Paperclips

Even the humble paperclip has a number of uses. They can be used as replacement zipper pulls or even as replacement buttons for your shirt or trousers. They may not look that stylish but they do work.

They can be used to make hooks for reaching into small spaces or for hooking things around camp to keep them off the ground. They can also be used as a safety pin like device that can be used to clip items into your bag or belt. Obviously they aren’t majorly strong used as they are, but if you unravel them and rework them into a clasp like device they will be much stronger and more reliable.

They can be used to seal bags to help keep things dry. They can also be used to secure dual zippers to ensure nothing falls out of your bag, as sometimes when moving through rough terrain zippers can get caught and come undone or after a lot of usage zippers may start to become loose. Using a paperclip to keep dual zipper connected will help with this problem.

If you find that you need one of those very small micro screwdrivers and you don’t have one you can actually flatten the end of a paperclip by hitting it between two rocks or something similar. This will make something close to a mini screwdriver.

If you have 2 of the larger type of paperclips you can make a lock pick kit. To do this, firstly to make the “rake” straighten out the first paperclip leaving a loop on the end as a grip. Now you want to bend an M shape that is about a quarter of an inch long into the tip of the straightened out section. Next you will need a tension wrench, so using the 2nd paper clip fold it completely in half and then bend a right angle in it about an inch from the top of the bent end. It’s that easy, you now have a lock pick set!

To use it, just put the tension wrench into the lock and apply slight pressure to turn the cylinder of the lock like a key would. Then insert the rake and move it backwards and forwards against the top of the key hole. It may take a while but it will work eventually. It might be worth trying this out on your own door and getting a feel for it.

Paperclips can also be used to make connections to repair electrical equipment. They can make a longer length of metal when wound together so you could connect the top and bottom of a battery to a blub for example and make a torch.