PSK Basics #3 WATER

[pict]

NOTE: These PSK threads are intended to focus in on one topic at at time rather than provide generalized PSK discussion.
The Bladeforums wilderness board is full of discussion that hits this topic in general terms. There are plenty of lists here for anyone who wants to search. There is also plenty of discussion on general pack contents and EDC items. I’d like to (attempt) to limit the discussion to actual items in a pocket sized PSK. The intention is to discuss only one topic is discussed per thread, with separate threads covering the basics of: FIRE, WATER, SHELTER, NAVIGATION, LIGHT, SIGNALS, FOOD GATHERING, MINOR MEDS, SHARPS, and MISC. (Please don’t take these as an order of importance)

Try to keep comments focused on the incidents and accidents that drove your choices. As Solomon stated in Proverbs, “There is much wisdom in the multitude of counselors.” As each thread winds down or runs off topic I’ll start another in the series. Mac

WATER – Severe dehydration is a cruel lesson to learn. We once hiked 24 miles on the AT in August and all the springs we were depending on were dry. We made no attempt to ration sweat pushing on through the mid 90’s heat. The last five miles were like a death march, rubber legs, fatigue, mind-bending headache, cramps, and loss of concentration. At the time we had no real concept of our need for water, expedient techniques for collecting or treating water, and only a 1-quart carrying capacity each. Traveling light again… light headed.

My normal pack now contains emergency water collection and treatment resources that vary according to location and season. The emergency methods I have found very productive are rain collection, dew collection, and the use of a 60 ml syringe and plastic tube to extract water from hard to access places. I carry the syringe with a 1-meter and a 30 cm tube. With the short tube I can suck up water out of tiny puddles, plants, etc without disturbing the sediments in the bottom. The long tube is used to reach down below rocks and into rain gullies. I also use a home made 2-stage filter made from 20 mm PVC, fiber wad, and activated charcoal.

This past spring I intentionally led my brother to an area in the Appalachians that was devoid of flowing water. On a satellite photo I had spotted a bulldozed waterhole that the PA game commission likes to scrape out in areas that don’t naturally have water. Upon arrival we were just about out of water and the waterhole was frog pond skuzzy. I had no doubt I could treat this water and wanted to force the issue with my brother. He needed this kind of shock to his system to break him out of his “Deer Park”mentality.

Two years ago I found myself on a mountainside with my 12 year-old daughter and about six Potable Aqua tablets. I had forgotten to check the supply before we left. A foil container of KMnO4 is now taped inside the pouch of all my canteens and in the PSK as a backup.

I also carry salt in my PSK because I sweat like a horse and know for a fact that salt makes me feel better under such conditions. I once spent a few days in August camped near a remote, abandoned quarry doing long range shooting (M1A). The first day arriving back at camp I was very dehydrated. I mixed up a tsp of salt and some honey in a canteen and drank the whole thing. In an hour I was back to normal. Two more canteens and I actually had to pee. I have carried Thermo-tabs in my PSK but found they don’t hold up well.

I don’t have any illusions that I’m not dependant upon my US Army canteen and cup for hydration. I find the condom in PSK idea sadly lacking (for any use). I have tried the small 10 oz milk bags and they are pretty poor as well. Getting a serious water carrier inside a PSK isn’t going to happen in our lifetimes.

My best field expedient yet is a five-liter bag they sell here in Brazil for carrying gasoline back to your car. All the gas stations here sell them for about $.50 USD. They measure 25x45 cm with a 13x10cm nozzle and four finger holes at the top. If you roll them correctly they will be about the size of a shotgun shell. I have one attached by ranger bands to the bottom of my BK-7 sheath.

They used to sell these marked GASOLINA – ALCÓOL – DIESEL which precluded selling them in the States! Now that they come with no printing I’m toying with the idea of buying a few hundred of them.

 

[longbow50]

I've been mildly dehydrated at times while in the field, but the sweat lodge has dehydrated me to the point of collapse until I got smart and started some preventative measures to remain hydrated.

Before entering the lodge or heading into the field on a hot day, I add Emergen C powder to a small amount of water and drink it down. Then I drink my fill and continue on. It works wonders for maintaining endurance under severe conditions. I carry several packets in each of my kits and at least one in a pocket here and there.

I added a 1 gallon ziploc freezer grade bag to my PSK and other kits. Initially it went into my small tin, but when I added other gear, I had to remove the water bag and wrapped it around a squeeze bottle of bleach and placed it into my pocket. For my Becker sheath, I added one of the freezer bags. Plus, I still carry Iodine tabs, but only because I havn't replaced the bottle with bleach or another chemical treatment as yet. I found out that I have a reaction to larger amounts of Iodine and I do fine with bleach. Any other non iodine type of treatments that others are experienced with, I'd like to hear about them. I also added some coffee filters and a bandana to all of my kits, including coat, over shirt and vest pockets.

I rely on the USGI cup for boiling, which nests with the canteen in it's cover and there is a bottle of bleach in both canteen cover pouches. One rides in my main ruck and the other in my pickup with my vehicle away bag and belt combo that I use for wilderness hiking and hunting.

