Here are 17 Emergency Uses Of Tobacco and Other Uses of Tobacco that have been used and proven to work throughout history.

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Emergency Uses Of Tobacco!

You came here to learn REAL SURVIVAL from the REAL SURVIVORS so You’re Ready Anytime Anywhere!  Let’s start with 2nd Gotta Stay Awake Concoction.

  1. 2nd Gotta Stay Awake Concoction
  2. Auschwitz Hidden Foxhole
  3. Chisholm Carbuncle Remedy
  4. Chisholm Lice Remedy
  5. Cigarettes Talk
  6. Civil War Foster’s Pond Food Source
  7. Civil War Lice Killer
  8. Civil War Lice Killer Concoction
  9. Civil War Lice Shampoo
  10. Cook’s Stay Awake Concoction
  11. Descenting Oneself
  12. D & M Chigger Clothing
  13. Hopi Snake Catching
  14. Human Snake Bite Remedy
  15. Kephart’s Bee Repellent
  16. Kephart’s Bee Sting Remedy
  17. Kephart’s Centipede Bite Remedy
  18. Kephart’s Chigger Insect Repellent
  19. Kephart’s Scorpion Repellent And Sting Remedy
  20. Kephart’s Tick Repellent And Tick Remover
  21. Laydon’s POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction R&D
  22. POW Fake Tuberculosis
  23. POW Inventions
  24. POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction
  25. Prisoner Cigarette Uses
  26. Shaman Tobacco
  27. Tobacco Antiseptic

2nd Gotta Stay Awake Concoction

A concoction I used to stay alert while training in a field environment is tobacco chew – namely Red Man.  A wadd of tobacco is placed between the cheek and gum.  This creates a tobacco juice which is spit out but some of that tobacco enters the body and revs-up the body to a renewed alertness.  Yes, it’s an unhealthy habit but it works.

Important Note:  When I worked out at Camp Mackall, NC of the Phase 1 of the US Army Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), we’d often put the elite of the US Marine Corps – through the Course.  They were the bad ass Marine Force Recon.  Us TACS (we were like Drill Instructors) would stick to our guns and often stated we’d fight anyone once they completed the ‘Q Course’ but for now, you are candidates – we are the cadre.  One night, I was sitting by myself at the Dragon Club in Fort Bragg, NC drinking a beer.  In comes one of the Force Recon Marines I put through Phase 1.  He saw me and headed straight for me.  The first thing I thought ‘We’re going to fight.’

I was surprised, when he got to my table, instead of him throwing the 1st punch, he put out his hand for me to shake.  I stood up and shook his hand and we started talking.  He ordered a beer and pulled out a cigarette.

Now get this, this bad ass Marine did the following while we talked:

  • He drank his beer
  • Smoked his cigarettes
  • Had Skoal snuff in his mouth
  • Had Red Man chew in his mouth

I can see his cheeks were puffed-up from the chew and snuff.  He didn’t have a spit cup like everyone else does when they’re doing snuff or chew.  He drank his beer and swallowed EVERYTHING to include his spit from the Skoal and his spit from the Red Man.

I asked him “Are you swallowing all that tobacco juice?”  He just nodded yes and took a hit from his cigarette.

If this bad ass Marine isn’t dead by now from cancer, he should be studied by the National Cancer Institute.  My Grandmother lived in her 90s and she smoke filterless Lucky Strikes.  I tried one of em’ one time when I use to smoke Camels and Marlboro Reds.  That one filterless Luck Strike cigarette kicked my ass.  I added this segment in here to show you tobacco may not negatively affect some people.  That Marine, as I remember, never fell out of the barn burner runs and rucksack marches during Phase 1.  Most soldiers who smoked, were a sure bet to fall out of runs and rucksack marches.

I myself use to chew Red Man tobacco, no problem.  I tried doing Skoal snuff one time, I was on the ground turning green and getting sick.  Never tried to do snuff again.

