Using Preps to Solve everyday problems

Hey Guys,

   Well, I was putting on my boots the other day and the shoe strings on both boots broke...Well, being that I'm tired of paying $1.00 or two for a pack of shoe strings every 3 or six months, I wanted to find something else to use...I tried to use those small bungie cords, that got to be really tricky...I had my ankles popped from the cords slipping from the hooks on my boots...

   I tried some twine, which didn't work long, because it kept fraying...I then tried a few other types of string and ended with the same results...Nothing worked...Then I measured out a piece of paracord, cut it in half melted both ends and then strung my boots with it...re-heated the ends again and then tied knots in the ends...

   For the past 3 weeks this has worked really well...Once you tighten the paracord and tie your boots, the paracord doesn't seem to slip or loosen by any means...And with the outside odd jobs and even the torture I put my boots through, the paracord has never slipped or come untied...

   So I discovered yet another use for paracord in which I didn't think about...

I know we've done lists before on the many uses of bottles, cans and other materials, including paracord...

   The question before you now is, what other common uses can or have you used things from your preps to fix a common problem that you have had??? 

   (Please NO lists offering uses, just personal experiences in which you have used something from your preps to fix or solve whatever problem you had...)