 

[Moine]

I have been tempted, at times, to drink untreated water in the wild. I often did without any ill effect... until that time when I accidentally drank downstream from a beaver pond.

Sick is an euphemism. I lost 9kg (about 20 pounds) in 8 days. After the 5th day I had to go back to the grocery store to renew my toilet paper stocks. I'll just admit that I didn't check the price, and I chose the one who mentioned the thickest "ultra-soft" on it's package. I got badly dehydrated by day 4, and had to take oral rehydration powders and so long. In a survival situation, I could have died from that alone (not mentioning the general weakness and inability to stay cool/warm and help myself).

Don't mess with water purification.

I always carry chlorine for clear waters, plus iodine for turbid waters (as chlorine doesn't do crap on turbid water). I also, depending on the place/season, carry a cheap ceramic + activated charcoal filter. You don't need a very good filter that will clog up fast. A 1 micron one is enough for most particles, cysts and such. Then you treat your water chemically against bacteria and virii (virii are way too small to be filtered in any portable filter, so you have to treat chemically anyways).

If you're concerned with pesticides or waterborne toxins, activated charcoal will take care of many of them efficiently. Chlorine, as it's a powerful oxydant, also screws up of some chemicals. With a 1 micron filter with active charcoal and a chlorine treatment afterwards, you're in business.

Cheers,

David

 

[tknife]

I carry iodine crystals with my survival gear, but the one gadget that I'm NEVER without in the woods is my PUR Hiker water filter. I have used many forms of water purification, and this hands down is the best, quickest and best tasting way for me. In a true survival situation, obviously other measures could be used.

When I was young, we always boiled our water. It was the safest method of dealing with giardia/crypto when backpacking the Sierra. (It's also the cheapest!) But it was such a pain because you could really boil maybe 2 quarts at a time on the tiny lightweight stove, then had to let it cool before drinking etc.

The taste of iodine in my water is also something I don't look forward to. But if all else fails, I always have it.

 

[Bear]

With light hiking and campsite activity, I can get by with 3 L of water a day, sometimes less if it's winter.

Whenever possible, I limit my load to two liters of water, and plan on getting water at a campsite. That means filtration and treatment are a routine part of my hiking experiences.

I like and use the PUR Hiker as well. Even if the water is pristine and I plan to treat it with chemicals, the Hiker is really handy for getting the water, as I can lower the intake hose down an embankment and pump the water up, straight into a bladder.

I've used PolarPure, Potable Aqua, Aqua Mira, and MP1. Of all these, I prefer the Aqua Mira for taste and MP1 for taste and convenience.

In my PSK I carry either MP1 or Potable Aqua tabs, and a folded, 1 L goldfish bag. I have my bandanna for sopping up dew, but no sponges or tubing for seeps. I like the idea of combining tubing with a syringe, so that you're not just drinking untreated water from the tube. but the syringe is a pretty big item, not suitable for an Altoids or pocket-sized kit.

Bear

 

[longbow50]

I've added a syring kit that has several sizes of units, to our main medicals for the home/vehicle and am placing one syringe in each of our main BOBs. I havn't picked up any of the surgical tubing yet, but have it on the list. There are a lot of little springs in this area that require some sort tubing to reach during the summer.

Right now, we only have 1 filter in all of our equipment, a PUR Hiker and it lives in my rucksack. It's been used some and I like the way it performs. But I also either boil or chemically tweak all suspect water, which most of the standing water and even the rivers here are highly suspect because of the agriculture that surrounds us here. There are small springs and streams that are above the valleys and cattle, which have some very good water that is regularly drank right out of the ground by the longtime locals. But, there are also heavy metal springs, so a bodies gotta be careful.

My PSK is seriously lacking in water purification. The Becker kit will be easy enough to replace the Iodine with another treatment, plenty of room, but my personal carry PSKs can really use an alternative treatment and it'd be easy enough to band a compact water carry bag to the tin, which would also serve as additional fire starter. Gonna do some searching on the treatments that Bear brought up. Thanks for the recommendations.

 

[numberthree]

My property backs onto Crown Land (federal land), so I'm very familiar with the water sources for many miles in most directions. I'm fortunate in that I can safely drink directly from these sources. When I'm out of my area, I carry an MSR Miniworks.....

 

[pict]

Several times a year I teach a wilderness survival course that is centered on the idea of “When good day hikes go bad”, or how to spend the night in the bush when you get lost.

Most Brazilians don’t carry water at all on day hikes and none of them think to carry the means to treat water. In the basic kit I have them carry a $.50 “Galão de Emergência”, the five-liter gasoline bags I mentioned, and a $.50 dropper bottle of 2% tincture of iodine. They also carry at least 1 liter in screw top water bottles like are sold in stores. Part of the philosophy of the course is to keep cost to a minimum and still provide security. To this water treatment method I add a small bottle of 50 mg ascorbic acid capsules that I have made up at a local pharmacy, cost $.03 each. After adding iodine and waiting a half hour I have them pull apart one of the gell-caps and dump the vitamin “C” in to clear up the iodine. This effectively duplicates the Potable Aqua Plus system for a fraction of the cost.

