Hydrate !!

mete

mete

Joined
Jun 10, 2003
Messages
15,288
Gen. Patraeus passes out at hearing !!
He said he was dehydrated ! With all the training of troops in the desert in recent years ,they are told to hydrate , hydrate ! Even if you don't feel thirsty .If you're not pissing you're not drinking enough water .
Somehow he thinks it doesn't apply to him ??
 
mete said:
Gen. Patraeus passes out at hearing !!
He said he was dehydrated ! With all the training of troops in the desert in recent years ,they are told to hydrate , hydrate ! Even if you don't feel thirsty .If you're not pissing you're not drinking enough water .
Somehow he thinks it doesn't apply to him ??
Click to expand...

He didn't want them to see him sweating....
 
Regardless of who did what, this is timely.
About 100 degrees here today, and for some reason instead of water, I was chugging coffee all night at work. Duh.
I got overheated and had to go sit in the shade for a bit while cleaning up a downed tree. Went through all five of the .5 liter water bottles on ice with me in a little over an hour.
My buddy's chainsaw wouldn't run, and I had to use my small Forest Axe instead. Didn't take 5 minutes to get almost completely soaked.

Don't forget drink mixes or electrolyte tabs if you're going outdoors, and to use them preemptively. Water won't mean crap if your electrolytes are out of whack. First sign of dizziness, or lack of coordination, and you need to stop right then, because you've already gone too far. It's no joke.
 
Last edited:
To stay hydrated, I drink a glass of water before having anything like coffee or a soda. I require my kids to drink a glass of water before they can have a soda. Not a perfect plan, but it really helps get water into the system.

I have also had heat exhaustion, so I try to get ahead of the game drinking water early in the morning. Once I get hot, it is harder to drink as required.

Spud
 
I tend to get dehydrated when the water out of the closest tap/water source tastes like crap. I hate water that does not taste like water. I have been taking big water bladders from Platypus to work for a few years now and it helps a lot. I use my Pur filter on the tap at home, fill them up, then chug lots of water all day. Doing this also helps keep me away from sodas and other drinks that are just empty calories.
 
OwenM said:
Regardless of who did what, this is timely.
About 100 degrees, and 100% humidity here today, and for some reason instead of water, I was chugging coffee all night at work. Duh.
I got overheated and had to go sit in the shade for a bit while cleaning up a downed tree. Went through all five of the .5 liter water bottles on ice with me in a little over an hour.
My buddy's chainsaw wouldn't run, and I had to use my small Forest Axe instead. Didn't take 5 minutes to get almost completely soaked.

Don't forget drink mixes or electrolyte tabs if you're going outdoors, and to use them preemptively. Water won't mean crap if your electrolytes are out of whack. First sign of dizziness, or lack of coordination, and you need to stop right then, because you've already gone too far. It's no joke.
Click to expand...

Do you recommend a particular brand of electrolyte tab? Haven't really looked into anything like that before.
 
riz_aaroni said:
Do you recommend a particular brand of electrolyte tab? Haven't really looked into anything like that before.
Click to expand...

I like the taste of the Elixir ones from Camelbak. We'll have them if Camelbak ever decides to ship our order. The Nuun ones are pretty good too.
 
riz, I don't know any brands to recommend. Along with bags of Gatorade mix, our clinic at work hands out generic "Electrol Plus" packets, so mine are free. The tablets are basically potassium, magnesium, and calcium, though values are not given on the packaging.
 
Now it's reported that Patraeus reduced his water intake so he would not have to take a bathroom break !
 
G'day Mete

A timely reminder that there is more involved in wilderness & survival skills that being able to baton wood to get to the dry stuff :D.

IMO, its' a pity more people didn't develop more strings to their survival bow :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
 
mete said:
Now it's reported that Patraeus reduced his water intake so he would not have to take a bathroom break !
Click to expand...

Maybe he's having prostate problems again? and doesn't want another ARE - Army Rectal Exam (similar to an MRE - Military Rectal Exam, but worse).

Since he's career army he's probably quite aware of big green... furthermore, he's a "ring knocker" and probably WAS big green at one point or another.

The Medical Corps could be just waiting for a chance to 'check out' the good generals prostate - with rheumatoid arthritic knuckles... ouch. Nothin' to fear but, well, a ARE.
 
Dioralyte is a brand name over here, dont fancy the taste of it much though.
 
SouthernCross said:
A timely reminder that there is more involved in wilderness & survival skills that being able to baton wood to get to the dry stuff :D.
Click to expand...
Well, that's most of it, but it's a symbiotic relationship. Water is indeed key to survival, but most people fail to recognize why.
You gotta stay hydrated so you can keep on batoning;):rolleyes:
 
another recent example- my wife and I headed out on a five day backpacking trip in the Gila (NM)- my wife had a couple of cups of coffee and a maybe a glass of water before heading out- nice steady elevation gain, temps in the mid to upper 90's (we're coming from Montana)- about three miles in she starts getting a little rummy, nauseous, seeing dots- we head down to the creek and shade, I make her drink ~ 1.5 liters of water and rest up for 45 minutes- starts feeling markedly better and away we go- lesson learned!
 
My wife and I went to a festival a couple weekends ago and it was like 90 and sunny. In 12 hours we both totally drained our 70oz and 100oz Camelbacks filled with water and ice cubes and also drank 2 large lemonades.

I think I only peed once so we still werent' taking in a lot. IMO sometimes you almost can't take in enough to stay hydrated unless you really work on it, but it's mega important.

You'd think it would be OD's or something but probably about 80% of the people who fall out at festivals are due to dehydration and remember beer is a diuretic!
 
I wanna say at the out-set that i'm a huge proponent of hydating adequately - in winter mountaineering/camping it's one of the top 2 or 3 reasons folks get exhausted pre-maturely.

However, do other people who are accustomed to dryer climates - desert dwellers - Tuareg/Bedouin peoples - require as much hydration as those of us from "moister" climates?

Anyone familiar with the physiological adaptions requirements of these peoples? It's kinda like the more advanced oxygen processing of the Sherpa people of the Himalaya who can function better at high altitudes than others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top