The humble balloons elastic and water resistant qualities make it a very useful survival item.
As with a couple of other items in this book they can be used as an emergency tourniquet in the event of a deep wound to restrict blood flow.
A really handy use for a balloon is for sealing water containers if you lose the lid. I see a lot of people saying you can use them as water containers but unless you have a jet of water to fill it with then I’m pretty sure you’re going to find that incredibly hard to do. Imagine trying to inflate a balloon using water in a stream or lake, how would you even begin to do that? I suppose you might be able to make a funnel out of some tin foil and pour water into it in the hope that the weight of the water and the pressure from the water in the funnel would inflate it, but I doubt that would work.
They can however be used as cordage for lashing wood together when building a shelter, although the rubber may degrade over time so this is best for temporary structures. And as with zip ties as I mentioned earlier, they can be used to hold an emergency splint in place.
A clever use for balloon if you have a gun or air rifle is as a rifle barrel cover. It will ensure your gun barrel stays clean and free of dirt and grime. If you’re worried about it meaning you can’t use your gun as quickly, you can always shoot straight through it if you need to.
Balloons are often brightly colored so they make great trail markers. They work extra well if you blow them up as this increases their visibility. They can be used for any sort of marking purposes really and even as a buoy. This is very useful if you have set hooks or a submerged trap. If you only put a bit of air into them they can also be used as a fishing float. They can even be used as a buoyancy aid if you need to cross a stretch of water.
Any items that you may need to keep dry that are fairly small can go inside a balloon. Finally, they can be used as elastic for a makeshift sling shot.