Water without container or man-made filter..?

Joe Fowler

Joe Fowler

Joined
May 14, 2008
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"Man-made" meaning a Katadyn or something like that.

In a survival situation, if you didn't have a container to boil water, how could you filter water to better your chances of getting it clean enough to drink safely? I thought I saw somewhere a technique where you dig down next to a stream and the water that rises up through all the sand and gravel and such is cleaner than the water from the stream itself.

Is this true or BS? Any other methods? Thanks for your input guys!
 
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you can also use a piece of cloth in a cut in half water bottle let it drain through to another bottle on bottom.

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take it easy
cricket
 
Be tough really , I assume location/elevation is key....
example ,dont eat snow ,melt it ??
filter water thru bandana or T-shirt (esee panties) and use purification tablets ?
 
I'm taking about no bottle, no tabs. When I go hiking I bring plenty of water from home and a Katadyn, but I'm trying to find out what my options are if you were in a situation where you had nothing. What could you do?
 
if you have nothing, your going to be drinking straight from the stream, not alot of options there. look for a clear area that the water is moving the faster the better, much less chance of sucking up crap.

take it easy
cricket
 
Joe Fowler said:
I'm taking about no bottle, no tabs. When I go hiking I bring plenty of water from home and a Katadyn, but I'm trying to find out what my options are if you were in a situation where you had nothing. What could you do?
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I'd say drink up! If the choice were dying of dehydration in the next 24 hours or maybe getting sick a week or so down the road, I'd take the chance on the drink, get hydrated and then get myself back to civilization pronto!
 
Joe Fowler said:
A little google-ing and I found what I was talking about...

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/27877-man-vs-wild-purifying-water-in-the-wild-video.htm

I know it's Bear Grylls, but the theory seems sound.

What do you think?
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They teach this technique at Tracker School and Dave Canterbury mentions it as well...

You could also:
Hot-rock boil in just about anything that can hold water to begin with - does not need to be flame resistant!

Gravity filter (progressively finer medium: stones>gravel>sand>charcoal>fabric in as many layers as you can manage and still get some drip)

If you've got a simple plastic water bottle you can boil water in it (plastic bottle won't melt if elevated from flame enough) or use the SODIS method

But the rule of thumb is "what kills you faster" meaning you'll likely die of dehydration than whatever waterborne-pathogens can give you (some people build up resistance/tolerance to giardia over time!) but you'll need to deal with the possible repercussions (vomiting and diarrhea can cause a lot of dehydration as well) eventually.
 
The technique my dad taught me, which I have used many, many times when out in the woods, is to find where the water is coming out of the ground - ie - a spring. As long as the immediate area is clean and the water is flowing at a decent rate, you can't get much better.
 
And in fact we teach in survival situations to drink water from a questionable source before you dehydrate. Dehydration will kill you faster than water borne pathogens as already stated here. But not drink your own urine or other weird shit like squeezing water from elephant dung -- not unless you want a fast exit ticket.
 
I was taught the dig a hole method, but I was always told to do it for standing water, and let it settle for at least an hour after it fills. For moving water, I just drink it.

No elephant dung squeezing here Mike, I promise. Moose
 
This is the exact reason a boilable container is my #4 Survival item. #3 is a tarp ; can be used to collect water if needed ( and it's my shelter), but a pot is better , and has other uses.
#2 = ferro rod
#1 = Knife.

I've been lucky so far drinking from streams , creeks ,rainwater, questionable wells, etc.
Bleach or iodine tabs are always in my SK , but I've never been stuck without a container of some sort. If I was , I guess face to puddle , or wicking with a bandanna would work.
 
hiwa said:
This is the exact reason a boilable container is my #4 Survival item.
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Actually I'd like to make it my #3, but I haven't found a good edc-able container yet. I am looking for something that can be put in a handbag, so isn't very bulky - I might use the inside space for other edc-items.
And I want to be able to boil at least 250 ml of water in one go.

For the area I'm living in, I'm currently looking at those silicone bowls, you can squeze them to a small size, and you can use hot stones to bring the water to a boil.

I've been told that birch bark containers can be made pretty waterproof, but I haven't been able to try that yet. In theory you could use them and the hot stones to boil water.
 
If you could dig a hole to allow the water to filter through the sand and everything, couldn't you then take some hot rocks and put them in this hole to boil the water up?
 
KennyB said:
If you could dig a hole to allow the water to filter through the sand and everything, couldn't you then take some hot rocks and put them in this hole to boil the water up?
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Sure but this will always mix with more water flowing into the hole, thus making it difficult to determining what time is enough. Plus when you add the stones you stir up sand, and the boil will stir up sand as well ...
 
luckykitty said:
Actually I'd like to make it my #3, but I haven't found a good edc-able container yet. I am looking for something that can be put in a handbag, so isn't very bulky - I might use the inside space for other edc-items.
And I want to be able to boil at least 250 ml of water in one go.

For the area I'm living in, I'm currently looking at those silicone bowls, you can squeze them to a small size, and you can use hot stones to bring the water to a boil.

I've been told that birch bark containers can be made pretty waterproof, but I haven't been able to try that yet. In theory you could use them and the hot stones to boil water.
Click to expand...

I used to sling around a Nalgene bpa-free plastic bottle - they're common and people pay no attention to them.

Then I came across the Guyot/Nalgene Backpacker SS 32oz bottle. It's got a tapered bottom and fits in a car cup holder, fits the 32oz pouches I already had for the plastic one. My HumanGear cap and MSR water filter fit also, since the threads are the exact same.

http://www.amazon.com/Guyot-Designs-Stainless-Steel-Bottle/dp/B001O7GPAC

I got mine from CanteenShop.com - he has a nice setup (10x4 M.O.L.L.E. Pouch Backpacker Kit) with a condor pouch, GSI SS cup, and eating utensils for $60... good deal, IMHO. http://www.canteenshop.com/id71.html

JerkingTheTrigger blog just did a write-up on a bale to hold the SS bottle over a fire to boil, too - clever design. Here's his review, link to the bale is on the article: http://jerkingthetrigger.wordpress....guyot-designs-stainless-steel-nalgene-bottle/
 
Dig the hole nice and reasonably big using the ground as the filter, let it fill to its natural level, then drop a hot stone in it to heat it all, the water that does evaporate will be replaced by the points water level.

Sounds great to me.
 
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