It’s practically a given you’ve got old tires somewhere around your home. They could be in the garage, in the back of your vehicle, or in a pile ready to go to the dump.
You’re not alone – millions of Americans swap out their old car tires for new ones every single year. But the real trouble is these tires often go nowhere except straight for the junk yard.
This is a problem, because 99% of people have no idea what they’re missing out on when they throw out these exceptional survival tools. And they sure as hell have no idea…
How Old Tires Can Make Survival A Breeze
The surprising thing is old tires actually can do wonders in a survival situation. And that’s primarily because they’re…
- Made out of waterproof rubber.
- Insanely tough and durable.
- Easy to transport – simply roll them away.
- Free at a junkyard (or cheap when bought used).
- Available in lots of different sizes.
These reasons alone are enough to get a prepper curious about what to use them for. Well, luckily, the work’s been (mostly) done for you. Here’s a few survival uses you can add to your arsenal:
1 – Make Your Own Footwear
Here’s a thought – you can make your own shoes out of an old tire. This is an exceptional use, because the waterproof rubber makes for superior soles (far better than those of the typical shoe. Sorry, Nike…).
These soles will last you a long, long time. And thankfully all you need is a couple survival tools to make this project happen: a survival knife, and some leather straps, paracord, or other non-abrasive material to use as straps around the tops of your feet.
Take the tire and cut the rubber strip away. Then place your foot onto it and trace around it, leaving room on the sides for straps (as shown in the picture below).
Then secure the paracord, leather straps, or other material through the holes and loop them over the top of your foot. Now you’ve got makeshift footwear that’s ready for any SHTF situation.
Replacing The Sole
Keep in mind you don’t have to make entirely new footwear from this concept – you can lengthen the life of your existing shoes by replacing the sole with the tread of an old tire. Check out this video to learn more:
2 – SHTF Fishing
Now when SHTF, we won’t have near as many luxuries like we do now – and this includes our expensive fishing equipment. As such, we’re going to need to be able to use ordinary resources – such as old tires – to keep ourselves fed.
Here’s an idea from Survivopedia on how to catch fish using this ordinary ring of rubber:
While I pastored a church in South Carolina, one of my church members introduced me to “tire fishing”. We prepared the tires by “sewing the tires shut where the wheel hub had been. Then we cut a one hole on the outside where the tread was(about big enough to barely cover the hole with your hand.
So we went to his lake property and took 26 old tires each and in the earliest part of the year that we could stand to get into the water up to waist deep, we spread the tires over a large area of the bottom making sure all the air was out of the tires. Two days later we went back wading to “check” the tires and finding them with our toes.
Then we would bend over and cover the hole with our hand and slowly bring the tire above the surface letting water drain out of the hole. If you heard a tail flopping there was a fish inside and it would half scare you to death until you got used to it. We would reach into the hole to see if we were reaching the tail end of the fish or the head end of the fish. If we felt the tail, we had to retract our arm from the hold and enter going the other direction.
When we felt the head, (catfish that is) we would reach our two fingers over the head and hook our fingers over the two side fins and drag the fish out and flip him in our fish bag. Out of one checking for fish in those tires, we caught 29 fish from 52 tires between 1 1/2 lbs to 2 1/2 lbs. Every other day we checked those tires and would get varying amounts from the teens to maybe 25-30 fish. (I used a larger tire in 10′ of water at the end of the pier and checked it the same way, swimming down and pulling the tire up to the surface with my hand over the hole and wrapped my legs around a piling to check it.
One time I got one over five pounds. Needless to say, one can fill a freezer pretty fast that way. This really took place and this is not exaggerated.
Pretty cool way to catch fish and a great survival use for old tires I’m sure you’d agree.
3 – Dispose Of Trash Safely
We have the convenience of having trash trucks that dispose of our waste for us. However, when we’re in a survival situation, we’re going to have things we need to dispose of that we can’t just throw in a garbage bin (since there likely won’t be any around).
Not to mention, you’re going to want to contain this garbage. By not hiding it safely, you’re going to attract animals into your camp (always a dangerous thing). You’re also signaling to everyone around that you have a ton of preps (since you have lots of trash strewn about). This will raise suspicion and make you more susceptible to attack and robbery.
You can use old tires to contain the garbage easily. All you have to do is stack them on top of each other, and then place your trash inside. Then cover the top with another tire. This will help contain the trash (and its smell), leaving animals and people unaware of it.
4 – DIY Survival Garden
Produce is going to be paramount for our survival in an emergency situation. And, since the grocery store shelves will be empty in the first few hours, it’s your job to be ready to sustain yourself. And one of the best ways to do this is to grow your own food.
If you don’t have planters at home (or if you don’t have any in your bug out camp), you can make your own with the help of some old tires. Simply pour fresh, rich soil into the tire, and then plant seeds from there.
Tires are especially beneficial for this use, since the waterproof rubber keeps moisture inside (especially when you seal the bottoms). Not to mention, there’s no worry of breaking them (like there is with clay or plastic pots).
Create A Barrier
This is a pretty time-intensive task. However, it’s going to seriously pay off in an SHTF situation, if you find yourself needing to build a long-term shelter.
Turns out tires make excellent material for making the walls of a shelter. That’s because they stack easily, they save energy, they’re free if you look in the right places, and they’re dang near indestructible. Not to mention, if you use the right method, you’ll often need very few extra tools to get the job done.
Watch the video below to learn more:
Turns out old tires make a surprisingly beneficial resource when SHTF. What other survival uses can you think of for them? Let us know in the comments below. Prepare Now, Survive Later!