The 60 ml syringe is not a compact item but I have found it so useful that it is a permanent part of my survival pack. In the central highlands of Brazil there are all sorts of little seeps and drips in the cliffs. There are also springs that cut deep gullies. The water is down there but out of reach. In PA there are all sorts of rock fields with water flowing below the rocks. Without the syringe and tube you would have to walk a mile or so to find a place where you can reach it with a canteen or cup. I’ve taken that walk enough times to kick myself for not bringing the syringe and tube.

One of the side pockets of my survival pack is devoted to water. It holds my PVC filter, syringe, tubes, 2 two-liter Platypus bags, and a cloth for dew. I have tried bagged branches and dug solar stills with marginal success. I look at it this way, if I’m going to carry enough clear plastic to make a solar still or enough bags for branches to make it pay off I might as well throw in a 500 ml water bottle and be done with it. I’ve never produced enough with these methods to fill a 500 ml bottle in 24 hours. Your mileage may vary.

Digging for water pays off if you dig correctly. I test the ground first by shoving the machete blade down into a likely spot of sandy soil and giving it a twist. If it comes back moist it will pay to dig. If I can’t shove the blade in then the ground is too rocky or too dense to dig well anyway. I have found in most sandy places where the groundwater is close to the surface that the sand collects there in the rainy season and tends to be level on top and deep with few large rocks. Leveled patches of ground on a dry sloping watercourse mean that at some point in the yearly cycle the ground has become saturated and gravity has pulled it flat. If this isn’t the case then the chance of finding water is slim. I’ve observed many of these places during the yearly weather cycle. In the rainy season these will be pools of water, after the rains end they will remain as visibly wet sand for a few months. At the end of dry season the water will still be there but you have to dig for it.

Don’t dig a fighting position in the search for water; you loose too much sweat. I use the machete to dig a narrow hole and see if the bottom will fill with water then suck it out with the tube. Mac

 

[Nightfall]

I learned a hard lesson this year when it comes to water this year. I went deer hunting with my father in law. The first day out we took a hike to scout out areas to find where the deer may be. Getting ready in the morrining to go I grabbed my day bag and water. My father in law said that it was going to be a short hike and wouldnt need any gear or water. Now this went against everything that I learned or have been taught about being out in the woods. This was the first day in a unknown area. Well needless to say, the short scouting trip turned into a very long, hot 5 hour hike with no water because I went against what I know. The next day water and gear went with me.

 

[Will]

A few years ago I was out on a bushwack alone in a remote area when I realized my Platapus hydration system had come unscrewed and almost emptied! I had just climbed up a steep hill from a stream I had follwed from my camp, and my plan was to climb several mountains and loop back to camp. If I went all the way back down to refill, I surely wound't have time to come back up and continue my hike. After a few minutes of cursing my Platapus system I made the foolish decision not to bail and go back down to the safety of the stream which would give me precious water AND lead me straight back to camp.

Instead I decided to continue on my way, knowing from the map that there was no more water along the way, and I was bushwacking through dense blowdown in unknown terrain so the probablitiy of my trip taking longer than excpeted was high. I can't beleive I did that! I have been hiking and climbing in wild country since I could walk and I knew better than that.

Well, sure enough the heat of July soon got to me, and the pint of water I had managed to save was not enough. I became dehydrated quickly. Then the thirst went away. I got a bad taste in my mouth and I felt sick and weak. At this point I was fully commited to finishing my planned loop. Going back wasn't an option. I felt very dizzy, felt like passing out, and was moving in slow motion.

Realizing the gravity of my situation, I became focused on my map and compass, checking and rechecking to make sure I was exactly where I wanted to be. I realized that if I got lost I would probably die. I was far from anyone, and although my family knew where I generally was, they were not expecting me home for two more days and I couldn't have waited out a rescue. I HAD to get back to camp.

Luckily my navigational skills got me back to camp at 10 pm, after being out since 8 am. After a few hours of slowing drinking (it wasn't easy, I felt like puking) I was able to eat dinner and go to bed.

I knew how stupid what I did was before I even did it. But I will never do anything like that again. I never skimp on water when I hike or climb (I never did before either). But if ever I lose water, or run low, and I knw where there is a water source, I will head for it. This incident was especially stupid of me becuase I was heading into a remote bushwack which I had never done before, knowing there was not water en route. Stupid me.

I don't really conscider water purification an absolute necessity in a PSK. Most water where I live and hike is suitable for dinking without treatment. Even if it were suspect, I would rather chance stomach cramps than die of dehydration. That said, I carry some Katadyn MP1 tablets in my kit. They are light and compact, and becuase they are individually packed (unlike iodine) I can choose how many to carry, and I don't have to worry about exposing a whole bottle to air just to use 1 tablet.

In a larger kit (mine is quite tiny) I would consider a collapsable water bottle, such as the 1L Platapus one with the ziplock bottom. It packs flatter than the collapsable Nalgene one, and the ziplock bottom makes it easier to fill. It can also be used to store the contents of a survival kit, making for a great waterproof container. A small plastic tube would be good addition as well for drinking out of cracks or sills.


Will