Auschwitz Hidden Foxhole

This next survival trick was used by 02 evading Auschwitz prisoners (during WWII) and they learned it from Russian POWs.  Escaping out of the inner concentration camp and hiding within the outer perimeter, evading prisoners Alfred Wetzler and Walter Rosenberg-Vrba hid in their temporary hidden foxhole.  With the foxhole dugout deep & wide enough to accommodate both men, a few selected prisoners aided their evasion.  With both prisoners in the hidden foxhole, wooden slats were placed over the opening.

A layer of dirt was placed on top of the wooden slats, thus completely hiding them.  To throw off the scent-searching Alsatian guard dogs, paraffin (powdered) was sprinkled on top of the hide and the immediate surrounding area.  And to insure the Alsatian guard dogs couldn’t pick-up the scent, tobacco was also sprinkled on the hide site and the immediate area.

And sure enough, the Alsatian guard dogs searched and searched for both men but they couldn’t pick-up their scent.  Wetzler and Rosenberg-Vrba remained in their Auschwitz Hidden Foxhole for 03-days and 03-nights before continuing on with their evasion.

Chisholm Trail!

The famous Chisholm Trail was initially trailblazed and used by Indians for many years.  It was called Shawnee Trail and ran from southern and southwestern Texas going northward.  Texans called it the Kansas Trail as the trail ran from Texas thru Oklahoma and thru Kansas to Abilene, Kansas.

With the demand for beef increasing to markets in the north and eastward, the trail spread northward and finally called the Chisholm Trail, named after a Cherokee – Jesse Chisholm.  Approximately 35,000 to 55,000 cowboys worked the Chisholm Trail with approximately 20% of them being Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) and black cowboys.

The Chisholm Trail beginning of the end came with the invention and use of barbed wire.  Lands were purchased along the Chisholm Trail and guarded with the proven barbed wire.  The railroad also brought the end to the Chisholm Trail for cattle was railed to destinations from cattle ranches to their slaughter houses and markets.

However, while the Chisholm Trail was in use (1860s to 1880s), here are the survival tricks used by cowboys that spent months on the Chisholm Trail.

Chisholm Carbuncle Remedy

Carbuncles are skin eruptions that resemble boils but are much larger.  Carbuncles have multiple openings and may be caused by infection.  Cowboys had their remedy for carbuncles, it was a chew of tobacco.  Tobacco acts as an antiseptic and fights the infection.

Chisholm Lice Remedy

Cowboys on the Chisholm Trail had a double remedy for lice that they learned from the Indians.  They took their clothes and placed them on an ant hill.  The swarming ants searched the lice-tainted clothes, killing all lice.  And to kill the nits (lice eggs), they made sudsy soap from the yucca plant and washed both their clothes and their bodies with the sudsy yucca soap and let it dry on the clothes and their bodies, thus killing the nits (lice eggs).

Cigarettes Talk

On 05 July 1945, 21-year old John H. Noble and his farther – both civilians, were taken prisoner of war by Russian forces. John, transferred from one POW camp to another, he was used as slave labor for 9-years in conditions that would kill most people.

Money talks and so do cigarettes.   John hid a 1,000 German mark note in one of the belt loops of his pants.  With some of the money, be bought cigarettes from a guard.  This guard was painstakingly sought out by his father; for bribing the wrong guard meant the loss of all his money and severe punishment.

With 400 cigarettes, John and his father bought extra food.  The black market didn’t last but a few months.  John felt guilty about bartering food from other starving prisoners.

Civil War Foster’s Pond Food Source

Foster’s Pond at Elmira Prison, Elmira, New York, made a modern day sewer look like fresh water, crystal clear pond.  Foster’s Pond not only took in 2,600 gallons of urine a day, it was loaded with feces, rotting garbage, probably harbored most diseases known to man, and a stench so foul it was torture just smelling it 24-hours a day.  Confederate POWs took advantage of Foster’s Pond for it provided a valuable food source – rats.

Inventive POWs made deadfall rat traps and rat traps & snares to capture the tasty protein-rich rats.  And rats were so valuable, they became a powerful part in the monetary system at Elmira Prison.  Rats went for 04 cents apiece.

