So I was going through my old emergency kit in the back of the truck, organizing, taking inventory, and changing batteries and noticed that my flashlight had gone bad. I went to Walmart to replace it and while going through the flashlight section got a neat idea that I thought I would share, it’s a very simple “project” but one that could be useful and might be fun to try with younger kids if you have any. Next to the flashlights was a box of battery operated glow sticks and I was reminded that in some old aircraft survival kits there was a glow stick on a string for signaling, and I was bored, so I went to the other side of the isle and grabbed some paracord and here is what I came up with:




I just tied the paracord around the pen clip then cut off the end and stripped back the casing until a few inches of the inner cords were exposed, then I threaded them through the rectangular opening right apove the pen clip, tied them, then used my lighter to melt the ends. Then I melted the frayed bits of casing so it would stay in place. The effect was that the inner cords acted as an anchor to keep the cord from slipping off of the pen clip. Then I just measured off to roughly arm length, got a bit more for the loop, cut it off, and melted the end togther. Then I tied a loop enough for my hand to easily fit through then put a big knot in it.

To use just turn it on, put your hand through the loop, grab on to the knot, and swing the light in a circle, observers will see movement and a giant glowing circle to pin point your location from a surprisingly great distance. You get a “flare” that lasts for hours and is reusable.

Simple thing, but it can kill some time with the kids and actually come in handy if you were ever stuck in the middle of nowhere and only costs a few bucks.