Photograph by the Author.
Maybe
I should have called this article “Better Survival with Aluminum Foil”, or
maybe “The Top 10 Survival Uses of Aluminum Foil”, but, in any case, you get
the idea!
In
a survival situation, aluminum foil, often mistakenly called “tin-foil”, is
your friend, and you should always carry some in your survival kit. In fact, many survival experts recommend that
you carry two square feet (.185 meters2) of aluminum foil; that’s a
strip one foot wide by four feet long (30 cm wide by 122 cm long) in your
survival kit.
One foot by four feet equals two square feet. Graphic by the Author.
One side is
shinier...
Note how the side on the right is shinier than the
side on the left. Photograph by the
Author.
Oh,
and don’t forget aluminum foil has a shiny side and a less shiny side. Which side you have facing out, depends on
what you are using it for.
Top 10
Survival Uses of Aluminum Foil
I
prioritized my top ten survival uses of aluminum foil according to the “Rule of
Threes”. Remember, the first thing you
do in a wilderness situation, is to check the scene and make sure that it is
safe, and then you care for any injuries.
After that, finding a shelter is your next priority during a wilderness
emergency. You can only survive for
about three hours without fire, or a shelter from the environment. And shelter comes before a fire, because a
windbreak and a shelter make it much, much easier to start and build your
fire.
Rule of Threes, graphic by the Author.
1 - First
Aid
First, remember when it comes to
first aid, you can only act within the scope of your training and if you are
going to spend much time in the wilderness you need training in advanced first
aid, because trained medical professionals are going to be more than 20 minutes
away. For more on this read “The Top Ten
Wilderness Survival Skills...Number Four©”, HERE.
An excerpt from the American Red Cross’s Wilderness and Remote First Aid, page 50.
Hopefully, you will never have to
deal with a “sucking chest wound”, this a wound in which the chest
cavity is no longer sealed, and air can flow through the wound into the
victim’s chest during each inhalation.
It is called a sucking chest wound, because of the sucking or hissing
noise that the wound makes when the victim breaths. This is a severe injury, and it requires
immediate treatment. Uncover the wound
and use the victim’s hand to cover it while you prepare an “occlusive patch”. Any air-tight material can be used, such as plastic
film, cellophane, duct tape or aluminum foil to make an occlusive patch. The patch should be large enough to extend
beyond the wound by two inches (5 cm) on all sides, since smaller patches can
be sucked into the wound. Tape the patch
over the wound with adhesive or duct tape on three sides only. The fourth side should be left untaped, so
that when the casualty exhales or breaths out, air is expelled from the chest
cavity and can escape from underneath the untaped edge. When the victim breaths in, or inhales, the
occlusive patch will stick to the skin and act as a one-way valve, preventing air
from rushing back into the chest cavity.
If you don’t have any tape or if the victim is too muddy, wet, or bloody
for it to stick, put the occlusive patch on and hold it in place with battle
dressing, gauze, a triangular or ace bandage
You can also use aluminum foil to cover
open abdominal wounds or to make finger splints. To make a finger splint from aluminum foil, first
cut off a piece of aluminum foil that is several times wider and twice as long
as the injured finger. This will be a
piece between three to four inches wide and twelve inches long (7.5 to 10 cm
wide aby 30 cm long). Next, wrap the
broken finger in some cloth or gauze, and then fold the piece of aluminum foil
over lengthwise, several times until the folded foil is as wide as the broken
finger. Next fold it in half crosswise, over
the broken finger to create a two-sided splint made of multiple layers of foil.
Bend the splinted finger into a natural
and comfortable position and then use a sling to hold the arm and the broken
finger up out of the way.
2 - Protection
from the Environment
Your
first line of defense for temperature regulation and shelter against the wind,
the wet, and the cold are your clothes. Maintaining
your body temperature in the normal range of 98.6oF (37oC)
is your priority! If you don’t have a
knit cap, (and you should always carry a knit hat, spring, summer, fall or
winter) you could be in trouble, since heat loss from your bare head can be up
to 33% at 60oF (15oC), up to 50% at 40oF (4oC)
and up to 75% at 5oF (-15oC)1.
A “tin-foil hat”, it’s not just for conspiracy
nuts! From Wikimedia, by Rory112233,
August 21, 2017, HERE.
So,
if you don’t have a hat for your head, make a “tin-foil hat” by wrapping your
head with aluminum foil, with the shiny side in towards your skin. Wrapping your body in aluminum foil reflects
your body heat back to your body and it stops heat loss from both evaporation
and convection. The foil slows the heat
loss by evaporation by increasing the humidity of the air next to the skin, and
the aluminum foil reduces convection heat loss by providing a layer of windproof
insulation. Even if you have a knit hat,
remember you can put a layer of aluminum foil over your hat to add an
additional layer of insulation and protection from the wet and cold. For more on keeping warm in the outdoors
read, “Comfortably Cold, What’s That?©”, HERE.
