10 survival uses for lip balm

There’s something very soothing about applying lip balm such as Chap Stick or Burt’s Bees to your lips. No matter the time of year or the weather, the moisture it adds and the protection it provides make people feel better all over.

Now, lip balm would be a strongly recommended item to include in your bug-out bag even if your lips were the only things that would benefit from it. After all, it takes up such a small amount of space.

But the biggest advantage you’ll have in making sure you have several tubes of lip balm among your survival stash is the numerous uses you can get out of them in a survival situation.

Yes, even though it’s such a tiny item, it can serve a multitude of purposes following a crisis. And as we all know, the more multi-purpose items you include in your bag, the better off you will be when stores are either closed or have bare shelves.

Below is a list of some of those uses. I’m guessing you probably have a few more up your sleeve. Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first:

1. Healing chapped lips. Protecting your lips will be even more important when you’re spending more time outdoors, which is very likely during a survival event. Lips can get dry, chapped, cracked and very uncomfortable. This moisturizer provides a great relief when they do, and can also act as a preventative.
2. What lip balm can do for your lips, it can also do for your hands, especially during a time when they may be exposed to the elements more than normal. Lip balm will soothe and help heal minor scrapes on your hands that are sure to come when your manual labor increases.
3. Soothing hand and foot blisters. Lip balm is especially effective for this when you catch the blister before it has had a chance to develop. As soon as you feel one coming on – on a hand, foot or other area – apply lip balm every few hours.
4. Spread it on your face in the cold to avoid heat loss. You don’t want to turn your face into a mask, but a thin layer on your cheeks and forehead when you’re out in the cold can help retain what will be much-appreciated heat in the outdoors. It could also help you stave off frostbite.
5. On the other hand, if it’s sun exposure you’re concerned about, regardless of the temperature, lip balm can also act as a sunscreen. Keep it away from your eyes, however.
6. Prevent rust on knife blades. Like you, your survival knives will be spending more time outdoors if you’re escaping a disaster. Exposure to the elements, especially moisture, will hasten rust. But lip balm will keep your blade from getting rusty.
7. Clean your glasses. Use lip balm liberally on the lenses of your glasses – regular and sunglasses – then use a cloth to polish them. Not only will it help keep your glasses clean, it will reduce fogging.
8. Starting a fire. Wait, how is that possible? Well, if you rub lip balm on something you’re using as tinder for a fire, including Q-Tips, cotton balls or cloth, it will help it catch fire more easily.
9. Some people consider zippers the bane of society. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but zippers can be a hassle when they get stuck. You really don’t want that happening when you’re forced outside in a survival event. Use lip balm on those zippers to lubricate them.
10. Waterproof leather. Leather items don’t like rain or snow, but if you’re outside during a bug-out experience, they’re bound to get hit with one or the other. Rub lip balm on your leather items to protect them from moisture.

There you have it. If you don’t already have it among your survival items, add a bunch of tubes of the stuff as soon as possible before you forget.