I bet you’ve never heard of these insanely beneficial ways to use alcohol…
Let’s be honest – there are few of us who don’t enjoy a stiff drink every now and again. And, now that the holidays are here, it seems that this liquid elixir is everywhere we look.
However, despite its popularity in normal life, many preppers don’t believe they can actually use hard alcohol in a survival situation. And this is a real shame, because they’re sacrificing tons of life-saving benefits that can really help them stay alive.
And believe me, alcohol can do a lot more than just get you drunk so you forget the SHTF scenario that’s happening outside your front door.
As it turns out, alcohol – especially hard alcohol – can provide you numerous benefits when SHTF.
Luckily, you can be smarter than those preppers who didn’t believe booze was actually useful. All you have to do is take advantage of these…
23 Crazy Ways To Use Alcohol
Now before we get into all the survival uses for alcohol, there’s a few things you need to consider:
Purchasing & Storing Alcohol
When purchasing alcohol, it’s best to figure out what your purposes are. For instance, if you’re bugging out, plastic bottles are your friend. These are lighter in weight, won’t break as easily, and are far easier to transport.
In contrast, if you’re going for a long-term storage solution (such as bugging in), glass is often the best choice. Glass bottles last longer, and are harder for rodents and other critters to get into.
Regardless of your situation, if you’re planning on bartering you need to invest in at least a few small bottles (like shooters, for instance). These are far easier to trade than large bottles are, and they allow you to stockpile much more efficiently.
What To Avoid – Container and Color
Everyone has an alcohol preference, and so it’s important to appeal to a wide variety of tastes if you plan on bartering. That’s why it’s often best to have a mixture of light and dark alcohols on-hand, as well as those of different brands.
Keep in mind that when SHTF it’s unlikely people will be extremely finicky about their alcohol preferences, so be sure to stockpile more of the cheap options (along with a couple premium brands just in case).
Here’s a cool hack to save you money: you can run cheap vodka through a water filter to make it taste better. This is an easy way to trick people into drinking cheap vodka – and make them actually enjoy it!
Another reason to stockpile different types of alcohol is that they’re good for different uses. For instance, vodka is one of the best for getting rid of bacteria. Grain alcohols like everclear, on the other hand, are far more flammable.
Whichever alcohols you choose, be sure to fit them with their purposes in mind to ensure you’re stocking up on the right ones for your specific situation.
Speaking of purposes, here are the…
23 Survival Uses For Alcohol
1 – Recover From Sickness
All you need is some bourbon, a little lemon, and honey and you’ve got yourself a “get-better” drink that can soothe a sore throat and help you fight off a cold.
2 – Get Ice Off Windows Quickly
If you need to jet and you’re having trouble defrosting your windows, simply lather some alcohol on your windows and you’ll be on your way in no time.
3 – Bartering
Hard alcohol will be in high-demand once SHTF. Not only is it insanely useful (as you’re coming to realize through this article), but it’s also an addictive stimulant that all the drunks will be scrambling to get their hands on.
Stock up on plenty of alcohol now so you can save some for yourself and trade the rest for supplies you desperately need. And, if you’ve got enough extra storage, you can even sell your booze for cash and become the richest prepper out there (that is, if cash is still valuable).
4 – Relieve A Sore Mouth
Toothaches and sore gums can be a real pain – especially in a crisis when there’s no doctor around. For some much-needed temporary relief, swish some vodka around in your mouth for a minute (and swallow if desired).
5 – Ease The Rash
If you had the misfortune of stepping into poison ivy, you can help stop the itch (and the pain) by dabbing hard alcohol onto the rash.
6 – Remove Fungus
All kinds of bacteria will surround you in a crisis – and it’ll be difficult to find a doctor that’s available to help you. Luckily, you’ve got hard alcohol by your side. Simply combine it with some water and dab the solution onto your ears, feet, and ears to kill the fungus.
Keep in mind it’s important to dilute the alcohol so it doesn’t kill off healthy skin cells.
