I first came up with this idea fifty years ago when I was helping my cousin John Priestley lay out irrigation in his (new) mandarine orchard along the Paterson River NSW. We had run out of poly pipe fittings (a relatively new idea then too) and he was all for sending me (quite a long way) into Maitland to buy some more.
I realised that instead of buying end joiners we could bend over the ends of the pipes and force the bent over end through a short (cut off) section of the same pipe. It was not particularity easy the first time, but it worked.
I became quite proficient at it after a few hundred trees were set up and I have used the idea around the farm ever since – and not bought a single end joiner! Since cable ties have become so ubiquitous I usually now use one of them to secure the end because it is easier particularly with my old arthritic fingers. Somehow though the idea never occurred to me until yesterday that the same principle could be applied to drinking straws!
Just bend the end over, fold it in the middle slightly then force it into another piece of straw thus:
Here is one holding water.
You can bend over the end of a drinking straw then if you fold it in along the middle slightly you can slip a cut off piece (say about 1″ onto it to lock it in place. It will hold liquids such as iodine or sunscreen perfectly well, as well as powders such as salt, pepper and spices, or safety equipment such as matches, strikers, fire starters etc. I’m sure many other uses could be imagined.
When you have filled it you can repeat the process with the other end to seal it. The advantage of this system over my previous post about heat-sealing the straws (which is hard to do anyway) is that you can use a small amount (of eg pepper) then seal it back up again. The salt and pepper will also remain perfectly dry.
A collection of such storage containers can be made to exactly fit a particular length of snap-lock bag and the bundle secured with a small rubber band. I doubt whether you can think of a lighter way of carrying small necessities eg a fishing kit.
The standard length and width of single-use disposable straws that you’ll find at most bars and restaurants are 8.5” long. The standard drinking straw diameter is . .24” (6mm) wide. On average they weigh .42 grams each. You are going to lose about 1 1/2″ in the fold over leaving you 7″ (177 mm), therefore the volume you have to work with equals approx 1.59 ml with a standard straw. If you need more volume, buy some of the larger sizes.
You can buy a pack of approx 200 on eBay for something like $5 which is probably not a lifetime supply. Given the current ‘war’ on plastic ‘waste’ maybe it would be a good idea to stock up! Those ‘Colossal ones (below) are going to hold about 4.5 ml. You should probably buy some of them too.
They would also be useful for containing small fishing bits and pieces: hooks, swivels, shot etc.
A Further Use for Drinking Straws
