>>1488215Main use: Sunscreen. I use SPF30 Blistex, unscented/unflavoured. I'm outside for 12-14hours a day at work so UV protection is key. Your lips need UV protection the same way the rest of your skin does.
Snowboarding, snowshoeing, canoeing, etc. all reflect a bunch of sun off the snow/water and right into your face.
-30C + wind dries the shit out of lips, so all winter it's a necessity even in town. Likewise, wearing a face mask/balaclava + moisture from breath tends to strip the oils off my face/lips and make them raw over the course of a day.
Summer, sun is strong and lots of sweating forces you to reapply sunscreen more often. Same thing goes with chapstick. I'm on the canoe most of my downtime in the summer and there's no protection from the sun out on the water other than what you wear.
Other uses:
Spring I have crazy allergies for a couple months and my nose gets raw because it leaks like a faucet, so I use chapstick to help relieve discomfort/dry skin.
If you get a rash from sweat+heat+activity you can use chapstick to help relieve the pain and protect the skin from further damage. Same goes with blisters to some degree.
Cuts can be somewhat protected with a bit of chapstick.
Autistic uses:
Chapstick is basically petroleum jelly (vaseline) and is pretty nicely flammable so adding some to tinder gives it a bit of a kick in wet weather.
Can use it to protect your knife blade so it doesn't rust, I guess?
Could theoretically use it to somewhat waterproof a hole in a tarp or something like that.