They were bartered for 05 chaws (01-inch square cut of chewing tobacco) of tobacco, or a needed haircut (combat lice), or a number of other foods, tools and services.

Note:  Chaws became another valuable commodity in prisons across the Unites States and territories.

Civil War Lice Killer

Union Civil War POWs located at Andersonville, Georgia, killed lice (Union POWs called them “graybacks”) off their clothes by BARELY placing a section of their clothing near a fire – just far enough away so their clothes wouldn’t burn-up, but close enough to kill the lice.

With their clothing near the hot fire, you could hear the lice explode with a “pop” “pop” “pop” – kinda like popcorn!  The clothing was rotated killing more lice.  And this process was repeated till the entire clothing item was heated.

Civil War Lice Killer Concoction

Civil War POWs took a handful of tobacco leaves, chew, snuff or cigarette tobacco and placed it in a 02-quart container.  01 quart of boiled water was poured over the tobacco and steeped (soaked) covered overnight.

The next morning the tobacco concoction was strained into another container.  The hair was rinsed with this tobacco concoction catching the tobacco rinse in a container.  The tobacco rinse was repeated 14 more times and the hair combed.  SAVE tobacco rinse.  After several hours, you may shampoo the tobacco rinse out of your hair.  If required repeat the tobacco rinse the next day and the next till there are no signs of lice.

Civil War Lice Shampoo

Lice were a continuous threat to all Civil War POWs everywhere.  Lice (head louse – Pediculus capitis and body louse – Pediculus corporis) were in their clothes, blankets, hair, ears, noses,…  But the main threat presented was that they spread diseases.  To remedy lice on the head, POWs got short haircuts if that was possible.  At Andersonville Prison, another solution was shampooing the hair in tobacco juice.  Tobacco juice has been used for a variety of remedies throughout the Old West.

Cook’s Stay Awake Concoction

James H. Cook, a cowboy, guide, hunter, and scout, was one of the last to live the life of the Old West before it was gone forever.   To fall asleep on guard duty invited Indians to steal cattle and kill the herders.  It also invited predators to kill cattle.

But Cook and his fellow herdsmen had a concoction to stay awake for long periods of time.  They take some “spittle” (tobacco juice) and rub it on both eyelids and put it in their eyes.  When it wore off, they added more “spittle” to both eyelids and eyes.

Descenting Oneself

On 29 August 1911, a man wandered down from the hills into Oroville (gold town) California (foothills of Tahoe National Forest).  He was approximately 54-years old, hungry, and clothed in a section of wagon-covered canvas shirt that went down to his knees.

After some investigation, the unknown wildman was named Ishi (he never revealed his Yahi name) and belonged to the Yahi Indians, a tribe that dominated a small section of Northern California for 3,000 to 4,000 years.

A day and night before a deer hunt, Ishi abstained from foods like fish and used no tobacco.  When possible, he abstained for 03 days and nights.  On the morning of the deer hunt, he sweated in a sweat lodge followed by a cold dip in the stream, and washed-out his mouth.  All this was to descent himself so the deer was not alerted to a human scent.  Ishi could stalk or chase the deer, but he preferred the technique of lure & ambush.

D & M Chigger Clothing

William Decker was a 30-year camping editor of Outdoor Life magazine.  He started his outdoor career working at sawmills in the Ozarks of Missouri.  He’s also a veteran gold prospector, range rider, worked traplines and a camping guide.  He’s authored books on camping, gunsmithing, leathercraft, shooting, trapping,… Travelling throughout wilderness areas of the US, Decker is no doubt a camping veteran.

Leonard Miracle gets his outdoor background while working as a cowpuncher, logger and sheepherder in the state of Idaho.  A member of the US Forest Service, Miracle tested and evaluated many camping techniques.  He was also an Associate Editor for the Outdoor Life magazine.

Decker and Miracle are authors of a book very worthy of your attention.  Their 594-page book – Complete Book Of Camping is a must have for anyone interested in the wilderness.

