12 Surprising Uses for Super Glue

Some products are famous for their versatility. For example, both duct tape and paracord come to mind as items with an almost unlimited number of uses. However, another product that falls into the category of surprisingly versatile and useful is super glue.

In survival and emergency situations, super glue is definitely something that you want to have on hand. Below are 12 ways preppers can put super glue to work in a survival scenario.

1. Woodwork Made Easier

If you’re working alone, holding two pieces of wood together while you nail or screw them in place can sometimes be a challenge. With super glue, though, you can usually secure the wood long enough for you to have your hands free in order to work with your hammer or drill. Since super glue isn’t intended to permanently secure wood together, you can also easily take your structure apart later if need be.

2. Close Wounds

One of the most popular uses for super glue in emergency situations is sealing cuts, and it’s surprisingly effective at closing even considerable wounds. To seal a cut using super glue, disinfect the cut, make sure it’s no longer bleeding, press it closed, apply a thin layer of glue, and keep it closed until it’s dry. (Check out this article for more detailed instructions).

This will also serve as a barrier to keep out germs and ward off infection. However, you want to only use enough glue as is necessary to close the wound since super glue can keep your skin from breathing and slow down the healing process. Also, for major lacerations that are bleeding badly, it’s best to skip the super glue and go for bandages.

3. Repair a Tent

Even a small tear in your tent will let the elements in. To make matters worse, small tears quite often turn into large ones. However, repairing tears in a tent is easy with super glue. Simply press the tear together and glue it closed. If it’s more of a hole than a tear, you can make a patch out of some other fabric and glue it over the hole.

4. Stop Pulls in Clothing

In certain types of clothing, a single snag or pull can cause the entire garment to eventually unravel, destroying it in the process. To keep this from happening, stop pulls in their tracks by snipping the pull with a pair of scissors and applying a small drop of super glue over the tiny piece of the pull that is still left.

5. Fletch Arrows

Bow hunters typically use specialized fletch glue to fletch their arrows, but super glue will work in pinch, allowing you to make your arrows functional again after multiple uses have torn the fletching off. To fletch arrows using super glue, place a line of glue down the track where the fletching was originally located and press the new fletching down into the glue until it is dry.

6. Stop Leaks

Whether you’ve got a leak in your shelter, a leak in your canteen, or anywhere else, you can use super glue to provide a temporary fix. If you’re using super glue to fix a leak in a container that you are drinking out of, though, be sure to give the glue several hours to fully dry as some types of super glue can be toxic if ingested.

7. Fix Porcelain and China

In a survival scenario, once your dishes break you may not be able to go out and buy more. With a little patience and some super glue, though, you can piece a broken dish back together. The end result may not look quite as good as the dish once did, but it will be functional.

8. Stop Fraying in Cords and Rope

Once a rope or piece of paracord starts to fray its lifespan is limited. However, super glue can be used to stop the fraying and extend the lifespan of the cord. If a cord or rope is fraying on its end, cap the end with super glue. If the cord or rope is fraying somewhere in the middle, super glue can be used to stop that as well.

9. Repair Shoes

If the soles of your shoes are starting to wear off, a little super glue should do the trick to secure them back in place. If you really want a durable fix, wrapping a little duct tape around the shoe after you have super glued the sole back on will help ensure the sole doesn’t tear off again.

10. Make an Adhesive Filler

Super glue doesn’t work all that well for filling large cracks and gaps. However, you can use super glue to make an adhesive filler that will work nicely for these tasks. To make an adhesive filler, sprinkle baking soda in the area that needs to be filled then drop super glue onto the baking soda. The super glue will react with the baking soda and cause it to harden, making for a great adhesive filler. (Read this article for more info.)

Just be careful to not get this mixture on your skin as the reaction between super glue and baking soda produces a lot of heat and could cause chemical burns.

11. Make Tools and Weapons

Super glue alone won’t be enough to keep a spearhead lashed to the end of a pole. However, it can help provide extra support for your lashing. It can also help hold the tool or weapon’s head in place while you’re lashing it, making the process of lashing it to the handle much easier for one person to do.

12. Serve as a Duct Tape Alternative

The uses for duct tape and the uses for super glue overlap a lot, and the uses for duct tape are almost unlimited. Like duct tape, super glue is the perfect DIY product, allowing you to make at least a temporary fix for almost anything. Throw a few tubes of super glue and a roll of duct tape into your pack and you’ll be ready to tackle whatever comes your way.

Gorilla makes great super glue, but almost any brand will work just fine for the uses listed above.