Button Button. Who's Got the Button?

[Rick]

Ever lose or break a button while you are stomping through the woods? It can be an inconvenience (you shirt gaps open letting a nice chill in) or a real problem (Main button on your pants!). Well, there are a couple of things you can do to head off those little annoyances.

Before you leave the house, sew a spare button along the seam of your shirt near the bottom of the tail and you'll have a replacement. If your pants close with a button then sew one inside the band of your pants.

Now, want to make certain that replacement stays put? Try this.

Required Equipment

* Replacement button.
* Needle with a medium-sized eye.
* Unwaxed dental floss or one of the inside strands of some paracord.

1. Thread the needle with about a meter of unwaxed dental floss or paracord strand and tie a knot at one end.
2. Starting from the inside of the shirt, connect the button loosely to the shirt. Leave one or two millimeters of space between button and shirt.
3. Sew the button on with eight to ten stitches.
4. Wrap the remaining floss around the threads that connect the button to the shirt (between the shirt and the button) about four times (same for pants), then push the needle through to the inside of the shirt and tie it off. Cut off the thread just beyond the knot.

Need an expedient button. You can use antler tines, bone, tie a large knot in a piece of paracord, shellfish shell, fashion a small piece of clay and drop it in the fire, or use a safety pin.

[LadyTrapper]

Good tips Rick!
Not something one would think of right off, but very convenient to do/have!

[Jay]

Good tip Rick,
Some shirts come with an extra button sewn on the inside end of the button facing. However I do carry a small sewing kit in my survival pouch. it contains 3 needles of diffrent sizes, about a meter each of thread in several colors and sizes. about 10 buttons in several sizes,various hook and eye type gadgets and it all fits in an old matchbox. No thimble. but I improvise that with a small disk of wood and a band aid if necessary.

[Nativedude]

Great tip Rick!

On all my button shirts, I sew a button onto the backs of each of the existing buttons. This does 2 things; 1 it gives me extra buttons should one, or more, fall off or get broken, and 2 it re-enforces the buttons that are already sewn on the front.