We all know the importance tampons play in everyday life when used as intended.

What most people do not know is how versatile they are in a survival situation or SHTF incident; here are just a few of the dozens of their survival purposes.

Medical Bandage

Tampons are sterile, come very well-packaged in their own waterproof sleeves, and are designed to be ultra-absorbent — making them the perfect first aid bandage. They can be opened and then taped or tied over a wound as an improvised dressing. And, as I've already mentioned, they can be used to plug a bullet hole until more sophisticated medical attention can be administered.

Accounts of this use date back to World War I. Many items in modern society were first developed as a facet of military research – tampons may very well be one of these products.

Crude Water Filter

Another excellent tampon survival use is as a crude water filter. While it will not filter out biological, chemical, or heavy metal threats, it can certainly be used to filter out sediments and floating particulates. This would be considered a 1st Phase Filter, which can drastically increase the life and efficacy of your main water filter.

You can also use a filter like this before boiling to filter out larger particulates. In this example, I've pushed a tampon into the neck of an empty water bottle. I poked a small hole in the cap and then poured in dirty water to filter through the tampon and into the container below.

The water dripped out nearly crystal clear.

Fire Tinder

Nearly everyone knows that cotton makes excellent fire tinder. When the dry cotton fibers of a tampon are pulled apart and hit with a spark or flame, they will burst into a nice steady fire. If you've done the right amount of fire prep work, you can easily split 1 tampon into 3 or 4 fire-starting tinder bundles. Add in some chapstick or petroleum jelly, and you've got an even better fire-starting tinder.

Wick for Improvised Candle

In the photo above I used the string on a tampon as a wick in an improvised candle which I made from rendered animal fat and a fresh water mussel shell I found down by the creek at Willow Haven. After the string soaked up some of the fat, this candle burned solid for 20 minutes while I took the photos and still had plenty of wick left. Pine sap would have also worked as a fuel.

Waterproof Match & Fire Tinder Case

In wet and damp conditions, keeping fire-starting tools such as matches and tinder dry can be a challenge. The waterproof tampon package/sleeve makes an excellent improvised “dry-sack” for any items that are moisture sensitive. Just fold over the top 2-3 times and tie it off with the tampon string and you've got a great waterproof match case.

Survival Fishing Bobber

Fishing with hook and bobber is an incredibly effective method – especially when using live bait such as grubs and worms. A thorn hook, some natural braided line, and a tampon bobber make the perfect combination for a survival fishing rig.

Watch out Blue-Gill!

Make the bobber with the tampon package/sleeve by folding over and tying off the top to create a little bubble that will float your bait. If the package isn't water-tight, just put some of the cotton inside and it will float just fine. Then, simply tie it to your fishing line.

As I said, these are just a few survival functions of the tampon.

They are so versatile, they should be included in your bug-out bag, as part of any survival preparation supplies and in a survival kit.

To learn more about survival purposes for the tampon, please visit Jezebel.

Featured Image via Jezebel/Creek Stewart