I'm a big fan of make do, and even the longer version use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

But do yourself a favour and treat yourself to some high quality duct tape or gorilla tape. There are too many low quality "duct" tape lookalikes and I have no intention of trying every one of them, so I stick with gorilla tape. But it can be hard to find or ridiculous expensive outside the U.S. Having good duct/gorilla tape makes the rest of your make do-exercises much more fun...


My favourite make-do item is PET soda bottles. They are very strong, and you cut them to shape with a knife. PET cutouts now protect my lighters from leaking, my sunglases from breaking and the burner head on my parafin stove from breaking.


Paracord? I'm a big fan, it is a joy to work with. But most synthetic cords do an excellent job. And 2mm braided nylon line packs MUCH smaller in my PSK than paracord. 2mm is strong enough for most emergency shelter building and most field repairs I can think of.