“Make Your Own Snow Goggles!”, by the Bowdoin Arctic
Museum, HERE.
You
don’t want snow blindness, not being able to see in a survival situation is not
good! If you have lost your sunglasses, you
can use aluminum foil and a shoelace to make a pair of improvised snow goggles.
With your knife, or the razor blade from
your survival kit, cut a two inch (5 cm) wide section of aluminum foil from the
twelve inch (30 cm) wide piece of foil in your survival kit. If you don’t have anything to measure with,
two inches is about the distance from the tip of your thumb to your second thumb knuckle. Next fold the foil in half crosswise so that
it is six inches long by two inches wide (about 15 cm by 5 cm) piece of foil. Fold it again crosswise and then once more lengthwise,
and along the lengthwise, folded edge cut out two eye slits, starting one thumb
width away from both sides (about an inch or 2.5 cm). Next, unfold the lengthwise fold and then the
crosswise fold and cut out a triangle for your nose that is one thumb wide (1
inch or 2.5 cm) at the base, starting from the center of the lengthwise
fold. And last, fold over each side
edge, once and then once again, and then with the tip of your razor blade punch
a hole through, at the edge of the double fold, along the lengthwise fold line. This double fold along the side edge
reinforces the hole so that when you thread the shoelace through from behind, the
aluminum foil won’t rip.
For
more on using your hands to measure things, read “Try Your Hand at Measuring ©”,
HERE.
Snow goggles, improvised from aluminum foil,
photograph by the Author.
3 - A Wind Block When Starting a Fire
When starting and building a fire,
you can use aluminum foil to make a windbreak supported by sticks, shiny side
towards where your fire will be, to block the wind and protect the flames.
4 - A Vapor Barrier When Starting a
Fire
It
is always a good idea to have a vapor barrier between your fire and the
ground. Especially if the ground is
covered with snow, if it is wet or you are building your fire in a low spot, where
the water table is close to the surface.
In these cases, you will have to build a platform to keep your tinder
and fire off the damp ground and snow.
If the ground is covered in snow that is too deep to dig all the way down
to ground level, the platform will keep your fire from melting down through the
snow and extinguishing itself in a puddle of its own making. And if
the ground is wet and the water table is close to the surface, the platform
will protect the fire, since as the fire grows, it will warm up the moisture in
the ground below, drawing the resulting water vapor upwards and making it
difficult to keep the fire going.
Besides
building a platform to keep your tinder and fire off the wet ground, you could
use a fire pan or if you don’t have a fire pan, a piece of dry bark, or a piece
of aluminum foil. However, remember that
these three will not work in a snowfield, unless they are first set on a log
platform.
Also,
while many people know about petroleum jelly fire starters, few know that if
you place petroleum jelly fire starters on a piece of aluminum foil, with your
tinder on top of it, you will prevent the jelly from melting into the ground and
your flame will last longer.
For
more on fire building check out these articles, “The Top
Ten Wilderness Survival Skills...Number Six©”, HERE,
“Fire Burns Up! ©”, HERE,
“The Book of Knowledge, Camping and Camp Lore, 1957©”, HERE,
“Survival Tips From Jack London, Part One©”, HERE
and “Your Campfire and How to Use It ©”, HERE.
5 - To Reflect Heat
Making
a windbreak from branches and lining it with aluminum foil, shiny side towards
the flames, not only does this block the wind and protect the flames, but it
will also reflect more of the heat towards you and your shelter. .
6 - Keeping Things Dry
Heavy
downpours or crossing rivers and streams can get your survival supplies wet faster
than you would expect. So, make an
improvised waterproof bag, for your matches, some tinder, dry socks, cellphone,
etc. Make a pouch by folding over
section of your aluminum foil and folding over the open edges several times, crimping
the fold tightly with the back of your thumb nail to get a good seal.
7 - Making a Warming Pouch
In
the past, and even sometimes today, people would heat up a convenient stone in
the ashes and coals of a campfire and use it to add some warmth to their
night’s sleep. However, it is easier to
find a handful of small rocks, than it is to find one or two perfect stones
that are dry all the way through and putting a wet rock into the fire is just
asking for shrapnel. So, make a pouch or two out of aluminum foil, fill it full
of small dry stones, pinch them shut, warm them up in the coals of your fire,
and place them by your feet or belly. It
will help you keep warm during cold nights and provide a little extra comfort.
8 - Signaling for Help
Because
of the reflective nature of the shiny side of the aluminum foil, you can use it
to make a signaling mirror to attract help from a passing plane or boat. Fold or wrap some foil, shiny side out,
around or into a three inch by five inch (7.6 cm by 12.7 cm) rectangle, smooth
out any wrinkles or creases and make sure that it is a flat and smooth. Now you have a signal mirror! It will not be as well as a purposefully
manufactured mirror, but it will work.
How to aim an improvised signal mirror, an excerpt
from Popular Science, March 1962, page 129.
