Activated charcoal in your kit

G

Guille

Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
194
So... was watching bear grylls last night on the TV in his man Vs wild... and as usual he ate something ( think it was a type of caterpillar or three) and had a bout of diarrhea... so he goes and takes charcoal from his fire and puts it to make a tea to quiet his stomach...

So of course being in the veterinary field a light bulb goes off in my head and i realize that a little activated charcoal in the wilderness kit or survival kit or BOB would be invaluable.I know of its use as a first aid for poisonings and for diarrhea( within reason) and have drank it myself whenever have had a bad bout of diarrhea. the show sparked my curiosity and I decided to do a bit more research and am pleasantly surprised with what i find:

http://healingtools.tripod.com/thn5.html

Apparently the uses of activated charcoal are more varied then i once thought. plus counting the fact that it can help filter drinking water
before boiling.... i think it can be an invaluable piece of kit. it shouldn't take up too much space and is relatively cheap.
 
I have worked in a ER setting, where activated charcoal was administerd to heavy booze drinkers etc. Good stuff. hella messy (black lips!).

I have used campfire charcoal to filter water (gravity drip method) and it works very well to sweeten the taste of bogwater....
 
Thanks! I knew about drinking it but didn't know about the poultice.

From what I've seen, the activated charcoal that is often for sale in pharmacies is pretty expensive.

Don't be shy about asking a pharmacist if they can order you some if you want more or if they can find a better price. For best results, hit them up when they aren't buried with work. ;)

Pharmacists often have a huge book of stuff they can order...as long as none of your ingredients match what is used to make Meth. you shouldn't have to much trouble ordering it.

Hey and as long as you are ordering charcoal, get some sulfur and potassium nitrate...:D
 
zenheretic said:
...Hey and as long as you are ordering charcoal, get some sulfur and potassium nitrate...:D
Click to expand...

I have had far better results with potassium clorate... not to mention fine aluminum or magnesium powder. To bad they stoped selling potassium clorate long ago... basically since some urban terrorist realised that using it with sulfuric acid helps making chemical molotov cocktails untraceable (you don't see the flame of the rag comming at you). That sucks big time.

Er... ok ok, back to the topic.

I once heard that charcoal from a fire pit comes handy for filtering water but I also heard that you need to wash the ashes off first. Otherwhise you are getting some sort of mild bleach disolution... which can be harmfull. Can anyone elaborate a bit more?

Mikel
 
^ yes, water mixed with ash make LYE, a rather caustic bit of nastiness. HOWEVER, combine bear fat with fireplace ash and a bit of water and you get soap, just go easy on the ash......

one can also use the ashes and charcoal TOGETHER, and filter water thru them...the lye disinfects the water, the charcoal sweetens the water and absorbs some of the lye. Best to filter thru plain charcoal afterwords and leave the water in the sun to dissapate the lye.

use with caution, i'm not responsible for screwups in mixtures etc etc.
 
So whats the best way to make charcoal in a camp fire? I would think in case a small chunk of wood inside a metal container and throw it in the fire so it does not burn yet gives offs it's moisture. Any other ideas? I mean you don't just want to grab a burning coal out of the fire, let cool, and then call it charcoal right? Well maybe if you had no other means.
 
Well, there's where Eddie-Bear messed up again. He ate Caterpillars. That's a big no-no. Some secrete certain juices when they are being attacked/eaten just to do what they did to Eddie...some will kill you outright.
God, I can't stand that guy.

As far as taking up more room in my pockets or knapsack/backpack with activated charcoal...why?
Charcoal from a fresh fire is the same thing. Just grind it up and use it.

Unless you're in a boat, adrift at sea or stuck on a glacier or mountainside with nothing but rocks with no way to get off--there's always a way to make a fire.

Follow the rules and you'll do alright...break them (Like dumbass-er-Bear Grylls does) and you'll get dead in a hurry.

...Remember...you won't have a camera crew with you the whole time.

But, back to your question:

No reason to carry A.C. in your pack...just build a fire and use that. Avoid eating stuff that you're not supposed to, cook the stuff fully that you can eat; and you won't have to worry about stomach upsets/bugs.
 
Important note: Charcoal out of a fire or fireplace may and likely will contain toxins!! There is a reason that they sell it as 'activated' charcoal. It is produced for safe ingestion and contains more active surface area (this allows it to do a good job binding crap in your gut).

As we all know quite well, just because Bear did it doesn't mean it's safe or smart.