Chiggers will drive you crazy.  When a young soldier training at Fort Bliss, Texas; I got chiggers so bad I ended up with scars around my waist.  Anyway, how would you like chigger repellent clothing?

Take your outdoor clothing and smoke em’ real good over a smoky fire.  Smoking clothes over burning tobacco is noted to work especially well in repelling chiggers and other nagging & biting insects.

Kerosene kills most or all insects on contact or close to it.  Kerosene sprayed at the cuffs (pants & shirt), waist area and your headgear will offer good repelling protection.

Hopi Snake Catching

The Hopi Indians are located in northeastern Arizona.  One of the more important Hopi ceremonies was the Snake Dance using real snakes.  Priests would go north, then west, then south, then east to collect snakes (counter clockwise – Why? – RFIR).  The priests had an unusual technique to collect rattlesnakes, bull snakes, and other species of snakes.

a) Tracking: First the snakes were tracked by the thin trail they left in the dry dust. Yes, I bet them Hopi could track them crawling critters over rocks too.

b) Corn Meal: Once located, if the snakes is uncoiled, some corn meal is thrown towards it where the priest secured it by its neck, stroked it gently to calm it down, and placed it in the rawhide bag.

c) Smoke: If the snake coiled, a quick prayer was said and tobacco smoke was blown toward it till it uncoiled, then it was secured and placed in the rawhide bag.

d) Digging Stick: If the snake’s trail led to a hole, a digging stick is used to excavate and retrieve the snake – securing it in the rawhide bag.

These techniques are interesting.  Why corn meal calms the snake is unknown.  But smoke may have the same effect on snakes as it has on bees – it dulls their senses, makes them drowsy,… thus incapacitates them, disables them from striking or the desire to strike.

My best advice is to ALWAYS ALWAYS have a forked walking stick (weapon) when outdoors and another back-up weapon according to the type of the most deadliest critter(s) in your area.

Human Snake Bite Remedy

Those trekking Mormons always had the worry of venomous snakes along their trek westward.  On 23 May 1847, 24-year old Nathaniel Fairbanks was tagged in the calf by a rattlesnake.  His tongue began to feel prickly and numb, followed by stomach pains, dizziness,…

Coming to his aid, his Mormon comrades applied a mixture of tobacco juice & turpentine to the bite.  Fairbanks also drank a mixture of alcohol & water.  In a few hours he began feeling better.

Horace Kephart!

Horace Kephart was born 08 September 1862 when the American Civil War was already several months old.  A very avid outdoorsman, Kephart wrote volumes on camping.  So much so and evident was his expertise, Kephart is known as the “Dean of American Campers.”

One of his most complete writings is his combined 02-Volume, 405-page & 479-page book is “Camping And Woodcraft” which is rich in camping tricks of the trade.  But another of Kephart’s claim to fame’ was his instrumental work to establish the mountainous 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail that runs from Newfoundland, Canada to Alabama, United States.  OK, let’s get started with Kephart’s Bee Repellent.

Kephart’s Bee Repellent

Don’t have the proper protective clothing or netting against them stinging bees?  Here’s a bee repellent you should know about.

Tobacco juice may be an option to repel bees.  A lot of tobacco juice can be made on your own if your do snuff(Copenhagen, Hawken, Kodiak, Skoal, Wolf,…) or chew tobacco (Lancaster, Levi Garrett, Red Man, Southern Pride,…).  Instead of spitting the saliva-laden tobacco juice to the ground, save it in a container for a bee repellent.  The tobacco juice is smeared all over the body.

Another method is steeping (soaking) tobacco in water.  The tobacco concoction is smeared all over the body.

I’m not sure if it’s the tobacco scent that repels the bees or if the tobacco concoctions mask all scents (skin and breath) given off by humans.  See POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction and Laydon’s POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction R&D.

Kephart’s Bee Sting Remedy

You already know tobacco juice can be used as a bee repellent.  And it can has be used to help remedy bee stings.  Apply some tobacco juice to the sting site.  Tobacco will reduce the stinging pain and aid to reduce the swelling.

