Survival Kit - how long will it sustain you?

abo4ster

abo4ster

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Aug 24, 2003
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How long do expect your survival kit to sustain you? One, two, three days, a week, indefinately?

My priorities in order are Shelter, Water, Fire, and Food. I know I am compentent in all but long term water purification. How would you sustain yourself long term for water? I know of one way, but haven't done it yet.

Your thoughts?
 
Katadyn Combi Filter.

Charcoal and ceramic filtration elements.

Also good for 13000 gallons.
 
What if your filter clogs? Would you stake your life on your filter for long term water purification? Not trying to be difficult, I am sincerely wrestling with question myself.
 
I don't have one of these models, but I believe with a lot of the water filters with ceramic filters, the filter can be removed and cleaned in the field.
 
Indeed they can. Scrub the filter with a green scrubby pad in clean or dirty water, and you are all set.
 
Originally posted by Sundsvall
Indeed they can. Scrub the filter with a green scrubby pad in clean or dirty water, and you are all set.
Click to expand...

You can back it up with water purification tablets and boiling.

However, the former is hardly - long term. How many tablets can be carried?
 
Long term I was thinking boiling. I believe that will take care of everything but chemical contaminants.
 
Originally posted by Quiet Bear
My priorities in order are Shelter, Water, Fire, and Food.

[...]

How would you sustain yourself long term for water?
Click to expand...

First of all, you should place water BEFORE shelter in your priorities... unless it's REALLY cold.

For long run water purification (from bacteriological threats), my best choice would be :

A) boiling water at least 10 minutes (in fact it's 5 minutes plus one more minute for each 300 meters of altitude you are... If you're at 600 meters above sea, boil 7 minutes. If not sure, boil 10 minutes). Above 3000 meters, that won't work very well (water boils at a low temperature, there, thus not heating germs enough to kill them).

B) stills : dig a hole on a sunny slope about 2 feet deep. Place anything that contains water in it, then place a sheet of plastic over it. Place a rock in the center of the sheet of plastic, thus making an inverted cone. Under the apex of the cone, place a can or whatever container you have. Water will evaporate, turn ack liquid on the plastic and sweat down towards the middle, dripping into the container. Not far from pure H20 ;^)

If you have a very very ugly water source (dead man's urine, pus, or whatever infamous paste you can imagine), pour it into your still THROUGH earth. Say, above the still in another hole. Earth will filter the liquid pretty well, and distillation will finish the job... Otherwise the water will smell awful.

Making a small hole in the plastic sheet, under the center rock, will let you collect rainwater too ;^)

You'll need 3-4 of those stills to get your ration of 3 liters of water per day (which is minimal).

Here's a drawing : http://www.davidmanise.com/img/survie/distillateur.gif

C) collecting water on plants etc. Use a sponge and wipe off any clean water you find on vegetation. Works great (many liters an hour in the morning or after a rain).

Hope this helps,

David
 
I disagree with water before shelter. Hypothermia can occur at surprisingly high temperatures. It is the #1 outdoor killer. Unless overexerted, you will not see any lapse in mental capacity with no water for 24 hours, and you can survive 3 or more.

Statisically, I can't recall the exact number but over 90% of deaths from sheeple lost in the wilderness are a result of hypothermia, not dehydration. When was the last time you heard of someone in a survival situation die of dehydration?

In fact, without a manmade water purification method, I put fire very close 3rd to water, with again shelter being #1.

If you have the man made materials, a solar still is great for LONG TERM water. I have built one to test, and unless I already have water, I will not make one in a survival situation. Law of diminishing return.
 
I would hope, with proper knowledge, to get to the place where I could make it with no survival kit. Perhaps this seems a bit sanguinely idealistic. I guess, at least, I would want my survival kit to get me started on anything, but to be able to make it indefinately after this.
 
I am working that way myself YoYoMa. Primitive skills are the way to go. Unless I am out of my geographic element, the only thing I carry these days is cordage, a bandana, neck knife, and now a fixed blade. Depending on where, what, and how long, I will carry water and a chemical treatment. I never carried a fixed blade until I learned fire by friction, but now I feel pretty comfortable with just those items. Can you say FREEDOM!!!

:D
 
Black lumps of charcoal from a fire make great filter material. Make sure you have no white ashes clinging to the coals and make sure they're out before you put them in your container for storage.

You can pack the charcoal into any tube and use it to filter your water. Bamboo works great for this, so do plastic bottles, PVC pipe, anything you can come up with. Dribble the water through slowly.

For long term water treatment a supply of Potassium permanganate is a good idea. You use so little of it that a small container would last weeks. Mac
 
I would leave the setting of priorities to the individual and the environment encountered. For example, in many deserts water is certainly up there in priority, but it doesn't end with carrying some sort of purification method - many desert areas don't have readily available water sources, sometimes to the point of having no usable water at all. So, extra water supply, knowledge of local, dependable water sources, and a sunshade might then become the most important elements in a 'survival kit'.

Dehydration/heat exposure can and does kill many people stranded in hot deserts - sometimes more quickly than is generally realized (In accounts of fatalities in hot desert conditions, heat/sun exposure and dehydration are almost always found in combination). As little as 7 hours in temperatures of 105 degree heat has been enough to cause death to those caught without shade or water. In environments with damp soil and leafy shrubs, solar stills and wiping dew off plants might prove useful, but I've not found them of any practical use in the desert as far as a dependable or sufficient long-term water supply. I think survival kits are great, but they should be tailored to reflect acquired knowledge of local conditions.

The Ultimate Desert Handbook
 
A good rule is the rule of 3's.

3 minutes without air

3 days without water

3 weeks without food.

I would plan a kit around getting clean water, building a shelter, starting a fire, then procuring food. I carry an MSR filter, then back it up with Aqua Mira water treatment. In the long term, you can boil, but that's after a lot of equipment building. For really lightweight treatment, the Aqua Mira is good in clear water. From there you have to stay warm and dry, so shelter/fire is the next logical step.
 
Originally posted by Quiet Bear
I disagree with water before shelter. Hypothermia can occur at surprisingly high temperatures. It is the #1 outdoor killer. Unless overexerted, you will not see any lapse in mental capacity with no water for 24 hours, and you can survive 3 or more.
Click to expand...

Nope ;^)

Number one killer in survival situations is panic. Most people that are found dead in the woods are mostly naked, scratched and cut all over their body, and often with some fractures... They basically panic, start to run blindly (almost always in circles and/or going down slopes), and either die of exhaustion, or of it's consequences. Plus they most of the time loose their equipment on the run... so if they actually can bring back to consciousness before being totally exhausted, they will start back with a huge handicap.

Hypothermia, when exhausted of dehydrated, comes indeed quickly and at sometimes high temperatures... especially if you're wet. But most people, if dry and not completely tired, can tough out a whole night below freezing without dying, especially when they're used to cold weather.

But again, I'm stressing this point, dehydration worsens the effects of cold on our body. We need water to fight against cold.

Cheers,

David
 
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