Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Survival Sponge


There are many items that can serve multiple purposes. When survival counts, you need to make sure that you use every item that may be available. By utilizing all your resources, your survival efforts will be a lot simpler to accomplish. Sometimes the simplest item can make a great piece of survival gear. One such item is the sponge.

A sponge is a fairly unique item that can serve a multitude of purposes. They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and can be easily trimmed or sized to fit a specific need. The most important aspect of the sponge for survival purpose is not only its ability to hold water but its ability to work as a water collection device. A sponge can be easily used to collect dew, moisture condensation or rain and normally its ability to hold water is only limited by its size. Amazingly though, a sponge, when dry, is extremely lightweight but readily soaks up any moisture to which it is exposed. The fact that sponges weigh little or nothing when dry is an important quality if weight is one of your priorities when it comes to survival gear.

The sponge also has another great use as part of your first aid kit. It makes an excellent cushion for injured limbs that need to be splinted. A small sponge, when slightly moistened becomes very pliable and makes an excellent source of cushion material for an injured finger or toe that needs splinting. It can even be used as an improvised eye patch.

Many of the uses for a sponge are fairly obvious and are commonly used for such purposes. They are great for taking a bath, also known as a “sponge bath”, when water resources are limited. Proper hygiene is always important in a survival situation. They can even be used to wash and clean cooking and eating utensils.

Got sponge?

Staying above the sponge soaked water line!

Riverwalker

6 comments:

idahobob said...

I notice that the sponge in yer pic has the ol' green scrubbie on the bottom side.

Got LOT's of 'em! Just love 'em!

Bob
III

Anonymous said...

Good idea. Lok for those 'dehydrated' sponges which are greatly compacted, and spring back after put in moisture. Also read if any chemicals are inside sponge if it will be used for water procurement.

Anonymous said...

Love sponges and especially the ones with scrubbies attached. Be very careful using these to collect dringing water. When new they contain chemicals and when used they contain a multitude of bacteria.
I read about a way to collect water from dew that is interesting. Tie pieces of cloth above your ankle and walk through the early morning dew on the grass and shrubs. Take the clothes off as they get soaked and wring them out to extract the water.

riverwalker said...

To: idahobob

The ones with the green scrubber on one side work great for clean-up duties.

You've got a sharp eye to notice that in the pic.

Thanks Bob.

RW

riverwalker said...

To; anononymous 11:51

It's a lot easier to collect water with a sponge...need to make sure they don't contain soap or other chemicals though.

Thanks anon.

RW

riverwalker said...

To: anonymous 12:29

Good way to collect dew...just need to be careful about pesticides and other forms of contamination. If you've got chemical contamination of your water source, the only safe way to process it for drinking is by distillation.

Thanks anon.

RW

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