Survival is all about preparation, but there are some things that you just can't prepare for.
If you get caught in a situation that you were just absolutely ill equipped to handle, the only thing that would save you is your innovation and adaptability under stress.
A few days ago, I posted an article on Facebook that posed a question…
If you were in a survival situation and found a Frisbee, how would you use it to your advantage?
I wanted to test you all and see just how creative you could get with something as simple as a plastic Frisbee…
After I posted the question I sat back and watched the comments roll in and I have to say you did not fail to impress me!
In fact, I wanted to share with you a few of the responses with you.
Here are my favorite uncommon, out of the box uses for a Frisbee…
10. Knock fruits out of trees
9. A weather vane
8. A shooting target
7. A makeshift paddle
6. A plate
5. A plate cover (to keep food warm and the bugs out)
4. Fanning your fire
3. A mirror or reflector when lined with tin foil.
2. “If you catch yourself around feral hippies, you can easily distract them with the frisbee and make a break for it before any Phish starts playing.” (thanks @nick mackinaw, this one made me laugh!)
1. And my personal favorite is from @Mark Baca who uses it as a hunting tool. Read on:
“I use one for quail and pheasant when they tend to be runners rather than flushers. Once they run I throw it over and past them. They see the frisbee or the shadow and think it is a raptor (Hawk owl etc not the dinosaur ….lol) and they stop in place to hide from the “predator” giving me the chance to catch up and try to them and flush them (if hunting) or just shoot them on the ground.( survival situation).”
(Number 2 on the list actually made me laugh out loud!)
Again, survival is all about thinking on your feet and doing what ever is necessary with whatever you have on hand in order to make the best of a bad situation.
Have you ever used an item outside of it's intended purpose to get something done?
Let me know below.
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Catch water?
I scuba dive for lobster. The lobster typically live in between the rocks (rock jetties) where the rocks lay upon the sea bed. The lobster always back into their burrows. I’m assuming it is so that their claws face out and they can defend against predators that might attempt to enter their burrow. This also affords them safety as they know what’s on their six. You can either wait all night for them to emerge and try to grab them before they grab you, or you can coax them out. One way to get them out is to simply throw some shells into the mouth of the burrow. Lobster it seem, like to keep a tidy house. They will use their claws like a plow and push out the shells that were thrown in. That’s one way, but they don’t come out too far from the burrow while performing housecleaning which makes it hard to grab their carapace, behind the claws. My preferred method is to go diving with a retractable radio antenna (from a portable FM radio or boombox) stowed in my “bug bag”. I find a hole that I think a bug (lobster) might be using and I extend the antenna to full length and insert it into the hole along the ceiling, as far back as it will reach. I then tap it up and down a few times. If there is a lobster in that hole, he/she won’t be in there long! I’m assuming they think there is a predator tapping them from behind, and that’s not something they like. So, out of the hole they go, and they come far out using this method. Then it’s fast hands that are needed!!!
Please remember if you are “bug huntin'”, to have your carapace guage with you so that you don’t harvest lobster that are too small to be legal!!!
Andy, very interesting… but where does the plastic Frisbee come into this scenario?
No Frisbee needed. The question was: “Have you ever used an item outside of it’s intended purpose to get something done?” The item is the radio antenna.
I keep regular steel wool and some 9V batteries in my BOB for starting a fire. Pile up a little kindling and smaller pieces of wood over a bit of steel wool and touch both poles of the battery to it and viola, instant fire. This shorts the battery creating enough heat to ignite the oil on the steel. The oil is there to prevent corrosion of the steel wool, but works great to start a fire.
Done that before, it’s one of the best ways to start a fire for sure. It’s kind of cheating because its so easy. Ive even used a spark stick on it and have lit it with a bit of magnesium dust on it.
I would think you could use the frisbee to dig (in sand or soft soil or to collect water, but I really like the suggestion about the feral hippies. I might have to try that one.
The best use for the Frisbee would be to catch rain water to drink if you’re stranded somewhere without water. It can also be used as a shovel to dig for worms for fishing.
I have come across some poor bastards at the beach, stuck and using their Frisbees as shovels. The hooked edge works fairly well, actually. Tow straps work better though!
If the Frisbee is a hard enough plastic you could shave pieces off of it to make all kinds of things by sanding it on a rock.
Knife
Spork
Fish hook, the bent edge would be perfect
Replacement tent pegs
Sewing needle/ toothpick
Arrow head for spear
Comb? (Maybe? This would be crude and take some time)
Not to mention a quite stylish hat! FABULOUS!!!!!!!