Hoarding: Odds & Ends

This is the first of many such lists on useful items to have around for a Peak Oil homestead. This collection does not constitute a mandatory (or complete) list of what you need in order to survive -- rather, the idea here is to give you new ideas on how to use various items in ways which you might not have considered. This hopefully will give you some guidance on what items you should purchase if found cheaply or avoid discarding. Please feel free to tack on your own list of useful items or additional uses for something I’ve listed here.

I plan on posting similar lists for tools, chemicals, food, and so forth. Also, consider this just part 1 of the “Odds & Ends” list as I’m sure we’ll be adding to it.

Ball bearings Uses: reducing friction in machinery, weight sacks, projectiles
Bolts & nuts Uses: fasteners, paint mixers, makeshift wrenches, chain repair
Bottles/Jars Uses: food storage, chemical storage
Buckets Keep many; Uses: hauling feed, water, chemicals, dirt, manure
Cable ties Uses: fasteners, makeshift locks, handcuffs
Candles Uses: making wax paper, providing light, lubrication
Canning lids & seals Obtain as many as you can find; focus on the reusable seals and lids Uses: food preservation
Car hoods Uses: stone boat (heavy sled)
Chain keep as much as possible; Uses: stump pulling, lifting, gates, fencing, threshing
Cheesecloth/Gauze Uses: cheesemaking, straining, wound treatment
Chicken wire fencing Uses: livestock fencing, vegetable supports, compost bin, snow fencing, corn bins
Cloth obtain all you can, especially cotton and artificial fibers Uses: clothing, insulation, blankets, animal bedding, dishrags, cleaning
Clothes focus on hard-to-make items like shoes, boots, and coats; also focus on high use items like underwear and socks
Cork Uses: bottle stoppers, pin cushions, insulation
Door handles Uses: door, window, gate pullers; light switch guards; drawer pulls
Egg cartons Uses: planters for seedlings
Feminine products Uses: hygiene, wound treatment
Funnels Keep various sizes for kitchen, shop, livestock; Uses: pouring liquids, transferring loose items, holding twine balls
Glass Keep every scrap you can; Uses: windows, greenhouses, solar heaters, cold-frames, work surfaces
Hinges Keep matching sets in variety of sizes; Uses: doors, gates, windows
Magnets Uses: securing items, marking metal objects, lifting
Mirrors Uses: security, personal grooming, safety, improving solar collector efficiency
Nails keep large amount -- a necessity for repairs and construction
Padlocks Uses: keep valuable secure, kids safe
Paper Uses: kindling, fabricating fresh paper, insulation, insect traps (e.g. earwigs), hygiene
Pencil erasers Uses: hold brads/finishing nails steady
Pens keep many; Uses: marking measurements, labeling, information exchange
Pipe Uses: plumbing, pry bar, handle extension
Plastic bags Uses: storage for clothes, food, medicine; waterproof liners, insulation
Plumbing fittings keep a variety of sizes and types
Plungers Uses: open stuck drawer, clear clogged pipes
Pulleys Uses: lifting, pulling
Razors keep disposable, single-blade, custom models; Uses: hygiene, surgery, snakebite treatment, fabric cutting, scraping, hygiene
Rope Keep as much as possible, various types; Uses: baling, animal snares, fencing, livestock harnesses, lifting, clothesline, log hauling
Rubber balls Uses: insert onto stone chisel to absorb shock, children/pet toys, shock absorber, door stoppers
Rubber chair leg protectors Uses: cap end of tools to keep from sliding down wall, door stoppers
Rubber hose Uses: sapling trunk protectors, tool guards (e.g. slit and place over saw blade), insulate and “auto-open” pliers by inserting handles into tubing section
Safety pins Uses: cotter key alternative, securing baby diapers, clothes mending, clothesmaking
Sponges Uses: cleaning, knee pads
Springs Uses: door closers, bin securers
Styrafom cups Uses: planters for seedlings
Tape keep all kinds, store in cool and dry spot; Uses: electrical insulation, home repair, plumbing, paper mending, needle/fishhook securing
Thread keep large amounts -- thin thread is hard to make; Uses: clothesmaking, wound treatment
Tin cans Uses: cut out bottom and place around seedlings for cutworm guards; fireplace heatsinks; cut away side to use as candle holder; cut vent in bottom, insert heat source, and use as cook stove
Tires Uses: cart/wagon wheels, planters, tree support cushions, dog chew toys, shock absorbers, feed bucket stabilizers (e.g. place horse bucket inside tire)
Tooth brushes keep many; Uses: hygiene, scrubbing, cleaning
Wax paper Uses: separate sticky food, prevent food splatter, shape clay or wax
Wire Keep as much as possible, various types; Uses: baling, electricity, animal snares, fencing, suspending objects
Wood keep all healthy wood and boards in a dry area; Uses: construction, furniture, scaffolding, fencing, tree supports, firewood, bio-char (for garden)