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My BOB Has A Secret…And It Isn’t Pretty.
If you are heading out for a weekend camping trip or a disaster is on its way and you need to hoof it on foot to get out of dodge make sure you always have a few pair of these in your gear:
That’s right the secret weapon in my Bug out Bag is pantyhose… er maybe I should call them Man-tyhose.
It might not be a very manly thing to carry and I get a few funny looks when I step up to the counter at CVS with a pair of Pantyhose… but this is survival planning and you looking manly is trumped by being prepared.
Not only are these cheap to buy but there are dozens of alternative uses for them and they take up practically no space. Check out the list below for a small sampling of what these can be used for:
- You can wear pantyhose as extra layer beneath your normal clothes to keep warm in cold weather.
- Use pantyhose to prevent bites and stings. Wear pantyhose under your shorts or pants to protect against chiggers, ticks, and other biting insects.
- If you are going to be trekking through water, wear them to protect yourself from jellyfish stings and leaches.
- Stretch a pair of pantyhose over a “Y” shaped branch or stick and use as a skimmer or a fishing net. You won’t catch a 10lb catfish in this, but you may be able to pick up a few smaller fish to eat or use as bait for a larger fish
- Use pantyhose to secure bait while fishing. Place bait in the pantyhose and secure it to a tree or anything sturdy in order to to keep from losing bait while fishing.
- Use pantyhose as a pouch or bag to carry things.
- Use pantyhose to fasten or bind things together instead of twine or bungee cords..
- You can use pantyhose as a belt to keep your pants hiked up.
- In first aid, you can utilize pantyhose as a tourniquet or to hold and/or secure a bandage or hot and cold pack.
- Use pantyhose as a first round filter to strain any collected water. The water will still need to be treated or boiled but this first line of defense will help to clear the water of any large particles.
- Use pantyhose to prevent blisters. I saw a lot of comments in one of my previous articles about using pantyhose to keep your feet blister free and I just wanted to highlight it again here. Cut the feet off of a pair of pantyhose at the ankles and wear them under your socks. They will help cut down on the friction between your shoe and your foot, thus reducing the risk of blisters.
Pantyhose look terrible on men… plain and simple, but they were never designed for us but the great thing about them is that they are extremely stretchy and most have a sizing guide so that you can take a guess at the size you should buy.
I’m not saying that these should be worn on a regular basis, but in a survival situation the benefit of having those in your pack outweigh any blow that your pride may take when purchasing them. And if you really can’t break down and buy a pair of them for yourself, I’ve actually seen a few places that sell them in camouflage for the real manly man.
Or if you have the extra cash you can always buy underarmour, but when you can get 10 pair of pantyhose for the cost of 1 pair of underarmour, I would rather save my money for something else.
These are just a few examples of what a little ingenuity can bring you in a survival situation; can you think of a few more that I may have missed?
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Richter
at
Great Idea, I see that a Suggestion I made years ago to one Survivalist leader, has made it’s Rounds, So I take no credit for it. A womans Kotex or Tampon, Has a great many uses. from First-Aid to Fire Starter,Water Filters, Torches, Smug-pots, Wicking for Alcohol Stoves & Heaters, Cami-Face paint Applicator, Washing,In place of rag, Sweat-bands, Bleeding Bandages, Puncher-wound, In-certs(Tampons)or use the Plastic tube for,”Air-way tube”,As well as making Fishing Lures.
As with the pantyhose, There are Many things that a Tampon can be used for, Your only limit is your Imagination.
———————————————————————— Guys, NEVER Forget, That Gal your with, May be Carrying a big purse, Great!! DO NOT Toss it aside, Everything inside that typical Purse has a Host of other uses, Including the purse itself! For Example, Lip Stick, is great for Chapped Lips, Perfumes can be used as a Lure for trapping or Escape & Distracting an Enemy. Pens Galore, Have multi- uses. Tissue = fire Starter, Make-up kits contain mirrors. Those Wire or spiral notebooks, The steel wire can become a Life Savor, if you know how, as well as a weapon for taking life!
A Funny Note just accrued to me,The TSA = Those Stupid Asses, Let millions of women fly every day, While Not Knowing that each woman is a walking, breathing, arson-el?!( My spelling is off I’m sure),
ON Average,1 Woman + 1 Purse = Nearly unlimited Weapons of DEATH! How’s that for our MALE PRIDE, Just Don’t Allow the women in your life to know these truths, or you’ll never hear the last of it!!
