.

plus it can be used as a tea bag?

I never go into the wild, there are no sofas

Well Dracula's tea bag , oh wait its not used.....

I have a few in my pack.

Last three were kinda reaching , but overall , good info



I keep a bunch in my trucks for the female friends and wife , already .....now I have to stuff a few in my BOB's .


 

In before someone posts this on their Facebook page.  

I keep a couple in my back pack.  
As a bouncer I use them for nose bleeds. Mosh pits can be brutal.

Don't throw 6 in a lake if you are drinking on a bet . The shore comes at you pretty fast.

You can also use the paper for rolling a cigarette.

The water filter idea is idiotic and dangerous, it would only filter the largest particles and all sorts of microorganisms and other contaminants would still be in that water.

If you are packing, why wouldn't you pack the stuff you need?  Like bandages and stuff.
 

what about anal leakage, i'm sure it works for that? i need a pic.
 

Old_Painless has pointed out they also make a nice cleaning patch for a shotgun

Be careful about using them in gsw's. A lot of them have anticoagulants embedded that can make controlling bleeding a bitch. There are plenty of options for controlling bleeding out there, don't start off handicapped.

He points that out.  

Useful for getting the larger particulates out though.



I laughed my ass off when a buddy ruined his brand new $100 super-lightweight-awesome-magnificent backpacking filter by sucking a bunch of crap in to it.


Was years (decades) ago, so i'm guessing the mechanics of backpacking filtration have improved.  But surely it can't hurt to filter the larger stuff out first with a 50 cent tampon?

Nice post op.  thanks

TXL

You're right. But I still wouldn't show a tampon being used as an improvised survival straw because it's almost no different than just drinking the water.

Not a single manufacturer of any tampon has any added anticoagulant.

IIRC in John Ringo's Ghost series, Mike the former SEAL used tampons for plugging bullet holes too.

So hey if Ringo approves, then it's golden right?

yeah but then you add your chlorine drops to the filtered water. voila anything in its dead and no silt or grit.

I use them to clean the shotguns

I think you're right

 

Great write up.

You had me at "Tactical Adventure Medical Preparedness Outdoors Necessity (T.A.M.P.O.N.)."

. A real picture of a tampon with the fuse lit!  I thought it was just a joke

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Using it along side a micro filter will increase the micro filter's life span, by removing the visible particulates.



I always suggest a pre-filter.





 

At the 2007 SOMA Conference there was an 18D who said he had used a couple to plug entrance wounds after he ran out of real bandages*.  I think they have a place, but they do not always work nearly as well as the average joe might think.

Good stuff, OP.


*ETA- And not just a guy in the hallway, but a main event presentation to the entire TCCC Committee.

How do you know this?  No insult intended, just curious of how you got this info.

Thanks,

You're a regular McGyver, aren't ya'?      You forgot wadding for a musket, though!

They also make for a great deer scent wick to hang from tree limbs.

Brilliant. Ty OP

The concept of adding an anticoagulant to a product designed to absorb and contain blood is so counter-intuitive, I decided to check it out.  Took all of 5 minutes.

When I read this statement, I followed it up with a search of the various tampon manufacturers websites, playtex, kotex, etc, and specifically searched for this info.

In addition I attempted to locate the MSDS for the various brands, and discovered that tampons are specifically exempted from the MSDS requirement.  Products exempted from MSDS requirements have no additives, and all medicated products are required to have an MSDS.

Lastly, a quick google search reveals that this issue has been investigated by snopes, and was found to be false info.

 

Link:



http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu9.htm



 

Hell yeah that's why I always carry no less than ten tampons on me at any given time. That way I have a tampon for each scenario.

Awesome!

I secretly keep tampons in my trauma kit but I was thinking about removing them after I heard about the anticoagulant rumor online.  I will leave them in the kit now without worry since the it was an internet myth.

I keep meaning to put a youtube video together on how to use a tampon for a GSW...
 

Has anyone ever managed to catch a fish with a hook made from thorns like the one pictured?



I really don't see how it's going to work, unless that fish REALLY wants the bait.

It might work, but there are about 700 other, more reliable ways to catch fish than a thorny stick.



 

Good info.

This

I used the GSW example when giving a speech about hemorage control at school.  I asked what half the class had on them to treat a GSW, I said, "think...it is a small bleeding hole..."

Or you could use the multitude of other cotton based products.

Or pack things designed to actually do what you want or need.

You use a tampon when you aren't prepared, imo.

It works, you just don't try to set the "hook". You allow the fish will swallow the baited "thorny stick" and it gets caught in gullet/gills when you pull it out of the water. It works on small trout and the like better than you would think. I've seen folks even do it without thornes. A large grub or some such bait is irresistible to most fish.

Sure I can do better with a hook but it's nice to know natural materials can get the job done too.

From what I understand, it's more that it's a bad idea to go shoving things into bullet holes and possibly making it worse. I could see possibly using it more as an improvised pressure dressing.

Maxi pads are some of the best wound covers ever when taped over a wound.  They dont stick like gauze does.