7 Survival Hacks That Might Save Your Life

#1 Emergency soda can oil lamp

Materials required: Olive oil, soda can, and a paper towel.
Fill the soda can halfway with the olive oil. Lightly roll up a paper towel for a wick and place it into the mouth of the can. Light the "wick." Your oil lamp should stay lit for several hours.

#2 Soda can lantern

Materials required: Soda can, knife, and candle.
Cut a vertical slit down the soda can's center and then pull out the sides so that it looks a bit like a window with open shutters. Place the candle inside the "window" and enjoy.

#3 Emergency water filter

Materials required: A skinny strip of torn cloth and two containers.
Fill one container with dirty water and run the strip of cloth from the dirty water container to the empty container. Eventually the water will migrate from one container to the other, leaving the dirt and debris behind. The water will need to be boiled as a final step.

#4 Easy cooking

Materials required: Empty egg carton and charcoal.
Load the egg carton with charcoal and set it on the grill. Close the carton and light it at its corner.

#5 Natural mosquito repellent

Materials required: Basil and/or Rosemary.
If you forgot your bug spray and the mosquitoes are starting to come out, just toss some Basil and/or Rosemary onto the coals. Fresh or dried herbs will both do the trick.

#6 Sewing needle and leaf compass

Materials required: Leaf, needle (or some other type of metal fragment), water.
Rub the needle against your clothing (from eye to point) many times. The rubbing action will magnetize your needle. Set the magnet on top of a floating leaf, and it will spin towards a northerly direction.

#7 Solar powered box micrwave

Materials required: Cereal box, scissors, and aluminum foil.
Cut a door into a cereal box, and line the door and the inside with aluminum foil. Place your food inside the lined box and set your solar cooker in a sunny spot.