Rick
at
We used large feminine pads with long strngs to clean M79 genade launchers. They sere a great fit to the barrel.
gena
at
Hey guys, if you don’t feel good buying pantyhose yourself, get the wife, daughter or girl friend to buy them for you. Women who care will understand. And we could probably pick the right size for you better than you could, since we buy them all the time.
Steve Thomas
at
Ya, and it will help make up for the times we men have had to buy tampoons etc for the wife. Especially because thay always call for a price check.
janey
at
Well I hope my old man doesn’t read this. I have a hard enough time keeping him out of my pantyhose as it is. Just give him more of an excuse, and I will never find a pair to wear.
Sean
at
This is actually an old field trick we used in the infantry, and it certainly works against chiggers, ticks and such! It’s still a sound tip today, so good post Joe. Most people don’t know about it, but then how many grunts are going to tell you they wore pantyhose from time to time? Avon’s Skin So Soft is also effective at repelling many annoying insects. So don’t be ashamed of a few “girlie” products in your field pack!
Irish-7
at
You beat me to it, Sean. Grunts have used nylons for decades, even before I enlisted in the Airborne Infantry in 1980. Nylon creates friction, generating heat. It also dries quickly after you sweat. Some ground-pounders claim that nylon prevents blisters, too. Thanks for the memories!
Ray Johnson
at
Going horse riding? Pantyhose will prevent chafing, wear them under your pants, no body needs to know. The inside of your legs can become red raw and the pain is dreadful, wear pantyhose, problem fixed.
Commander_Zero
at
1) Put a garbage bag over each leg
2) put on pantyhose
3) Instant Waders!
CW
at
Pantyhose material makes excellent paint strainers. Use a large funnel and clothes pins.
cindy
at
This isn’t for survival per se, but I’ve always used strips of pantyhose to tie plants to stakes in the garden. And, to tie vines w/ heavy fruit like melons and those ginormous Butternut squash to the mesh fence. Great post! I’ll remember that as I declutter to make room for our preps, to keep the pantyhose I no longer wear!
janey
at
Good greif. Have we forgotten the biggest use of panty hose. What do you pull down over your face when you rob the bank to get the money to buy your survival goodies.
SchemaByte
at
This is a great tip, and the comments are great too.
It’s pretty hard to not find it hilarious despite all that. Perhaps I’m not mature enough. lol
Rick
at
1. Have you ever heard of using these to keep fallout out of engines after radiation events or Nuclear explosions. If the engine gets irradiated then servicing the engine could get problematic. Put it over the air intakes for engine and passenger area.
2. Use panthose to keep volcanic ash out of auto engine. Put it over the air intakes for engine and passenger area.
3. Use for covering mouth and nose. Also a bandana can be used for the face.
Dave
at
How about using them to catch crabs?
Meat, the more rancid the better, goes inside. Place it into the water, pull it up periodically. The crabs come to investigate the bait, and the fabric holds the claws long enough to pull them out of the water.
SchemaByte
at
Note that you should probably not return them to your wife after this particular suggestion.
EM
at
They sell knee high hose in queen size that work well with socks tokeep yeet warm. we would put on a cotton sock, the knee high and then a wool sock, when we were going duck hunting.
WS
at
Do you not find that this makes your feet slip too much inside the boot? I found some knee-highs that were nylon on the outside, and slightly fuzzy on the inside. Thought they’d make a good no-bulk layer to prevent blisters, but they slipped around so badly inside the sock I put over them that my footing was compromised… which is sort of an issue when you’re taking closeups of rattlesnakes on an unstable scree slope…
WS
at
Urban survival — Panty hose can serve to temporarily replace a broken belt in an engine — maybe for long enough to escape the zombies and get to someplace where you can scavenge a real belt.
Seriously, though — it can save you a lot of trouble in a middle of nowhere winter breakdown, even if only to be able to run the engine intermittently for heat, or to charge a battery.
SchemaByte
at
If pantyhose do save me from zombies, I may have to claim that it was rather instead from sheer physical prowess. Hell, same deal if it was just a winter road repair. Great tip though.
Tony
at
Used these all the time in the Army on long ruck marches to keep blisters off my feet.
destiney
at
great tip and i’m still laughing picturing my hubbs in fishnets… lol not the same thing but im bad like that
sandy
at
Thanks for all the good tips for using panty hose. They are the best tings for emergencies. Just would like to add that I broke a belt on my car once and used panty hose to make a belt. They worked real well and 2 days later were still working until the mechanic put a new belt on. He said that he would have never thought of using panty hose. Would like know if you have ever tried this. Send me an e-mail.