Kephart’s Centipede Bite Remedy

Centipede bites are very painful and complimented with swelling at the bite site and a nagging stinging pain that stays with the victim for more than a few days.  Cowpunchers (ranch cowboy) of the Old West used a chaw of tobacco to remedy centipede bites.  A chaw is a 01-inch square cut of chewing tobacco.  The chewed wet chaw was secured to the bite site where it countered the centipede bite and acted as an antiseptic.

Kephart’s Chigger Insect Repellent

A selected set of “Chigger Clothes” are thoroughly smoked over some burning tobacco stems.  It is said that chiggers want nothing to do with anyone wearing these fumigated smoked clothes reeking of tobacco fumes.

Kephart’s Scorpion Repellent And Sting Remedy

Kephart had his own unique techniques in dealing with scorpions.  First, a repellent and killer to scorpions is a batch of tobacco juice.  Most or all insects hate tobacco, especially in a liquid juice form as in tobacco juice spit from your mouth.  Tobacco will also kill centipedes, tarantulas and put an ornery snake in retreat.

Scorpions like many other insects seek protective cover in boots, clothing blankets, hats,…  So to avoid their aching stings, copycat them savvy Texas Rangers, cowboys, cavalry, pioneers,… of the Old West – Shake, Check and Look over all your gear & clothing.

Depending on the species of scorpion and its victim’s age and health, a sting can bring great pain, sickliness and even death to the victim.

A scorpion sting remedy is the same concoction that kills them – tobacco juice.  Apply some tobacco juice to the sting site.  Tobacco will reduce the stinging pain and aid to reduce the swelling.

Kephart’s Tick Repellent And Tick Remover

Ticks of various species, carry disease and can cause death in both animals and humans.  Ticks are repelled using the same repellents as stated previously against chiggers:

a) Kerosene

b) Salt Water Bath

c) Salty Bacon-Rind

d) Smoked Clothes

If ticks are embedded in your skin, DO NOT attempt to pull it out for the head will remain embedded and cause further infection.  To get the tick to release its hold and leave voluntarily, take a quid of tobacco (enough to fit in your mouth) and get it saturated with saliva so its a moist poultice.  Apply the tobacco to the tick site.  Ticks hate tobacco and it will leave voluntarily.  Other techniques to get the ticks to remove themselves from the body are to:

e) Smoke: Stand naked near a smoky fire that’s burning green wood.

f) Oil: Apply oil to each tick site which cut-off the tick’s oxygen supply.

g) Whiskey: Apply whiskey to the tick sites.

h) Hot Flame: Slightly touch each tick site with a hot flame, hot item or hot liquid.

i) Kerosene: Rub kerosene on each tick site or the entire body.

j) Steeped Tobacco: Place tobacco in some hot water and let it soak for several hours. Wash the body in the tobacco concoction.

Laydon’s POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction R&D

Sorry, this concoction won’t be annotated here but is annotated completely in my Survival Book – “199+ Poisons And Venoms That Kill, Injure, Stun, Cure And More!”  See POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction.

09 sure death poisons and venoms

Paperback Book—————Kindle E-Book

Nicotine & Alcohol Craving Stopper

I just told you about using Nicorette gum (fresh or chewed) as emergency fuel sources.  And if you want to stop the craving of cigarettes, to compliment nicorette gum is a tart fruit you might want to consider – lime fruit.

When you get that tobacco craving, take a thin slice of fresh lime fruit and place it in your mouth and suck on it.  Lime also provides calcium, phosphates, and Vitamins.  Plus, slices of lime also aid in stopping the craving for alcohol.

POW Fake Tuberculosis

Japanese guards were scared of the infectious disease called tuberculosis.  Tuberculosis (TB), also called consumption, is an infectious disease that attacks the lungs.  And POWs ingeniously faked-out Japanese doctors who diagnosed them with TB.

The fake TB was so good it even appeared in blotches on their chest X-Rays.  The fake TB got the POWs plenty of bed rest and their Japanese guards avoided the afflicted POWs like the plague.  To fake-out their captors, POWs smoked their tobacco cigarettes that were laced with iodine.

