Do you know that a wire coat hanger can save your life? Learn 20 hanger survival hacks here!
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Wire Coat Hanger Household Uses and Survival Hacks
1. Belt Keeper
What's great about wire coat hangers is you can twist them to a form you need them to be. Take a belt keeper, for example.
If you lost or damaged yours, you can fashion a belt keeper or a tie for loose straps, say your watch or backpack straps.
Here's a tip: Use pliers for a clean twist, though.
2. Bottle Carrier
We usually carry aluminum bottles when out camping for heating water. This is practical but there is one downside — it's difficult to take them out from the heat to cool.
Your solution? An improvised tool for picking the bottle. Cut the sides of a coat hanger leaving at least 5 inches of the wire, then curl both sides down.
Twist an inch of either edge up, and you'll create hooks with the spring tension. To pick up the hot bottle, simply slide the hooks, poke it in, and lift the bottle up.
3. Guy Wire & 4. S-hook
Time is of the essence in a survival situation and guy wires with S-hooks will help, for sure. Good thing, you can fashion guy wires and S-hooks from a wire coat hanger.
So if you're out camping you can hook food high up and take them out fast. You can also set up or keep your tent fast with guy wires and S-hooks.
5. Pickup Tool
A wire hanger is sturdy and pliable, and at the same time, it's thin. That's why it's perfect as a pickup tool.
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Simply dismantle the hanger and stretch it to its full length, then twist one end up to create a hook. You can pick up smaller items in hard-to-reach nooks and crevices.
6. Mini-hook
You can make mini hooks with the hook itself from the wire coat hangers. When you're outdoors, you can hang items you want to take off the ground with the coat hanger hooks.
This way, no animals can reach into your stash. You can also spot those items fast so you don't forget to bring them as you pack up to leave.
7. Key Ring
If you need to attach small gears or keys together, you can make key rings from wire hangers. Use a round object or a dowel rod to wound up the wire and fashion a key ring from a cut wire hanger.
8. Needle
Sewing and needlework are important survival and homesteading skills. You might need to sew a tarp to make a tent or sail for your boat, as well as make repairs.
What if there's no needle around? You can make your own with a wire hanger. Cut a portion of a wire hanger, sharpen one end, flatten the other end, then bore a hole through it for the thread.
9. Paper Clip
Many of us know paper clips can come in handy in heaven forbid, abduction scenarios. You can also use it to pick locks. So if the room you're in has some wire hangers, your odds at survival just increased.
On a less serious note, you can use a paper clip made from a wire hanger, simply as you would use paper clips.
10. Penny Stove Stand
Go on a dumpster dive for aluminum cans and wire hangers and you can get cooking in no time.
First, make a penny stove with an aluminum can. Then, make a penny stove stand with the wire hanger.
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11. Makeshift Antenna
It's simple to make an antenna from a coat hanger that actually works. With a few simple tricks, you can make an old and cheap yet functioning radio, work to its full potential.
12. Safety Pin
You won't make a good-looking safety pin from coat hangers, but you can make one that actually works.
One that is handy for keeping things you need as close to you as possible, at all times. A dowel rod or any sturdy stick will help you get those twists or circles easy.
13. Tent Peg
Keep your makeshift tarp tent steady with tent pegs made from wire coat hangers. A simple cut and twist will do the trick, and pretty effective, too. Since coat hangers are already thin, it's easier to drive them down and keep your ten in place.
14. Multipurpose Hanger
Those tent pegs you made from the wires also make great hooks for hanging just about anything. From outdoor lights to garden chimes and other knick-knacks.
15. Hanger for Old Pistol Belts
Simply slide the wire through the holes on an old pistol belt, use a dowel rod to twist, then cut with pliers. What you have are hangers you can hang accessories in.
16. Car Door Unlocker
While not all, many have had their car doors locked with the key inside and that's a real bummer. Thankfully, you can also use a wire hanger to unlock your car.
17. String Insertion Tool
Whether it's your drawstring bag or your pants, the strings or tie sometimes get loose. Insert the string or tie again, using the wire from a coat hanger.
Insert the wire to the casing or waistline, then tie the string to the other end. You can flip that end so it makes a hook, then pull the wire to the string and secure.
18. Drain Pickup Tool
Whether it's a ring or some stuff clogging your drain pipe, you can pull them out with the help of a wire hanger. As stated, its thin yet sturdy structure, allows it to go hard-to-reach places.
19. Barbecue Stick
A wire coat hanger is thin, heat-resistant, and pliant — perfect as a skewer especially for thin pieces of meat. Between a stick and a wire coat hanger, I'd go for a wire coat hanger to cook my small catch of fish.
20. As a Hanger!
Lastly, wire coat hangers are just that — dependable clothes hangers. They're cheap wire hangers, sturdy, and has a lot of other uses.
So don't throw your old or cheap wire coat hangers just yet and always have them handy for survival and SHTF situations.
Wire hangers, once uncoiled, can be used for pretty much anything. Watch this video from Thaitrick:
These are just some of the nifty tricks you can pull off with a wire coat hanger. While “necessity is the mother of all inventions“, don't wait till you need to, to know all about the uses for random things.
In addition, no can ever tell for sure when you will need to put these tricks into action. So, before you find yourself in a survival situation, try adding more tricks with the coat hanger up your sleeves now!
Have you any survival or simple household use for a wire coat hanger you've tried before? Tell us all about it in the comments section below!
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 27, 2015, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
Blanket pin, to turn your wool blanket in to a cover garkent
Good wire coat hangers are hard to come by, since most of the dry cleaners swapped over to really light-gauge wire hangers long ago. Sometimes you can find some of the good, thick old wire hangers in yard sales or dumpsters. Grab ’em when you can!
I also keep the wire handles from carryout Chinese food. It’s very strong, and easily removed & straightened.
really dig the safety pin !
bicycle spokes are some really tough wire ..i repaired my car door release with one
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