7 – Ease Bug Bites
Bug bites are some of the most annoying things around. Ease the pain and itching by dabbing hard alcohol on the affected areas.
8 – Clean Your Gun
Run out of gun cleaner? Don’t worry – you can use hard alcohol to wipe it clean and disinfect it at the same time.
9 – Cook Some Eggs
This is one of the weirdest survival uses ever, but it’ll get you by in a bind. If you need protein and can’t build a fire, you can cook eggs in pure vodka.
Simply pour straight vodka into a container, crack an egg, and put the egg into the alcohol. Then let it sit, and occasionally pour a little of the booze on top of the egg to help it cook.
In a couple hours, you’ll have fully cooked eggs, ready to eat. Take a look at the video for a cool visual of this process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKI70U0CrmI
10 – Disinfect Hard Surfaces
Bacteria runs rampant in emergency situations, and you don’t always have cleaning supplies to take care of it. Instead, you can rub hard alcohol over surfaces to disinfect them. Just let them to air-dry before covering them or setting anything on top of them.
11 – Keep The Fire Going
Not sure how long your fire will last? Simply pour a bit of grain alcohol on the flames every so often to keep your fire burning hot all night long.
12 – Take Away The Stench
Nobody smells squeaky clean when SHTF, but bad B.O. will bring down the morale of even the toughest bug out group. Remove the stench by dabbing hard alcohol on your armpits. This will kill the bacteria residing on your skin, and should take away the smell.
13 – Boost Morale
Life is tough in survival situations – there’s just no way to get around that. And even the most disciplined people can let the despair get them down every once in a while.
To remedy this, break out a card game and pour everyone a round to help boost the group’s spirits. As long as nobody in the group is an angry drunk, you’re likely to have a good time.
14 – Replace The Fuel
Got a camp stove? Simply replace your normal fuel with alcohol (particularly grain alcohols like everclear), and you’ll be ready to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner in no time.
15 – Sterilize First-Aid Supplies
Infection and bacteria run rampant in a crisis – and they should NOT be doing so on your precious first-aid supplies.
To help keep your metal and stainless steel tools (like thermometers) bacteria-free, you can soak them in hard alcohol. This will sterilize them and keep them ready when you need them most.
16 – Get The Glue Off
Glue can be quite handy in a survival situation. The downside, though, is that it sticks to your hands and can be extremely hard to remove (especially if you’re using super glue).
Rather than fight with it, simply dab some hard alcohol onto your hands. This will lift the glue off and get you back to your normal routine.
17 – Prevent Mosquito Bites
In order to keep the mosquitos (and other bugs) off you, rub a combination of olive oil and hard alcohol onto your skin. One whiff and the bugs should leave you alone.
18 – Get a Fire Going
It can be tough to get a fire going when it’s wet and rainy outside. Never fear – simply soak a towel in hard alcohol (particularly grain alcohols like everclear). This will light easily, and get your fire going in seconds.
19 – Remove Odors
Clothing can start to stink after a few days without washing, and your home can start to smell as well. Remove these odors by putting vodka in a spray bottle and spraying down anything with a stench.
20 – Disinfect A Wound
Use grain alcohols to help disinfect a wound in a pinch. It may hurt like hell, but you’ll be better off in the long run.
21 – Clean Precious Metals
These will be absolutely necessary when cash is no longer valuable. Keep these metals clean by rubbing them with hard alcohol and a clean towel.
22 – Stain Remover
Here’s a hack for both SHTF situations and everyday life scenarios: spray hard alcohol onto a stain, and watch it disappear. Presto!
23 – Remove The Mold
Mold breeds and thrives in moist areas. That’s why, to get rid of the mold, you need to get rid of the moisture.
Put hard alcohol (like vodka) into a spray bottle and spray down any moldy places in the home. The alcohol will draw out the moisture and kill off that disgusting mold for good.
Alcohol has way more survival uses than just what’s up above. Here’s a few more (and some extra information as well):
