Dental floss?

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
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Has anyone ever thought about putting a pack of dental floss or, its beefier cousin, dental tape in their kits as emergency cordage/sewing material? I've used it for repair job stitching before and I can tell you that once you mend something with dental floss it will NOT need to be repaired there again. For basic lashing purposes it would probably do quite well, also.

It's very compact and lightweight, and you have about 50 yds. in one roll.

Thoughts?
 
I liked the wax thin type, without the menthol flavor. Seems to do very well! I once caught a small bass on one attached to a treble hook. I let it go and didn't charge it a teeth cleaning fee.


J
 
Men have been known to stitch themselves with dental floss during an emergency...
 
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full respect for the promotion of oral hygene. just because we are in the woods does not mean we need be a mess... :)
 
I carry dental floss cause I hate when I get stuff stuck in my teeth! Also, I think it would be useful for all kinds of other things in a pinch.
 
I keep a roll in all my kits. For such a small size it sure is strong but not always the easiest thing to work with.
 
I carry a roll of the waxed floss for flossing and sewing. It's pretty strong.
 
Have carried it for quiet a while now. Initially taken off a long roll and rewound on a sewing bobbin but now normally one off the shot 15meter rolls and just break it out of the plastic pack. I have you you blokes speak of credit card sized holders that come with a couple meters in them any one got a pic or brand name. I thnk I got the idea from British Combat and survival magazine 12- or 14 yrs ago.
Carl
 
Used to carry a small tin of Gore-Tex dental floss in my kit. The Rocky Boot guys gave them out at an outdoor product seminar I went to years ago. I haven't seen it in a long while, and my guess is I probably used it all- for flossing and lashing, but mostly lashing (to the horror of my dentist).

I actually served a bowstring with dental floss once to see how it would hold up, and it didn't do half bad. It's pretty handy stuff to have around. We kinda tend to focus on paracord, but you don't always need something that thick and that strong, and gutting it for the smaller fibers is a lot more hassle than tugging on a spool of "Oral-B". :thumbup:
 
I always carry floss when I am out. In 2001 I was part of a study of Eider ducks on the border of the Arctic Ocean- about 800 miles from the nearest community. We were catching the ducks in a 5000 square foot mist net. WHen the ducks were flying with the wind they would blast right through. Funny how the director of the study did not think to bring anything for net repair so out came the dental floss and it was used effectively until the next plane load of supplies. I put a small roll into each survival kit now.
 
Yep.I always have some in my emergency kits.I've used it to stitch up a pig dog after a nasty gash,repair my clothes ,stitch a leather sheath,fish, and even floss my teeth.
Hey Carl how did your bushcraft knife turn out?
Ron
 
I keep dental floss in all of my kits and also pack it into the survival kits I sell for classes. I use the Gore Glide also, as it was the toughest stuff I informally tested a couple of years ago. The no-shred varieties are much stronger than regular floss. It can be very difficult to work with when your hands are frozen (which is why I pack disposable handwarmers in each kit, too. Can't use your hands? Can't survive, then). I've used it for making all sorts of kit and also for shelter building, which it's plenty strong for when you're just tying supports that are leaning up against each other. It floats so if using it for fishing you need sinkers.

You can buy Glide in small rolls for about $1 at Wally World, Target, etc. Take it out of the case and it's pretty compact. You can buy the 500 yd. rolls also for about $8. I take a plastic credit card and wrap Gorilla Tape around one end and cut notches to store floss on the other end. The one in my wallet has about 4-5 feet of tape and about 20 or so feet of floss. The one in my mini kit has about 12 feet of tape and 30 feet of floss. The one in my car has about 25 feet of tape and 50-60 feet of floss on it. It's a compact and easy way to carry it.
 
I carry synthetic sinew, which looks kinda like a tan colored floss. It's actually a waxed polyester of some kind. I'm not sure that I would want to floss with it, but it's incredibly strong stuff. A big roll is only about $8 or $9.
 
Waxed and plain, so strong you can repair backpacks with it. My brother did that on one trip down in The Smokies.

Waxed has special urban uses as well. ;)
 
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