What do you do for water when your out ?

[Feygan]

I always tend to do one thing at night that I find helps. I try to make 2 shallow Vs on each side of my tarp shelter, and place containers below them. This way, should it rain (which we all know happens all too often here) then in the morning, you find yourself with a nice amount of fresh water right on your doorstep for that first brew. This is great as you can collect your days water the night before and then not have to trek to a stream or such for a refil in the morning.

Ok this only works if it rains, but thats where i find rags handy to carry, just do the old laying on the ground to catch dew, and put a small weight in the centre.

Sure they dont solve a crisis, or offer much else, but generally the water is safe and avalible to hand which is ideal first thing when you wake up.

 

[Nathan Sturgess]

I take a 1l nalgene/sigg, a sock for a filter and a tub of life systems puritabs.

 

[addyb]

I'm with you 100%. My parents still drink from the mountain streams, but I think they're crazy. You can never, ever, ever tell me that you know for 100% certain that there isn't a carcass upstream from you, or some jackass washing his dishes or whatever. It may be different elsewhere, but our remote places are remote and if you end up with the trots (or worse) you could be in for a world of hurt. Why take the risk of having to try to get SAR out there just because you were trying to be an old-school mountain man?

I still drink from mountain streams. (Must be a Canadian thing) Never been sick once though. But if I'm going to an area where I know the water is poor then I usually steal my Dad's Katadyn filter.

And if I run out of water (which I never have) then I imagine that I'd make a solar still. It's not difficult but just takes a lot of time to get enough water to quench your thirst.

Adam

 

[BOD]

I've noticed that Kiwis, South Africans, Rhodesians and of course some Canadians are more willing to drink from jungle streams than Brits and, funnily enough, most Australians (too many city folk in Oz I guess)

 

[BOD]

Do you get enough sunlight for a solar still in BC Addyb?

 

[hammy]

This is my water treatment kit used in very peaty environments perfectly.
http://www.msrcorp.com/filters/miniworks_ex.asp

They are made in North America but can be bought in most good out door shops in the uk.

 

[david1317]

i use a pre mac filter the same as the one on rm site and could recommend it will filter 250 l on as set of filters then just put new filters in it its also very light

 

[Voivode]

I still drink from mountain streams. (Must be a Canadian thing) Never been sick once though. But if I'm going to an area where I know the water is poor then I usually steal my Dad's Katadyn filter.

And if I run out of water (which I never have) then I imagine that I'd make a solar still. It's not difficult but just takes a lot of time to get enough water to quench your thirst.

Adam

My parents have never been sick either, and I've never picked anything up when I used to not treat my water. My point in every single one of these conversations is that while I (and you and my parents and so on) have never been sick, I don't relish the opportunity to fight off giardiasis or any of the other fun bugs that are out there. 10-15 minutes of filtering a day and I don't have to worry about it. Why take that risk if you don't have to?

 

[Mike Ameling]

A lot of this has to do with what you personally have been conditioned or acclimated to. I can eat/drink many more things that are "questionable" than a bunch of my friends. They live in a pretty "sterile" world where everything they eat, breathe, even touch are kept as close to germ and bug free as they can. And they grew up that way. Well, I grew up on the farm where clean and sterile were something of a goal, but not an obsession. I was, and still am, exposed to lots of things that would make them sick. So my body has developed some immunity and some resistance to many of the bugs and germs floating around.

But I don't take chances anymore drinking from rivers, ponds, streams, and most springs. The seriousness of the stuff contaminating the wild waters has been increasing in the last couple decades, and the risk is no longer worth taking except in a true life-or-death situation.

Just my humble thoughts to share.

Mike Ameling

 

[Aliasnimo]

I was recently camping in the hills above a sea loch on the west coast of scotland and the weather the had been so hot over the last few weeks that all the streams ,which had previously been flowing with water that I drank frequently after only pouring it through a couple of layers of muslin, had dried up. The only water source for 8 miles in each direction was a stream that ran beside a farm and so we moved camp rather than risk using the stream. I don't mind drinking from streams that dear or any other type of wild animals have ****** in or whatever what bothers me is unatural pollution from humans - pesticides and other chemicals that can cause any number of ailments. Will boiling destroy the harmful effects of these chemicals?