Then the POWs faked a nagging chronic cough day & night till their scared Japanese guards ordered them to go to the infirmary.  And sure enough, blotches showed-up on their chest X-Rays – thus plenty of bed rest!

POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction:  Sorry, this concoction won’t be annotated here but is annotated completely in my Survival Book – “199+ Poisons And Venoms That Kill, Injure, Stun, Cure And More!” See Laydon’s POW Killer Heart Attack Concoction R&D.

09 sure death poisons and venoms

Paperback Book—————Kindle E-Book

POW Inventions

POWs (Viet Nam War) invented and fashioned all types of materials to improve their primitive, spartan living conditions.  They also used home-made & invented medicines to remedy their maladies.  Here are some of their secret inventions, works, and healing concoctions:

  • American Flags (fabricated)
  • Antiseptics (toothpaste or urine)
  • Bandages (vines, mosquito netting,…)
  • Bibles
  • Calendars
  • Charcoal (diarrhea, flu,…)
  • Clocks
  • Casts (mud)
  • Decks of Cards
  • Dental Floss
  • Drills
  • Finger In Nose (deviated septum)
  • Gameboards
  • Game Materials
  • Kerosene (intestinal worms)
  • Knives
  • Hemorrhoids (standing on head)
  • Maggot Therapy
  • Pens
  • Pig Fat Ointment (cracked lips)
  • Mouse Traps
  • Secret Compartments To Hide Contraband
  • Sewing Needles
  • Stoves
  • Thermometers
  • Tobacco (tooth ache)
  • Toothpicks
  • Weight Scales

Note:  Tooth aches were calmed by placing tobacco between the cheek & gum near the affected tooth.  Intestinal worms were remedied by drinking kerosene.  Diarrhea and flu were remedied by chewing & swallowing bits of charcoal.

Prisoner Cigarette Uses

Miraculously, this prisoner survived 3,000-days of beatings, starvation, sleep deprivation, torture, the elements, solitary confinement,… in her Romanian prison.  Her name is Lena Constante.  Ms. Constante survived conditions where most would pray for a bullet in the head.  A plain ol’ cigarette had a few survival uses.  Let’s start with Starvation Remedy.

a) Starvation Remedy: Starvation was a nagging constant pain that meant death to most. But smoking actually dulled Constante’s hunger pangs.

b) Tools: Tools were made using a burning cigarette (prisoner toys, tools & games).

c) Intoxication: Surviving a hell on Earth, alcohol might be a temporary escape but when alcohol isn’t available, tobacco will do the trick. Tobacco actually gives you a buzz – soothing, calming effect and a single cigarette may last hours.  Depending on the type of cigarette, filter or filterless, and your last puff, you could get a long-lasting buzz to temporarily escape your current hell.

Shaman Tobacco

The Campa Indians reigning in the Peruvian forest use tobacco as part of shamanic rituals.  But in Venezuela, Warao Indian shamans use it to go into a narcotic trance.  They would fast for days.  After fasting they would smoke large cigars made of strong local tobacco.  Smoking this strong tobacco in their fasting state would induce a narcotic trance.

Can strong tobacco be used for survivors to disassociate themselves of their injuries, despair,…?  Thus prolonging their lives till proper medical attention is available.

Can tobacco be used with bait to incapacitate small or big game for capture?

My choice of strong cigarette would be filterless Lucky Strikes – if they still make them.

Tobacco Antiseptic

US Cavalry soldiers of the Old West by today’s standards had very poor medical support.  On the battlefield fighting injuns, cavalry soldiers had their own survival tricks to treat their wounds.  One US Cavalry soldier fighting injuns took a bullet clean through his leg.

His sergeant chewing tobacco during the battle, filled the bullet hole with his tobacco juice and wrapped it.  The tobacco juice was thought to be an all-around antiseptic.  An antiseptic is a means to destroy microorganisms that cause disease.

Anyway, using tobacco juice was a common practice among Cavalry soldiers.  I figure if it didn’t work it wouldn’t have become a common emergency first-aid practice.

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