My mind is officially blown - turns out there are TONS of survival uses for bobby pins. This is a huge surprise to me. I never used bobby pins growing up. After all, that was a 'woman’s item', and one that I never had experience with. However, it turns out these little pieces of metal have TONS of survival uses for when SHTF. Navy SEALs even pack them in their EDC Kits, so you know they’ve got to be good.
1) Save That Toothpaste
If you’re in a SHTF situation, you’re going to need to use every last drop of your resources, and that includes your toothpaste. Slip a bobby pin around the bottom of the tube. Then squeeze and start sliding the pin to the top of the tube. This will push all the toothpaste to the top.
2) DIY Money Clip
If you haven’t got a money clip or wallet around, you can still keep your bills secure by holding them together with a bobby pin. Store them in your pocket or bug out bag. Or, ladies can store bills by attaching this money clip to their bra for a sneaky hiding place.
3) DIY Zipper Head
If the head of your zipper breaks off, you can loop the bobby pin through the base of it to help keep your pants zipped and your pockets shut.
4) Save Your Electronics
Many electronics have a tiny reset button you can press when they’re a bit out of whack. However, this button is often so tiny you can’t press it with your fingernail alone. Use a bobby pin to press the button and get your electronics functioning normally again.
If you’re like me, you hate worrying about electronics with batteries. For some reason, they always seem to go haywire for no good reason. Avoid the batteries and invest in solar-powered gear instead.
5) Sewing Helper
If you’re sewing a survival blanket, jacket, etc. you can use a bobby pin to hold the two fabric sheets together while you work. This works really well for hand-stitching or if you’re using a machine.
6) Hem Your Jeans
If your pant legs are too long, you don’t want to be treading on them as you’re heading to your bug out shelter. Give them a quick hem by folding the bottoms up and then securing them with a bobby pin.
7) Open A Zip Tie
Zip ties are awesome for holding things together or for making makeshift handcuffs; however, they can become a pain to unlock. Insert a bobby pin into the lock of the zip tie to set yourself (and your stuff) free.
8) Keep Your Survival Food Fresh
If you’ve got survival food that’s good for multiple meals (like chips, rice, etc.) you can slip a bobby pin over the top of the bag to help keep your survival food fresh and secure.
9 ) Pit Your Cherries
If you want to avoid swallowing the pits in your olives or cherries, push the bobby pin into the fruit so that one end is on each side of the pit. Push until the ends come out the other side. Then pull the bobby pin ends through, causing the pit to come out with the rest of it.
However, if you want to avoid this hassle and get straight to eating cherries that have already been pitted (as well as mangos, grapes, blackberries, bananas, and pineapples), I HIGHLY suggest stocking up on a bucket of dried fruit.
10) Mark Your Tape
When you’re done using clear tape, slip the remaining end through the middle of a bobby pin and tape around it. That way you’ll never lose the end of your tape again, and won’t have to search and scratch for it as you would otherwise.
11) Keep Out the Fumes
If you’ve got nasty smells around you (i.e: trash, skunks, or waste) you can up your nose by placing a bobby pin on top of your nostrils and keep walking. Note: Some noses are larger than others, so this won’t work for everyone.
12) Pick a Lock
Bobby pins can be a great survival tool for helping you pick locks. Just sayin’.
13) Short-Circuiting
You can use a bobby pin to short-circuit various electronics. However, keep in mind this will ruin the bobby pin.
14) Keep Your Hair Back
Is this one obvious? Yes. However, bobby pins are incredibly useful for helping keep all the hair out of your eyes.
If you want to make sure your hair is squeaky clean when you pull it back with those bobby pins (even if you’re camping or bugging out for weeks), you’ll need our awesome camp solar-heated shower.
15) Get Out the Hair
Avoid having to call a plumber by using a bobby pin to snag the clogged hair out of the drain. This will help keep your pipes free from build-up.
16) Make A Chain
You can string a ton of bobby pins together to form a long chain.
17) Keep Your Papers Together
If you’ve got important documents that need to be kept together, you can secure them with a bobby pin.
18) Save Your Fingers
Most people have accidentally hit their finger with a hammer, so they know how much this hurts. To avoid this, slip a nail in between the sides of the bobby pin. Hold the bottom of the pin, and then start hammering the nail into the wall. This way your fingers will be holding the bobby pin and won’t get in the way of the hammer!
19) Hang-Up the Clothes
If you’re hanging your clothes out to dry, you can use bobby pins to secure the clothes to the line.
20) DIY Screwdriver
If you don’t have your screwdriver handy, you can still get that screw out by inserting a bobby pin into the head and then twisting. Sure it isn’t the fastest tool in the world, but it’ll get the job done.