# Balloons+Survival Uses



## Guest (Jul 9, 2014)

I was rummaging through my closet today to organize my stuff and found a bag of water balloons. I began to think of how I could use them in a survival situation, and for preparation of a power outage. Below is what I came up with. 

1. Freeze water filled balloons to make large frozen balls. If you have a generator you could produce and distribute large chunks of ice this way and they would be already sealed ready for sale. Note: I will be doing tests to see if doubling them up will increase insulation. i am currently freezing two to see if the material stands up to the freezing process...will see maximum filling ability for maximum ice content. 

2. marking trail if you are in the wild alone. increases chances of being found. 

3. fishing bobbers

4. flotation device: you can blow up enough to keep you a float if you are in dire need..it would only last for a short time but this could save your life if you are a weak swimmer or old/ young kids with you. with para cord you could make a inter tube of sorts.

5. Insects and birds are attracted to bright colors. you could blow up a balloon and cover it in tree sap to trap bugs that fly into it or jump on it or crawl...ants are edible and would surely find it...then having bugs on it may attract birds..u could wait in the brush with a .22 or shotgun and blast them. EDIT: If you do not have a gun then you could assemble a makeshift net to drop down on the bird/s

So i think these are going into my BOB


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I'd be interested to know how the freezing thing goes.
I wouldn't expect the rubber to hold up to stretching when the water freezes if it is also freezing.
If it freezes slower than water, perhaps it might.

As for the others, I'm not too keen on the idea of leaving a non-decomposible material in the wilderness for animals to find.


----------



## Innkeeper (Jun 18, 2014)

You can hold like 6-8 Gallons in a Condom....just saying as long as they are the unlubricated kind, better then balloons.


----------



## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

Innkeeper said:


> You can hold like 6-8 Gallons in a Condom....just saying as long as they are the unlubricated kind, better then balloons.


Which size?.I guess the "liquid volume" would vary depending on the user!!!


----------



## Innkeeper (Jun 18, 2014)

MI.oldguy said:


> Which size?.I guess the "liquid volume" would vary depending on the user!!!


I saw it on the NatGeo channel, they did not say the size just showed it getting filled up and how much one could hold. If you would like to experiment.....


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

note to self do not fill up balloon while drinking...water is everywhere...on the bright side the balloons i put in the freezer did not rupture. i filled up 4 more with varying size going up. ill post pictures tomorrow ont he ice chucks.. I am gonna max it out and then fill up condoms to see the difference. 

u might see pictures of ice dicks tomorrow lol.


----------



## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

My grandfather used ballons as floats, works great. 
Also, cover the end of your rifle or shotgun.
Ice dicks? Now thats funny.


----------



## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Well this got "blown" out of proportion in a hurry! :lol:


----------



## SAR-1L (Mar 13, 2013)

nightshade said:


> 1. Freeze water filled balloons to make large frozen balls. If you have a generator you could produce and distribute large chunks of ice this way and they would be already sealed ready for sale.


0. Freeze water filled balloons and have a one sided frozen water balloon fight with people you don't like


----------



## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Let us know how the tree sap covered bugs taste.


----------



## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

Only problem with insects as food is the huge volume of them you would need for sustenance.


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

SAR-1L said:


> 0. Freeze water filled balloons and have a one sided frozen water balloon fight with people you don't like


ouch! the only evidence would be a puddle of water..u think they could crack that case?


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

Deebo said:


> My grandfather used ballons as floats, works great.
> Also, cover the end of your rifle or shotgun.
> Ice dicks? Now thats funny.


smart idea with covering the rifle/shotgun


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

Innkeeper said:


> You can hold like 6-8 Gallons in a Condom....just saying as long as they are the unlubricated kind, better then balloons.


what brand of condom? the thing is expense. how much is a condom and how much is one balloon.


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

BagLady said:


> Well this got "blown" out of proportion in a hurry! :lol:


it happens to the best of us


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> I'd be interested to know how the freezing thing goes.
> I wouldn't expect the rubber to hold up to stretching when the water freezes if it is also freezing.
> If it freezes slower than water, perhaps it might.
> 
> As for the others, I'm not too keen on the idea of leaving a non-decomposible material in the wilderness for animals to find.


rubber held quite well on the first batch, but they were not filled very high. these next i'm about to pull out are a different story. if i can fit 1 liter in them ill be happy, more that's great too.


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

HuntingHawk said:


> Let us know how the tree sap covered bugs taste.


Id be starving if i was doing this and i'm sure they would taste glorious. just avoid the ones that will give you the runs.


