Top Survival Uses For Cotton
Cotton has been one of the oldest and durable form of clothing for a very long time. But with the rise of newer fabrics, it has now found itself at the bottom of the fashion world.
Even then, it still serves as one off the best materials for survival clothing - such as sweaters for cold climates or light clothes for hot zones such as the desert.
Beyond the world of fashion, cotton does hold its relevance in the medical field where it is used for a great deal of things such as soaking up medical fluids for the cleaning of wounds and the stopping of blood.
In the light of its uses in both the fashion and medical fields, it should be easily deduced that cotton is ideal for survival situations.
Here are a few survival uses for cotton to consider:
Fire Starter
One of the uses of cotton in an outdoors situation is starting a fire. Since it is made out of thin fiber, it is ideal for starting a fire. And when coated in petrol or wax, they tend to last longer once set ablaze. They're ideal for building campfire.
Torch
Apart from being used as a fire starter, apply a bunch of cotton balls to the end of a rod and coating them with petroleum jelly would easily serve as a torch.
All you need to do is to get a stick of medium length, coat it with petroleum jelly then use a thin wire to tie the cotton balls onto the stick firm before lighting it up. Depending on the amount of cotton balls used, you should have enough light to last.
Stopping Blood
One of the most useful features of cotton is its capacity to soak up blood, and as a result it has been incorporated into the medical field.
When you're faced with a deep cut, before panic takes over, do yourself a favor by placing cotton over the cut and apply pressure for a while until the blood clots. The cotton will work far better than several other materials at stopping the blood flow.
Water Filter
When in a fix, you can easily make use of cotton balls in filtering water. It is just a matter of fixing generous amounts of cotton balls at the mouth of a plastic bottle, cut out the base and use it as a funnel.
The cotton will trap the dirt, leaving your water clean (but would require further processing like heating it up before it can be totally safe for drinking).
Cleaning Up Wounds
Having cotton in your first aid kit would serve you well in terms of cleaning up a wound properly.
Rather than just making use of a plain cloth, which could be unsterilized, to wipe off blood, instead soak a cotton ball in a bottle of medicinal liquid and carefully clean whatever wound you have. It would serve you better in cleaning wounds properly compared to plain clothes and bandage.
Holding a Scent
Cotton is good in soaking up water as well as soaking up scent. This could come in handy when you want to either attract or ward off animals through scent. All you need to do is to soak the cotton into the source of the scent and place in strategic locations. You could use it as a trap for games.
Ideal for Survival Clothing
Although this has been faced with a number of opposing arguments, none can deny the fact that cotton-made clothing is admittedly useful for survival.
Cotton made sweaters with their fluffy nature tend to be the best in retaining heat when faced with a cold climate, in the same vein cotton made clothing that are light in nature are ideal for hot weather since they easily dispel sweat and heat off the body.
Depending on your chosen environment, your choice of clothing would go a long way in determining if you're not going to freeze to death or suffer from heat. Choose wisely