10 Ways to Use Glow Sticks for Survival

With all of the advancements in LED lighting over the years, glow sticks—aka chemical lights—have become an overlooked prep item. While they won’t replace a good headlamp or lantern, glow sticks have many survival uses that make them worth packing.

1. Tactical Marking

Because they are cheap, glow sticks are great for tactical marketing. Put them along trails or tie them to trees to help you find your way back in the dark. Or use them to mark hazards, such as cliff edges or holes around camp. During home power outages, you can hang glow sticks on bathroom doors to help navigate in the dark.

The mini Cyalume glow sticks are cheap and come in 10 packs—perfect for tactical marking.Get them here.

2. Winter Light Source

Batteries don’t perform well in cold conditions, meaning your flashlights can fail on you in freezing temps.

By contrast, glow sticks actually last longer cold temps. This is because cold slows down the chemical reaction in the glow stick. The glow sticks will be a bit duller in the cold, but you don’t have to worry about them failing on you.

Pro Tip: Keep gear in an inside pocket next to your body to prevent batteries from freezing!

3. Signaling

One of the original military uses for glow sticks was signaling. You can tie a string around a glow stick and twirl it around to signal in the dark. It works as a distress signal in situations where you can’t make a signal fire.

4. Natural Disaster Light Source

While glow sticks aren’t nearly as bright as a good flashlight, they don’t require batteries and last for years. Cyalume glow sticks last long past their said expiration date. I have some that are 5+ years old and still work great, albeit a bit dimmer than the fresher ones.

By contrast, the batteries in flashlights will slowly drain and need to be rotated (you are remembering to rotate your emergency supplies, right?). Glow sticks are also better than candles in situations where an open flame is unsafe, such as during gas leaks.

5. Bait Traps

Insects are attracted to light. Put a glow stick in a simple bottle trap and you will have lots of insects to use as bait. Or, if you are really hungry, go ahead and eat the insects. Most insects are edible!

6. Fishing Attractor

After using the glow stick to get bait, attach the glow stick to a fishing line or net. The light will attract fish at night.

7. Car Emergency Kits

You should definitely have a high-power flashlight in your car emergency kit to use as a light source during breakdowns. However, you’ll want to throw some glow sticks in your kit, too. The glow sticks can be used to mark the vehicle on the road and help crews locate the scene in the dark.

8. Attach to Life Jackets

When boating in low-visibility situations or hurricane or flood evacuations, attach glow sticks to life jackets. They are completely waterproof and will help you locate a person if they go overboard.

9. Prevent Kids from Getting Lost

When evacuating , attach glow sticks to your children. It will help you locate them in the dark or low-visibility situations.

10. Comfort Item

There are plenty of games you can play with glow sticks, and they are fun to twirl around to make color streaks. Or you can start a rave once SHTF. Regardless, glow sticks can boost morale and provide comfort in otherwise scary situations.