Personally, I’m big on multipurpose items in my survival kits. Rarely do I add anything that cannot do at least double duty. Snare wire is no exception to this rule.
The first and most obvious use is to procure food in the wild. Naturally, snares and traps are really only beneficial if you’ll be in the same location for a day or so. You don’t put out a snare and realistically expect to catch something an hour later. Sure, that could happen but not reliably. But if you’re going to hunker down for the night, it doesn’t hurt to put out a few snares and check them in the morning.
Being a metal wire as opposed to a textile, it will hold its shape well, which is necessary for many types of snares and other traps.
The second use is for lashing. Yes, paracord works well for this purpose as well but remember the Rule of 3s — have at least three ways to accomplish a given goal. So, I consider my snare wire to be a backup to my paracord for this purpose. Being a stiff wire, one need not rely on knots but just wrap the wire around and give it a twist to keep it in place.
Another reason I like snare wire for lashing is I don’t have to cut up my paracord into shorter lengths. Given that I can carry 100′ of snare wire in my pocket or a pouch on my pack, I can easily spare the eight or ten inches it would take to lash a small spear point to a branch. I know that one can take inner strands out of paracord, that’s one of the appeals of it. But, snare wire can do the job just as well in many cases.
What other uses do you have for snare wire?
