There are lots of lists out there that detail what to pack in your kit, but what I'd like to do is get a list going of some unusual items that you wouldn't normally think of to pack in your gear. Please post the item and what you would use that item for (bonus to those items with multiple uses). We just might get a few ideas from this thread and have a few more items to pack in our gear.

I'll start off...

I keep a few new or used bike inner tubes in with my gear. They don't weight much and you can cut them in strips to make great reusable tie downs. They make for wet weather and idiot proof fire lighting. Cut a piece of rubber, light it briefly with a single match or just a few seconds on a lighter. This extends the life of your fire making tools as you don't use them as much.

You can also use the cut strips of the inner tube for tourniquets and other improvised medicine such as slings. I've even constructed a crude but workable sling shot with one. Squirrel dinner delight, here I come!

Hell, there's no end to the uses if you get creative.

Any other unusual items that could be useful?

vaseline gauze, aside from being great for sucking chest wounds, if you cut a small X in the center of the foil packaging and pull a bit of gauze out
you can light it with a flint and steel. You can then use it to warm water, as a candle or after it has burned a while fold it up and use it as a hand warmer

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Retired Navy SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) Instructor
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Full size kotex-makes a great compression bandage but real cheap. 4-spice container(salt,pepper, etc.)-sorry but i really like something to help the taste of food.

Some lists mention extra pairs of prescription glasses, but I have "cheaters" with extra magnification in all of my first-aid kits. Also in the first aid-kits I have flea powder for dogs (sleeping bags in tick areas, cuffs of pants, etc). If your BOB is large enough you can add a blow-up kids wading pool to catch water or to make a bathtub.

Some would consider it unusual...others not...but I keep a small military issue bible in my BOB...

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If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

A Deck of cards!

Bugging out isnt fun. So something to keep moral up.

I always include either a crossword magazine, card deck, or a way to make hot drinks.

Playing solitare (or snap if you have kids) with a hot drink will raise your spirits during a bug out scenerio.

Also liking the idea of a bible. Even if you arnt religous, You might well be more open to faith in a SHTF scenerio.

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my site for survival skills, gear reviews, and more.

http://www.wilderness-survival-expert.com/

Dental floss is always handy for numerous uses. Strong and compact.

I've got a deck of those plastic waterproff cards in my pack. Definately worth having in there especially since they take up little space.

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Please don't take my avatar to seriously. I'm really not a bible thumping armageddon prophet.

its well worth it.


the Dental floss is a good one as well, that stuffs really strong.

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my site for survival skills, gear reviews, and more.

http://www.wilderness-survival-expert.com/

I was going through my pack the other day and I realized that I had a small cutting board in there. I remembered that I packed it because I also keep some fishing gear in there and thought it would be good to have something to guy the fish on where keeping the fillets clear. I'm surethere are other uses for it as well.

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Please don't take my avatar to seriously. I'm really not a bible thumping armageddon prophet.