Leaves are a gift to anyone facing a survival or SHTF moment.

Their uses are so many that you likely will be out of the crisis before you try all their uses – which means in a non survival moment, you should continue to experiment with leaves' many uses.

ROPE

Yes, you can make usable cordage from leaves! The leaves you’ll want for this particular task are fibrous ones such as those from Yucca or Cattail. I’ve found that dead yucca and cattail leaves work best but they’ll work when green in a pinch. Below is a photo of a Yucca plant and then also a coil of yucca leaf rope that I made.

The technique used to fashion usable cordage from fibrous natural materials is called the Reverse Wrap. It’s an awesome survival skill – so cool that I filmed a short video to show you exactly how to do it. Watch the video below:

NATURE’S TIN FOIL

Have you ever wrapped food in tin foil and cooked it in the coals of a fire. When we were kids, Mom would wrap up some ground beef, onions, potatoes and carrots in tin foil and cook them in the coals of a fire.

I’ve cooked fish, quail and rabbit in burdock leaves and it never fails to produce a delicious juicy meal.

INSULATION

Whether from the cold ground or the air around you, leaves are nature’s perfect insulative material for creating dead air space below and around you. One of the most effective cold weather shelters is a Debris Hut and it’s made almost entirely of leaves. The leaves capture dead air space which acts as a barrier to the cold. They help keep warm air (body heat) in and cold air out. As the cool temps come, Mother Nature drops all the insulation you could ever need to the forest floor. She’s nice that way.

HARVESTING WATER

With a little creativity, you can use leaves to direct and harvest water. Rain water is the easiest form of fresh drinking water in the wild if you can get enough of it. Arranging leaves to harvest rain can gather exponentially more if you do it right. Look at them as nature’s little mini-tarps.

MEDICATED BANDAGES

You’ve probably got plantain growing in your back yard right now. Did you know it has built in antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and is the perfect remedy for minor cuts, bee stings, stinging nettle and scrapes? Just chew up a leaf, place it on the wound and use another plantain leave to hold it in place. Plantain has earned the nickname “BANDAID PLANT” for a reason. The fibers in the leaves make durable bandages.

DISTILLED WATER

Leaves transpire water all day long – called transpiration. It is possible to magnify and capture that water transpiration using clear plastic. Nonpoisonous vegetation placed in a ground pit solar still or live leaves tied off in a clear plastic bag can put out a surprising amount of water in full sun. It’s not the fastest and most efficient way of getting water but it’s an option nonetheless.

In just about every environment, leaves abound – even in winter, dry, dead leaves can be used as tinder or insulation against the elements.

Knowing all the uses for leaves, however, is a challenge, given they are so versatile, but for even more uses for leaves, please visit Willow Haven Outdoor.