You
can also use your aluminum foil to help searchers find you by attaching strips
of aluminum foil to the branches of trees or shrubs in open areas, or you could
even make a survival kite!
An aluminum foil signaling kite, an excerpt from “How
It’s Done: Survival Signals”, by Ernest P. Doclar, Field & Stream,
June 1974, page 136.
9 - Collecting Water or Food
You
can build a survival pot from aluminum foil to collect water or food. Take a section about two feet long and one
foot wide (60 cm long by 30 cm wide) and fold it in half crosswise. Fold over the side edges several times, crimping
the folds tightly with the back of your thumb nail to get a good seal. Shape and roll the top edges into a circle,
and now you have a pot to water or food.
An Emergency Survival Pot, photograph by the Author.
For
more on making a pot from aluminum foil, read “An
Emergency Survival Pot or Boiling Water in Tinfoil©”, HERE.
10 - Disinfecting Water by Boiling
When
you disinfect water, you kill all the harmful bacteria, viruses and protozoa
that might be in it. Anytime you are
unsure of your water source, disinfect it.
The gold standard for water disinfection is boiling, so if you don’t
have any water purification tablets or a water filter, then boil it! First make an Emergency Survival Pot Keep,
fill it with water and set it over coals or place it along the edge of the
fire, since aluminum foil can burn or melt if left in the direct flames,
particularly if the amount of water in it is low.
While
most pathogens in water are killed at temperatures well below the boiling point
of water, a rolling boil is the only easily recognizable visual clue to the
temperature of water without using a thermometer. The CDC recommends heating water to a rolling
boil for one minute, and for an additional three minutes at elevations above
2,000 meters (6,562 feet), to ensure that the water has remained hot enough,
for long enough, to destroy any dangerous pathogens. Similarly, the National Wilderness Conference
advocates bringing water to a rolling boil for one minute at sea level and
boiling it for an additional one minute for every 1,000 feet (305 meters) above
sea level, to ensure that dangerous pathogens are destroyed.
For
more on disinfecting water by boiling read “When is boiled, boiled enough…? ©”, HERE, and watch
these two videos “An Emergency Survival Pot or Boiling Water in Tinfoil, Part One”,
HERE,
and “Part Two”, HERE.
Oh, and
one last thing...
Whenever you enter the wilderness, as well as
leaving a copy of your trip plan with a responsible someone at your home base,
leave another copy in your car in the trailhead parking lot, along with a copy
of the footprints of each member of your party, labeled with a magic mark, and
made by stepping on a piece of aluminum foil.
If you are misplaced and search and rescue team must track you, this
will help them to find you.
Aluminum foil
footprints, photograph by the Author.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Jerusalem Artichokes, They Aren’t Sun Flowers ©”, where we will
talk about a late summer, early fall wildflower, the Jerusalem Artichoke.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 Captain
Earland E. Hedblom, MC, USN; Polar Manual, Fourth Edition, [National
Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MA, 1965], p. 37
Sources
American
Red Cross; Wilderness and Remote First Aid, [American Red Cross, 2010],
page 50
Bowdoin;
“Make Your Own Snow Goggles!”, [Bowdoin Arctic Museum, Brunswick, ME], https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/pdf/make-your-own-snow-goggles-activity.pdf, accessed September 14, 2022
Doclar, Ernest P., Jr.; “How It’s Done: Survival
Signals”, Field & Stream, June 1974, page 136,
https://books.google.com/books?id=2t1BG4UG2WwC&pg=PA136&dq=%22aluminum+foil%22+kite+survival&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUro3NkKb1AhX0SDABHcgYCmQQ6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=%22aluminum%20foil%22%20kite%20survival&f=false,
accessed January 9, 2022
Hedblom, Captain Earland E. MC, USN; Polar
Manual, Fourth Edition, [National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD,
1965], p. 37, https://ia800305.us.archive.org/33/items/PolarManual4thEd1965/Polar%20Manual%204th%20ed%20%281965%29.pdf, accessed 12/07/2019
MacWelch, Tim; “Survival
Skills: 10 Uses for Aluminum Foil”, [© 2022 Recurrent], https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/survival-skills-10-uses-aluminum-foil,
accessed September 10, 2022
Nitro-Pak; “17 Prepper
Uses For Aluminum Foil”, March 23, 2020, [© 2022 Nitro-Pak Preparedness
Center], https://nitro-pak.com/blog/17-prepper-uses-for-aluminum-foil/, accessed September 10,
2022
Rodgers, Bob; “20 Ways To
Use Aluminum Foil For Wilderness Survival”, https://www.survivopedia.com/20-ways-to-use-aluminum-foil-for-wilderness-survival/,
accessed September 10, 2022
Urban, Alan; “33 Prepper
Uses For Aluminum Foil”, [© Copyright 2010-2022 Urban Survival Site], https://urbansurvivalsite.com/33-prepper-uses-for-aluminum-foil/,
accessed September10, 2022