Like Zenheretic suggested, this is something a pharmacy can stock or even order for you, there won't be extra costs associated.
 
Note to self:

Don't eat caterpillars.
Find charcoal.
Check supply of pepto bismol.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Important note: Charcoal out of a fire or fireplace may and likely will contain toxins!! There is a reason that they sell it as 'activated' charcoal. It is produced for safe ingestion and contains more active surface area (this allows it to do a good job binding crap in your gut).

As we all know quite well, just because Bear did it doesn't mean it's safe or smart.

Like Zenheretic suggested, this is something a pharmacy can stock or even order for you, there won't be extra costs associated.
Click to expand...
You can also order it online as well from those herbal/vitamin/alt medicine websites.
 
I have heard of certain monkeys who are able to eat poisonous plants, but chew on some charcoal to neutralize the toxin and therefore can safely sustain themselves on these poison plants. As is well known, charcoal is a key component for water filtration. I seem to recall a way of "recharging" activated charcoal, and if memory serves, it has something to do with boiling it so it reabsorbs gases. Anyone care to expand on this? :?
 
I picked up some for my kits from Walgreens called "CharcoCaps." $7.99 for 36 individually sealed capsules, so they're a little expensive, but should last for a good long time. If you do eat something in the bush that doesn't sit right, it seems like a small price to pay versus squatting in the bushes constantly and getting dehydrated.
 
Many drug stores carry AC over the counter.

Some health markets sell empty capsule halves. I have not bought any, but plan to in a couple weeks to capsule up the AC and put in kits.
 
You know if you filter cheap vodka through charcoal, it sweetens the flavor and reduces the bite. I imagine this works for any inexpensive spirit.
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Important note: Charcoal out of a fire or fireplace may and likely will contain toxins!! There is a reason that they sell it as 'activated' charcoal. It is produced for safe ingestion and contains more active surface area (this allows it to do a good job binding crap in your gut).

As we all know quite well, just because Bear did it doesn't mean it's safe or smart.

Like Zenheretic suggested, this is something a pharmacy can stock or even order for you, there won't be extra costs associated.
Click to expand...

Well said. and if given a choice i would go with the powder, the effect is much faster and the options of use are greater.

Also it Is NOT the same as the charcoal found in the camp fire ... (As kindly pointed out by a few others) but in a pinch and if prepared properly it should help a bit. but if you have the real thing it would be much better.

ACTIVATED charcoal has under gone a process in which it is treated, or activated, to increase its ability to adsorb various substances by reheating with oxidizing gas or other chemicals to break it into a very fine powder. Activated charcoal is pure carbon specially processed to make it highly adsorbent of particles and gases in the body's digestive system.


And frankly am surprised at the prices you guys are quoting....we can get it here at a little over a dollar for a 300g bottle of the stuff.

here's another link with other info:
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/charcoal_activated.jsp

:D:D
 
Wood ash will contain some dioxin and some lye (although it takes a lot of ash to make lye strong enough to make soap). To activate carbon is to wash it in acid. Most real activated carbon is made from burnt coconut shells or walnut shells. That said, I believe wine and wiskey barrels are charred to get some carbon absorbtion going. I'd feel better about carbon if I could wash it somehow, and maybe activate it with acid. My plans is to buy some activated carbon filled cartridges made for RV water filters and use them with a hand pump to filter bleach treated collected surface water when the power goes out, storing in in plastic drums.
 
Mikel_24 said:
I have had far better results with potassium clorate... not to mention fine aluminum or magnesium powder. To bad they stoped selling potassium clorate long ago... basically since some urban terrorist realised that using it with sulfuric acid helps making chemical molotov cocktails untraceable (you don't see the flame of the rag comming at you). That sucks big time.

Er... ok ok, back to the topic.

I once heard that charcoal from a fire pit comes handy for filtering water but I also heard that you need to wash the ashes off first. Otherwhise you are getting some sort of mild bleach disolution... which can be harmfull. Can anyone elaborate a bit more?

Mikel
Click to expand...

Ash is very strong base if you soak your hand in it long enough it will peel your skin away. I knew a guy who had tough case of foot fungus would baking soda in his shoes. One week later all the skin on his foot had peeled off. Best way is rinse off big chunks of charcoal a couple of times than smash the charcoal into fine powder before use.

No need to purchase charcoal at drug store, you can go out to petstore and buy charcoal used for fish as well.
 
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