New uses for household items once T-SHTF

Take a walk around your house and ponder just how your life would change if T-SHTF.  How many items would instantly become almost useless if there was no power, how many items would you no longer value if the daily routine ceased to exist?  One thing is certain, if the big one happens you won’t be able to run down to the store to buy more supplies when you need them.  If you’ve been prepping for a while you probably have much of what you need in your storage area but there are common household items which many of us already own which could also be of use.  You might not realize it now but some of these items could have more value post SHTF in keeping your family alive than they do now as decorative ornaments.  This list is not all inclusive and I encourage you to do your own assessment based on what you have in your own home.

Mirrors:  What house doesn’t have at least 5 mirrors?  Instead of shaving or getting dressed in front of them, once the SHTF those mirrors can be re-purposed as Solar Cookers.

Oven Racks:  If outdoor cooking over a fire pit becomes a necessity, the two or three racks already in your oven will work nicely as make shift grilling surfaces, they will also withstand the heat of the fire quite nicely.

Outdoor Hammocks:  Think of the possibilities!  In it’s current state the hammock could be fashioned into a snare (net) for catching game, or unraveled and used for clothes line, tie down line etc.

Garden Hoses:  The obvious thing that comes to mind is using bits of hose to siphon gasoline or transfer water from one storage device to another, but what about sheaths for blades or even towing a vehicle?

Glass Table Tops:  I have a couple glass tables in the house, my wife loves them.  I’m sure that we are not alone and many of you have glass tables or small coffee tables with glass tops as well.  Given the proper tools and ingenuity, those large pieces of glass could be reconfigured and used in the construction of a home made greenhouse.

Shower Curtains:  Relatively water resistant, shower curtains could be used to cover leaks in your roof once it starts to deteriorate (unless you have thick tarps laying around waiting to be used).  Of course these would only be temporary fixes until you could construct a more permanent solution.

Interior Doors:  This might sound crazy, but if you are the type to dig fighting positions which include 18 inches of overheard cover those closet doors would make a perfect platform for the top of your foxhole.  Dig the hole, mount the door to the top (making sure it is adequately braced underneath) and pile on the dirt.

Light Bulbs:  Since the power will most likely be out, those incandescent light bulbs will probably be worthless…or will they?  How about using them as a miniature greenhouse, or as an oil lamp?  Read more about it here.

Have any more ideas you’d like to share?  Post them up in the comment section.