Simple Survival Tools - The Stick

Sometimes the simplest items can have the most uses. Gear or tools that can serve a variety of purposes or have multiple uses can be invaluable in a survival situation. Simple things like bandanas which have a variety of uses are hard to compete against when it comes to versatility and multiple uses. It has a very strong competitor in the form of the stick.

A common, ordinary, everyday run-of-the-mill stick can have a myriad of uses that, like the bandana, are limited only by your imagination. The stick may even have more uses than a bandana.

They’re great for teaching your dog to fetch things and they come in all shapes and sizes!

Put enough sticks together and you can make a shelter. A stick or combination of sticks can be used to make a tent from a tarp.

Tie a line and hook on it and you can fish with it! Put a point on it and you can spear a fish if you don’t have hook! Use it to make a simple dead-fall trap if you don’t like fish.

It makes a great club to hit stuff with to give you some added protection. You can use it as a hiking staff to steady yourself or push briars and bushes out of the way. If you’ve got some leisure time after the crisis is over, you can even play a little baseball.

Tie a bunch of sticks together and you can build a raft to avoid the flood waters.

A couple of sticks and a tarp can make a good stretcher if someone gets hurt or injured.

If it gets really cold and you’re really desperate, you could even burn it to keep warm. You would probably only want to do this as a last resort. It would probably be better to burn pine cones and use the stick to heat your can of sardines.

Sticks are even famous in our history:

‘Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.’

Teddy Roosevelt

Sticks even make great toys for the little ones. My grandson, who is almost four years old now, even has a favorite stick that he uses to “hunt bears” with in my backyard. It’s his favorite and he knows it by sight.

I even know a lot of grown men who still like to play with sticks. They’re a bit fancier and usually have a metal barrel and a trigger attached. They call them ”thunder sticks”!

You could probably write a book on all the uses for a stick. I’ve covered just a few but can think of many other uses for the stick.

Don’t forget about the simple things, sometimes they’re not as simple as they seem.

Got stick?

Staying above the water line (on my raft of sticks)!

Riverwalker