One of the keys to building out your survival kit so that it’s efficient and yet designed for a multitude of disaster scenarios is to store goods that can have multiple uses.
For example…
- Garbage bags can be used as a rain poncho… water collection… or even shelter
- Coffee filters can be used as food plates… emergency wound dressing… or pre-filter for collected water
- Aluminum foil can be used for cooking food… repairing a burned car fuse… or be fashioned into a fishing lure
But here’s one of my favorite multi-purpose survival hacks…
Weird Survival Medicine Hacks: Survival Uses For Honey
I always say that Mother Nature can be a bitch… but she also knows best how to provide for the smart survivalist.
Honey is one example in how to use her gifts for good, especially when you’re seeking out natural medical remedies.
Here’s what makes it so valuable…
Honey Has A Long Shelf Life
Strange but true… honey has such a long shelf life that it has even been recovered from Egyptian tombs.
This makes it perfect for storing away as survival food in your pantry and you can keep some packets in your bug-out bag without worrying about them expiring and having to be traded out, unlike other survival food choices.
Honey Kills Bacteria And Prevents Infection
Spreading honey on a wound before bandaging it will help to seal it off from outside contaminants and debris.
Oddly, honey produces a small amount of hydrogen peroxide that can also help to kill off bacteria that is present in a wound.
In addition, honey is mildly acidic which will help to prevent bacteria from causing infection.
Honey Speeds Up Healing
Honey has been shown to speed up the growth of body tissue by aiding in the formation of new blood vessels, collagen, and the epithelial cells that cover the underlying tissue.
In fact, external application of honey has been shown to be as effective as conventional treatment with silver sulfadiazene at healing wounds and burns.
Honey Promotes Optimal Health
Taken regularly, honey is excellent at providing sustainable energy and stamina. (Ancient Olympic athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their performance.)
Some varieties of honey possess large amounts of friendly probiotic bacteria (including 6 species of lactobacilli and 4 species of bifidobacteria) that will help your digestion and gastrointenstinal tract during a food crisis.
And the polyphenols (form of antioxidant) honey contains can help to ward off free radical damage to protect cells and boost your immunity against viruses.