 

[Grooveski]

I've drank plenty from streams over the years and never had any problems until now. Got cryptosporidium a couple of years ago but not outdoors, the waterboard messed up and fed a dose to half of the west end . First I heard of it I was already ill. That was kinda yucky.

About a month ago I started bleeding in the gut. Spent a couple of nights in hospital, went back for endoscopy(that was real yucky), turned out to be helicobacter(another waterbourne parasitic nasty).
Good news is that the bleeding was caused by wrenching the stomach in the initial vomiting stage, there are no ulcers evident(bit of a surprise in it's own right).

Anyhow, background over. Will it change my drinking habits?
Most likely. While I take some water with me usualy and am rarely away for any length of time, there are places where I regularly rely on streams.
Nice streams, good water, but still in an area full of deer. Hadn't considered them as big a threat as domestic livestock for some reason but it's a dead cert' that's where this latest infection came from.

Can't say I really mind the odd parasitic invasion. Apparently having had cryptosporidium means my body will be more resistant to it in the future, no bad thing for a canoaholic. Not nice though, worth putting in a bit of effort to avoid, reckon I'll be boiling from now on.

 

[ferrol]

I tend to bring the water I need with me, but I have both The MSR Miniworks and the other type..er th RM one.

Question is are people concerned about chemical contamination, as I know carbon filters are supposed to strip a lot of it out? Mill bank bags are good with boiling too but if its chemically contaminated would you still be safe?

Incidentally, Anyone know where I can get a Millbank bag...cheap?

ferrol

 

[Voivode]

Chemical contamination is not so simple to deal with, unfortunately. The simple answer is that no, one cannot reliably remove heavy metals, pesticides and the like from the water with a filter/chlorine/iodine/activated carbon. Off the top of my head, the only way to field-purify water in this case would be distillation.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

I always tend to do one thing at night that I find helps. I try to make 2 shallow Vs on each side of my tarp shelter, and place containers below them.
Sure they dont solve a crisis, or offer much else, but generally the water is safe and avalible to hand which is ideal first thing when you wake up.

I think Rm or someone said that this is dodgy as the chemical treatments can come off ?

What about one of these straws ?
http://www.kitbag.com.au/prod855.htm

Nick

 

[Wink]

Just been out for a week in the NW highlands of Scotland. I used an Aquastar UV purifier and drank out of streams/lochs for the whole time. Absolutley fantastic. The sun was blazing all week and we were carrying heavy packs, so we had to drink like fish, but never had to carry more than 1 litre thanks to this device and the abundance of water sources. (It amazes me how much water was still sloshing around despite the lack of rain.)

The device zaps the water with UV light at the touch of a button and effectively stops the nasties from reproducing, including viruses, but doesn't change the taste of the water. We didn't bother treating water that was going to be boiled anyway, for cooking or hot drinks, to save the batteries. Two sets of two C123 batteries lasted the whole week for three people, purifying about 4 litres per person per day.

The Aquastar doesn't filter, though, so you need to choose clearish water to start with, or the particles block the UV rays.

 

[Nightwalker]

Currently I take a full 1l platypus bottle and water purification tablets to allow me to collect water from rivers whilst at camp. You can get 100 purification tablets for just £4 here

 

[JadaFecT]

personally take a little bottle for when im on the move and filter and boil when im set for the night. hasnt let me down yet

 

[woodstock]

I use the gate keeper system it acts as a cork to your water bottle and filters any impurities it works for me

 

[bushman762]

I usually take water with me, or try and buy bottled water if passing through a town, but I have been known to add a teaspoon full of household bleach to 5 litres of questionable water, kills 99% of nasties I'm told!

Only did this once, in a sort of emergency, and had no ill effects.

Best Regards,

 

[Goliath]

I just ran into this, pretty great price!
http://iwantoneofthose.com/new-arrivals/personal-water-purifier/index.html