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

jimb1972 said:


> Only problem with insects as food is the huge volume of them you would need for sustenance.


very true but with the bugs u catch on the balloon you can use them to fish or try and catch birds with...even small rodents. id most likely eat a few bugs and then use some to fish..set traps for rodents with others, and then try to catch birds all at the same time.not all eggs in one basket.


----------



## SAR-1L (Mar 13, 2013)

nightshade said:


> ouch! the only evidence would be a puddle of water..u think they could crack that case?


Dammit Jim, I'm a prepper, not a detective!


----------



## Innkeeper (Jun 18, 2014)

nightshade said:


> what brand of condom? the thing is expense. how much is a condom and how much is one balloon.


The concept proposed by the use of the condom was for water storage and carrying and that it could be used over and over. It was done on nat geo in a show about practical preps in surviving the ZA. They had some people off the street partake in a contest to fill a bucket with water using oblects from around the rubble course they had set up, including things commonly found about a house or in buildings which people might scrounge. one of the items was a condom which the team successfully used to win the contest. Nat Geo then posted a fact that a condom could hold from 6-8 gal of water.

My recommendation would be you use any non-lubricated condom, they are pretty rugged(yes there are failures during "play"). But the winners ran with it filled with water, and used the same one repeatedly like 5 or 6 times, after which the host discussed the virtues of the item.

You know from the fragility anything but freezing the water will pretty much render the balloon useless, so I would think cost effectiveness would be the fact you can reuse the condom. Sometime quality is better then cheap.


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Innkeeper said:


> Nat Geo then posted a fact that a condom could hold from 6-8 gal of water.


I get the idea behind this, but if a 5 gallon bucket of water weights 40 pounds, how does one manage to carry a 48-65lb wobbly condom full of water?


----------



## SAR-1L (Mar 13, 2013)

Kauboy said:


> I get the idea behind this, but if a 5 gallon bucket of water weights 40 pounds, how does one manage to carry a 48-65lb wobbly condom full of water?


Same way you would handle anything in a condom, with both hands. lol


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2014)

the tests shall commence! id be wary of a condom filled with anything...just fyi. my sales would not be as family friendly lol


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Arklatex said:


> You put the full condom into a field expedient carrier to help protect it. Such as a t shirt or a box.


Still, carrying a 50lb container of water is not appealing.


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Maybe that was just an FYI from the show.
In practice, 1 or 2 gallons would be fine, and you would be assured that the baby blocker would hold up.


----------



## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

nightshade said:


> what brand of condom? the thing is expense. how much is a condom and how much is one balloon.


You could probably get a bunch free at the local planned parenthood, don't know about unlubed though.


----------



## Innkeeper (Jun 18, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> Maybe that was just an FYI from the show.
> In practice, 1 or 2 gallons would be fine, and you would be assured that the baby blocker would hold up.


 Pretty much your correct the people on the show never put more then a gal or two in it, but yes I think the total amount was so you knew it could be done safely. Heck could be something done and then moved to your vehicle, in case your not on foot. The exercise was to get people to think outside the box and take everything in their environment into account, made me think about the possibility of their use for water when no other option was available, I never thought of them before.


----------



## Guest (Jul 11, 2014)

Here are the results from my first set of experiments with freezing Balloons at different sizes. What I found is that the balloon material became more brittle under the cold temperatures. The more the material was stretched the more Brittle it became. They all stayed in the balloon itself when they remained in the freezer. Once I touched the largest one you see in the red that is broken it instantly ruptured. As you can see from the inside of the largest one it became dome shaped and on the inside of the dome there were ice stalactites. The large green balloon is inside my ice cream maker bowl; it expanded and got stuck as was intended. This was done so I can see if it will be able to refreeze after thawing, and be able to withstand the freeze again. All the other balloons were left on their own without any support. More experiments to come ^^.


----------



## Innkeeper (Jun 18, 2014)

Excellent work so far nightshade.


----------



## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

Sweet, glad you are experimenting. At "dollartree" prices for ballons, you may have stumbled onto the next big thing. Good job Brother.


----------



## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Arklatex said:


> You put the full condom into a field expedient carrier to help protect it. Such as a t shirt or a box.


US Army (I think), pilot survival kits included a condom for carrying water. If I remember correctly the idea was to put the condom in a sock. I'll try to check with a friend.


----------



## Innkeeper (Jun 18, 2014)

Old SF Guy said:


> I can think of at least one preferential application for a condom other than water storage.....just sayin. and I have had those ****ers break under less strain than 6-8 gallons so I ain;t trusting them for shit.


I am pretty sure you were causing a lot more friction then what putting water into it will require. just sayin'


----------

