Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
- Dress a wound. Unfold the sterilized cotton and tape it over an open wound or use it to clean a deep cut or stop a bloody nose.
- Filter sediment. Cut the bottom off a plastic water bottle. Push the tampon cotton firmly into the narrow neck and poke a hole through the bottle’s plastic cap. Pour mucky water into the bottle and let it filter through the cotton and into a container below. This doesn’t remove microscopic cooties, but does make the water taste better.
- Make tinder. Pull apart and fluff up the cotton and dab it with lip balm or other flammable hygiene products. Then hit it with a spark and you’ve got the beginnings of a good fire. One tampon has enough cotton to make several tinder bundles.
- Craft a survival straw. Separate the two parts of the applicator and remove the cotton. Tear off a piece and stuff it into the larger section (with the rounded tip). Leave a bit of cotton exposed—it will help wedge the two pieces of housing back together again. Drink from shallow puddles without stirring up sediment.
- Protect matches. Use the plastic wrapper to keep them dry.
- Build a container. A rudimentary wooden bowl can be used to collect water. Find a suitable chunk of soft wood and build a hot coal fire on top, using the tampon tube to blow directly onto the coals to focus and intensify the heat, which will burn out a depression.