Rope and string have been crucial to every society that’s ever existed. Rope and string have been used to bind together devices used for everyday living. They’re also used for home and shelter construction. The uses for rope and string are virtually limitless, and in my opinion there is no other more versatile survival tool.

Ropes are great to save your butt in a life or death situation! Here are some common emergency situations for which you may find yourself wishing you had rope:

• Climbing is dangerous even when help is nearby. If you fall, you can break limbs, sustain internal damage, severe cranial damage, and die. Ropes help secure you against falls.
• A tourniquet is sometimes the only way to stop heavy bleeding. Rope and string can be easily used for an impromptu tourniquet.
• To help build emergency shelters, a rope can be stretched between objects to suspend your covering. It can also tie your covering to anchor points, and it can even be used to lash together objects to make a frame work for your shelter.
• Sometimes it’s necessary to make a carrying device for yourself or an injured person. Rope can aid in the construction of a carrying device such as a stretcher or a-frame style drag.
• Do you need to find food? Small ropes, strings and cords are what you’ll need to make a snare.
• Rope and string can be used in some very ingenious ways to repair broken objects that will help aid in your survival. I’ve seen it used to hold boats together to get back to shore, as impromptu throttle cables on ATVs and other motorized vehicles, and to hold emergency rain catchment devices in place—just to name a few.