Save Those Shells: Survival Uses for Spent Casings

(TacticalNews.com) – Shotgun shells, handgun cartridges and rifle cartridges all have leftover shells or casings after being fired. Often, these leftover pieces are thrown away. However, as the following video shows, there are many ways one can repurpose spent shells:

Aside from the obvious use of reloading your ammo (and not all casing can be reused), you could always follow the video above and create a survival candle from a shotgun shell. The candle burns for about an hour, but that’s better than nothing. As an added bonus, the candle is small making it easy to stash away in a survival kit.

Let’s look at some other options for repurposing spent brass:

Arrowheads

From one projectile to another, spent casings can be flattened out and cut into an arrowhead’s shape relatively quickly thanks to its composition. You can cut brass with a simple metal hacksaw blade and use the newly crafted arrowheads for hunting or fishing.

Fishing Sinkers

Speaking of fishing, you can create sinkers made for fishing out of spent casings as well. All you need to do is fill the casing with sand and smash the open end shut. Then, cut a hole to allow you to run a fishing line through it.

Wind Chimes

The bigger the casing, the better the result you can enjoy when making wind chimes. These chimes can be used to create a pleasant sound during windy days. Or, you can use these chimes to create a perimeter alarm. An alarm can very well be the difference between life and death, depending on the situation.

Speaking of alarms, check out these perimeter alarms you can make for after SHTF.