You will dig these amazing uses for old tires, especially if you're a prepper or a survivalist!
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Survival and Practical Uses for Old Tires You Must Know
1. Bed Gardens
When it comes to gardening, especially when living off-grid or in a survival situation, you can rely on free used tires available for gardening purposes. Old tires work great for building cheap raised bed gardens, and they are pretty workable and durable as well.
Aside from my posts on using old tires in the garden, Charles Sanders has an excellent post over at Backwoods Home Magazine, and here is another one by Kurt Saxon. However, we have to remind you, tires can excrete toxic chemical in the long run, so don't use them for growing edible plants.
2. Fitness Training Camp
We can't stress enough how your health and fitness is vital to your survival. You can keep in a tippy top shape by doing a lot of training, and used tires can also help with that.
Whether it's endurance and cardio you want to develop, a tire obstacle course or lifting heavier tires will help. You can even build a Ninja Warrior-inspired obstacle course with used tires or a boot camp with different car tire exercises.
3. First Line of Defense Bulletproof Wall
Colombia transforms old tires into green housinghttp://t.co/YDiEo4dwds#reuse #earthquake proof pic.twitter.com/WOTI0aSRTM
— Doing Things Differently (@dtdchange) April 2, 2015
If you want a temporary yet durable and bulletproof wall, you can count on old tires for that. Old tires work great for building a bulletproof wall with the right design and support.
You can also make your tire wall as your first line of defense in case of an SHTF scenario. All you have to do is fill each tire with earth as you stack them into a wall.
This type of wall will stop almost anything you’re likely to face, and it costs very little or nothing if you have a source of free tires and earth. Start by filling the tires with dirt and compacting with a sledgehammer. This process is referred to as “pounding the tires.”
A 15-inch tire will take nearly 300 lbs of earth and a lot of work and sweat to fill. The wall is built using staggered courses just like a block wall to make it all hold together and not fall over without having to use mortar or reinforcing steel.
For a wealth of info about building with tires, I suggest you get a copy of Earthship Volume 1, How to Build Your Own. I would like to have my trailer surrounded by this type of wall, leaving space for the door and windows of course.
The same concept of a wall also makes an excellent bullet backstop for a home shooting range. Your shooting skills will need some sharpening after all.
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4. Composter
Old tires… what are they good for? LOTS, apparently. Some genius #upcycle ideas here. http://t.co/6hAulUJSo8 pic.twitter.com/7tc4aXmnqP
— Bob Vila (@BobVila) August 3, 2014
You can build a great composter using old big tires. Start by using a jigsaw or sharp knife to cut out both side-walls around the tread of four to six tires that are the same size.
Find a level spot, put the first tire down on the ground, and cover the bottom with 4 to 6 inches of sawdust or hay and start adding your composting material and cover with a layer of sawdust, hay, or both.
When the first tire is full, put another one on top and repeat until all the tires are full. Now let it stand for at least two months, then remove the top tire and lay it beside the stack.
Shovel what was in that tire off the top and into the tire that is now on the ground, add the next tire, and repeat. After you have finished turning your compost, let it stand for one year or more before adding it to your garden.
5. Goat Gym
"Today I helped build a playground out of tires for a primary school in Southern Morocco" -PCV Abbey pic.twitter.com/a1UfjtFKIv
— Peace Corps (@PeaceCorps) January 6, 2016
Repurpose old tires and build a “goat gym.” If you keep goats, you know how funny and playful they are.
Bury a large truck tire perpendicular and halfway into the dirt in your goat lot. You can watch them jump on, crawl through, headbutt, and rub themselves in the recycled tires in all kinds of strange and funny ways.
6. Livestock Feed Buckets
Old mud tires are also great for keeping livestock feed buckets upright. I have a billy-goat that loves to push and paw his feed bucket over, dumping his feed on the ground, wasting a large part of it.
My solution was to use a 13-inch car tire that fits his bucket snuggly and place his bucket in the center opening of the tire. Problem solved.
Watch this video below by Grig Stamate for more resourceful ways to re-use old tires:
Between turning them into genius DIY ideas and stuffing them into our landfills as additional waste, the former is a far better option. Try any of these survival uses for old tires and give nature a hand at clean up all at the same time.
Do you have some interesting uses for old tires, Share them with us in the comments section below!
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on June 28, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
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If you are careful…old tires can be used to make sandals or other footwear. Not the most comfortable, but better than barefoot.
They used to call those Ho Chi Minh sandals.
Make a loading ramp for dogs to save their joints. Cut off sidewalls cut across the belt with grinder style cutoff wheel ( if it is steel belted ). Taking care not to heat it enough to ignite it. Attach to a metal or wood ramp. The rubber gives traction prevents splinters.