Recommended amounts of daily fluid intake are so much mince

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bearbait

Full Member
Do you go hiking in 40c heat carrying a 20kg pack and rifle? Remember, when you feel thirsty your already dehydrated.

Exactly so. My Expedition & Wilderness Medical Handbook states that "Thirst is a poor indication of hydration; typically thirst indicates more than 2% loss of body fluids and this corresponds to a 10% loss of exercise performance."

This does state exercise performance. I have noticed this on hikes when I have allowed myself to become slightly dehydrated for whatever reason; drinking half a litre or so of water seems to give one a real energy boost and rejuvenate my tired body.
 

santaman2000

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Jan 15, 2011
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"But a litre an hour could easily overwhelm the replacements if it's continued for a long duration" Depends completely on the situation that amount is being drunk.

The IDF did the litre an hour for a long time with no ill effects, you've not watched that clip yet have you.

Yeah I did watch it. And I generally agree with you and with their findings. That said, look at what the video actually said; they only drank that much while on the march (and for a 6 hour prep beforehand) Presumably that's no more than a day.

I also agree that takes an awful lot of water before you're in danger of washing out electrolytes. Just that a liter per hour for several days might well do just that.
 

andybysea

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Oct 15, 2008
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would'nt the IDF be taking salt tablets with there litre per hr?you deffinately need more whilst exercising and in very hot or very cold conditions, when im doing long walks i drink about 5-6 litres a day normal intake is around 3.5ltr- ish consists of water,de-caff coffee and tea.
 

boatman

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The IDF has a lot of conscripts from middle-class families who live soft with parents with political clout. Of course they are pampered and their commanders worry if they get thirsty. Why didn't the troops of the song, for example, foot foot slogging over Africa or India all collapse with cramps or even die on the limited water they had available?
 

rik_uk3

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wouldn't the IDF be taking salt tablets with there litre per hour?you effeminately need more whilst exercising and in very hot or very cold conditions, when im doing long walks i drink about 5-6 litres a day normal intake is around 3.5ltr- ish consists of water,de-café coffee and tea.

No idea Andy but salt tablets are not looked upon with favour these days in many quarters.

I mentioned in a PM to another member today an extract from the book 'The Conquest of Everest' and in the little medical section it said they pushed for each member to drink eight pints of water a day and this was back in 1953. The series 'Real Heroes of Telemark' showed one of the Marines saying he had to drink four or five litres at the end of a long day. When I lived on Cyprus a local told me "Richard, don't drink beer in the day, let the crazy tourists do that and feel bad, you drink water or juice with your food and save alcohol for the evening"

PS, warning for those with inquisitive grand children... I just caught my beautiful five year old grandson about to say hello here because I left the machine (as usual) on and logged in lol
 

Andy BB

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Apr 19, 2010
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The IDF has a lot of conscripts from middle-class families who live soft with parents with political clout. Of course they are pampered and their commanders worry if they get thirsty. Why didn't the troops of the song, for example, foot foot slogging over Africa or India all collapse with cramps or even die on the limited water they had available?

Ah - the dreaded "middle classes" again!

Anyone believing that the IDF re soft and pampered with "nanny" commnders is clearly letting his or her political preconceptions outweigh any understanding of military history......................
 

Swallow

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May 27, 2011
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The IDF has a lot of conscripts from middle-class families who live soft with parents with political clout. Of course they are pampered and their commanders worry if they get thirsty. Why didn't the troops of the song, for example, foot foot slogging over Africa or India all collapse with cramps or even die on the limited water they had available?

Ah - the dreaded "middle classes" again!

Anyone believing that the IDF re soft and pampered with "nanny" commnders is clearly letting his or her political preconceptions outweigh any understanding of military history......................

To be honest I'd be scared to go up against any of the women, never mind the blokes.

The girl who played the terminator in terminator 3 was trained in Krav Maga for the role. She said she knew it had done something to her head when having locked herself out of the house she tried to punch through the door.
 

boatman

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Ah - the dreaded "middle classes" again!

Anyone believing that the IDF re soft and pampered with "nanny" commnders is clearly letting his or her political preconceptions outweigh any understanding of military history......................
Political preconceptions? Roughly the same comment could be made about any modern "Western" army that has conscription.

Google the phrase "unfit to fight"
 
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santaman2000

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To be honest I'd be scared to go up against any of the women, never mind the blokes.

The girl who played the terminator in terminator 3 was trained in Krav Maga for the role. She said she knew it had done something to her head when having locked herself out of the house she tried to punch through the door.

If we're going for movie partrayals, how about the female IDF soldier in WWZ?
 

boatman

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Ummm. They did.

Some but vast majority survived although wearing heavy unsuitable uniforms. Or if masses of water is so critical how come the majority of the Southerners were fit to fight after the hard marches to that battle of Antietam?
 

santaman2000

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Some but vast majority survived although wearing heavy unsuitable uniforms. Or if masses of water is so critical how come the majority of the Southerners were fit to fight after the hard marches to that battle of Antietam?

Who said they were? in any case water was rarely in short supply in the south. We're a very, very wet region. Te problem prior to the second half of the 20th century was "clean" water. Mortality rates prior to then were vast.
 
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boatman

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There is much nonsense written about water in the past being unsafe to drink. Apart from people's immune systems being better than ours because of the conditions the majority of the water was fit to drink. After all people draw their water from ancient wells now and a lot of the water samples are tested potable even by today's rigorous standards.
 

rik_uk3

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The good old days, Cholera epidemics, Rickets, body lice, TB, death from flu...bring them all back I say

Cholera_hospital_in_Dhaka.jpg


Cholera Bed in modern day India. Shame the water is not so pure there.
 

boatman

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Lots of the problems mentioned are the result of overcrowding and we are so free today of obesity, diabetes, heart disease cancer or perhaps not.
 

boatman

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But then I have never thought that there was a Golden Age at any time. Just people making a living and coping with the demands of life. However modern day examples of water pollution contribute nothing to any discussion about water supplies in the past wast of time really.
 

rik_uk3

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Jun 10, 2006
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Somebody drifted off topic talking about uniforms and water....just a little off topic detour, usual stuff on a forum.

Anyway, nothing to add and I'd not like to provide fuel for antagonists who are in their usual diatribe mode so I'm

1168292-bowing.jpg

Off the thread. :)
 

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