“There is one advantage to having nothing, it never needs repair” Frank Howard Clark
When I started off roading in the jungles of Malaysia I was impressed by the ‘bush mechanic’ abilities of the local 4×4 enthusiasts. These guys would find ingenious ways to fix a car when no parts were available and seemed to be able to do most of this with nothing more than a multi-tool. A useful skill indeed.
Part of the appeal of bushcraft is the idea that we can fashion what we need from the natural world around us, or repair what is broken. But often people forget that the natural world is now a giant dustbin for plastic products of which bags and bottles make up an alarming proportion….plastic has, unfortunately, become a resource in the natural world!
Putting aside the shamefulness of our disposable culture (that is clogging the seas with plastics bags and creating mountains of plastic bottles) plastics themselves are tremendously useful in the jungle. A plastic tarp will make shelter building easy and the Orang Asli were quick to add these to the equipment they themselves take in. Plastic bags are waterproof and can protect your mobile phone or other water sensitive devices, food, kit, clothes etc.
Almost all the plastics we find around us are thermoplastics and this means we can heat them up and mould them (I’ve met a number of Orang Asli who use moulded PVC piping for a parang sheath) or, in same manner as welding, we can melt plastic onto a crack and form a bond.
So, in this video, I look at repairs and improvements you can make to a cheap plastic bottle for use in the jungle. One thing I didn’t mention was that a bit of superglue is another and to go (but you do, of course, have to have some superglue!). Super glue may seem like an odd thing to carry in the jungle but its use as a quick seal to cuts gives it a well earned place in your first aid kit. Saying that, I find it easier to form a bond by melting the plastic and the seal seems to be stronger.
So, with a bit of knowledge you can really get the most out of even very basic and cheap pieces of kit and, should they break, fix them up again…. bush mechanics for the jungle trekker!
Hello Paul,
Very interesting subject, as always!
I started to work with plastic for simple reasons, modding my equipement (mora sheths, handles, or just any stuff that I use, I cut the useless portions of it).
I never had to repair a water or soda bottle, but I’ll try to see by myself.
Surprisingly, I terminated my Nalgene a few months ago. I used it as a boiling water container for at least 300 cold nights, and some trips to the freezer.
The breach cracked one day after a shock, and that was it, a broken Nalgene bottle.
It is now waiting in a vault box to be repaired.
A great skill is to learn to properly melt/mold PVC, or other plastics (Blade sheaths, or as you did in an earlier video, a BIC sheath)
I’m pretty sure that melting a soda bottle releases some unhealthy components. I don’t say we shouldn’t do it, but we should know.
Thanks!
Hi Wawa,
Many thanks for the comment and I agree with you that plastic melting has all sorts of uses in the field for emergency repairs. I’m not sure whether plastic melted in this way is any more dangerous for use as a water bottle – I don’t think it would be, but then I couldn’t say for sure. Either way it’s really just an emergency repair as you can always buy a new soda bottle once you get out of the jungle.
I really like using Kydex for sheaths now as it is so easy to work with – goes soft easily and you can mould and remould it many times. Bit pricey though!
Anyway, thanks again for the comment.
Cheers!
Paul
Paul, love the site and the videos are top. One comment as I see your technique for melting the plastic of the cracked bottle is that I see you’re using the base/blue portion of the flame as the heating element instead of the tip/yellow portion. I remember from back in middle school when we were first introduced to science lab that we had to study the parts of a flame and the temperatures of each. What stuck in my head since then is that the base of the flame is cooler than the tip. So I’m wondering if armed with that knowledge if it would be more effective to try and use the tip rather than the base of the flame in your repairs. The added benefit being that the tip is smaller thus less “collateral heating” more like spot-welding. What do you think? Cheers, /mauro
Hi Mauro,
Many thanks for the comment and support and sorry for slow reply (been away) – you are absolutely right in saying that the tip part of the flame is hotter – the weird thing about the welding technique on the bottle is that you are trying to hold the flame above the two edges that you’re trying to fuse together….it’s a bit difficult to explain but you’re trying to angle the lighter down just above the edges and heat it that way. If you try it you’ll see what I mean as I’m finding it hard to explain!
Anyway, thanks again for the tip.
Cheers!
Paul
Thanks again for another informative video! I particularly enjoyed learning to stuff a plastic bag into a leaky bottle. Brilliant!
To create a sling, I typically use a constrictor knot – you showed how to tie it in a previous video. The only difference is that I lock in the knot by tying a reef knot on the opposite side of the bottle neck as the face of the constrictor knot. It is probably as secure as your method, but a lot faster for slow learners like me. I’ve used this successfully on containers from shampoo bottles to wine bottles without a slip.
I’ve enjoyed and been informed by all your videos. Keep up the good work!
Hi Sandyvag,
Many thanks for the comment and support and sorry for slow reply (been away) – funny you should mention the constrictor knot as it is a personal favourite of mine and ca, as you say, be used equally well as a bottle sling knot. The locals here use simple reef knots (often granny knots by mistake!) and those will work too. The jug knot is a pretty knot and nice to tie but not one of the most important ones to learn by many means!
Anyway, thanks again,
Cheers!
Paul
Hello Paul,
Another very useful repair skill is to sew.
Your pants could testify. I guess ratan tear them apart.
Hi Wawa,
Many thanks for the comment and couldn’t agree with you more about the need to get sewing if you spend any sort of time in the jungle. Rips are commonplace but easy enough to repair. I lack the patience for hand sewing so invested in a machine which makes all sorts of repairs quick and effortless…can’t recommend it enough! The other thing worth getting is a Speedy Stitcher which can be used to repair heavier duty materials like rucksacks etc….here is the link
Cheers!
Paul