Water, why is it so important?
When you think about water it seems to be everywhere, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and our homes where it seems to flow freely and never ending. You hear it when your close to a stream or river. You can smell it when it rains. It is everywhere. The importance of water is inevitably the most needed item in any type of survival situation. It is your life line.
The Importance of Staying Hydrated
The average person needs a minimum of one half gallon of fresh water per day to survive. Most people know that the human body can survive up to and beyond 30 days without food but without water that time frame is shortened to less than a week. Water is so important because normal body reactions to heat and stress can cause dehydration in a very short period of time. Once dehydration sets in you must hydrate as soon as possible or the circumstances can deteriorate quickly.
Staying hydrated is simply a matter of consuming small amounts of water periodically over the course of each day in order to keep the human body’s components stable in most environments.
You must look at it like the old commercial for the American express credit card, “you never leave home without it”. That simple minded quote works with anything in survival and much more so with water. Survival is water and water is survival, without it you can rest assured your days will be numbered. In the next chapter, we will discuss the first option of finding water in a survival situation.
Finding Water
During any survival situation the first thing you must do is to stay calm and access the situation. The second most important thing to do is to find water.
With water being your life line you must have it and if you don’t have it you must find it. Finding water is really a simple common sense. Water always flows down hill. It stands in basins or deep concave area’s. Runs through ravines, crevices and other naturally formed down hill free flowing terrain.
Any water collected from streams and ponds, rivers or lakes must be filtered and purified before consuming. Do not let yourself slip up and believe that “well, a little bit won’t hurt anything”. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Water born bacteria, viruses and protozoans along with heavy minerals and metals and other garbage can make you extremely sick and can lead to death if not treated.
Water looks beautiful but is very deceiving. Rule of thumb, if you can’t see or you don’t know where it comes from then it must be filtered and purified, simple as that. Just because it comes from a spring under ground does not mean it is safe to drink. Always filter and purify unknown water sources.
Ways to Find Water
One of the fastest ways to find water is to find and follow an animal trail. They always (high percentage) lead to or from water. It may be a mile away but it will get you to water. Seeing lush green shrubs and grasses usually always means water is close by too. Cattails are a tell tale sign of water.
Sometimes the water may not be visible above ground but by digging a small hole in the thick grasses or lush shrub, the hole will slowly fill partially with water. Sometimes you may have to dig 2 feet down and sometimes only a few inches. This water will need to be filtered and purified before drinking.
Another option is if the ground is warm and the air cool you can collect dew from leaves and other shrubs. Hanging a plastic bag on a tree branch that is thick with fresh green leaves will collect the moisture in the bag which will stay in the bag and then its there for you to drink without having to purify it. This is called solar distilling for water.
There are many ways of finding or collecting water. The most important thing to remember is to always filter and purify it before consuming any unknown water source. Being hydrated is important but if you consume dirty or bacteria filled water I can tell you this, it will be worse than being just dehydrated. You can become disoriented, very sick, diarrhea and other symptoms that include headache, blurred vision and other things that can and will ruin any chance of survival.
Remember this, “it’s better to be safe than to be sorry”. Live by that motto and your chances for survival and successful rescue are in your favor.
Filtration and Purification
How do I filter or purify water to drink?
I hear that question more than any other in the world of survival. By all means, it is an excellent question but I also believe it should be something everyone should have already known or been taught at some point during their school and education process.
Water is so important but everyone really has become so numb in realizing how very important it truly is. We all take it for granted that when we turn the faucet on water will flow and when we jump in the shower the water will be warm and cleansing. We as human beings waste more water than any other product in the world.
Ok, so back to the subject at hand, filtering and purifying water. Simply put if you don’t know where the water comes from in a survival situation it is clearly best if it is filtered and purified for safety sake no matter what. Water carries bacteria, viruses, protozoans and other unhealthy things that can and will make you extremely sick and dehydrated and can sometimes cause death if not treated properly.
Ways of Filtering
Filtering water can be as simple as pouring it through a coffee filter or a bandana or some type of cotton or cloth item. This can pick out most of the debris and small minerals and metals. But filtering Does Not remove the bacteria or viruses in the water. Activated charcoal can be used for filtering and so can sand, dirt and rocks. You can make a small filtering device using a simple plastic water bottle filled with activated charcoal, with small holes in the bottom it can then be drained/filtered into another container. Very archaic or stone age but it works.
Water Purification Tablets
Water that has been filtered from an unknown water source still would need to be purified to be safe to drink in quantities. There are multitudes of water purification tablets on the market that come in small one oz bottles of 20 or more tablets and they can be kept or carried in a backpack pocket or in a glove box of your vehicle. There simple to use and will sustain a small supply of purified water for consumption.
As a rule, you can still risk the infection of a virus or other bacteria even with water purification tablets so here is a quick breakdown of what a serious survivalist will do to filter and purify water to sustain life. Filter the source water first using any one of the methods above or by using a filtration bottle designed to filter. Then boil the water for a minimum of 5 minutes. After that, add the water purification tablets, let stand for 15 to 30 minutes, then filter again. Then add another purification tablet. Let sit until cool and tablets are completely dissolved and by following the manufacturers recommended usage before drinking.
That is the most safe and the securest way to ensure the water you are drinking is safe to consume. That may sound like a process and take time to do but as mentioned in an earlier chapter, it is best to be safe than to be sorry later. Spending 30 minutes to filter and purify your water is much better than contracting a virus or bacteria and lying in your shelter suffering with a stomach illness, diarrhea and dehydration for days that could possibly lead to death.
Boiling
The simplest way to purify water is by boiling. This will kill all bacteria, viruses and protozoans in the water. Still it should be filtered to remove any heavy debris and other metals and heavy minerals. Boiling water is basic water purification, the longer it is, the safer it will be. My personal preference is to boil for no less than 7 minutes, then filter it using a designed water filtration bottle or straw.
There are hundreds of articles and information on the subject of water filtering and purification. But the basics of the principle are the same: you must filter and purify it in order for it to be safe to consume. Taking any type of risk is not conducive to any type of survival situation and water consumption is of the utmost important. The next chapter we will talk briefly about different types of products for filtering and purification.
Best Products for Filtering and Purifying Water
What’s the best filtering device?
When it comes to water filtering and purification products for survival, there are literally hundreds to choose from. One thing to keep in mind, life is important and so is your equipment. Do not skimp on your main or most important survival gear. Some of the water filtration bottles and other devices may be expensive. But your life is more important than any dollar bills. Use them wisely and you will be happy with your purchase if and when the time comes that you may need that gear in an emergency situation.
Katadyn makes some very nice portable water filtration bottles and other devices that are well worth the investment especially if you spend any amount of time in the outdoors. Their products are excellent and used by many militaries around the world. So, it is plain to see their products are well worth the price you pay. Their top products use ceramic filters which are much different than most paper filter or other cheap replaceable filtration devices. They will produce drinkable water with just using the bottle. No fire for boiling, no purification tablets or other methods to use…
I use them and so do thousands of other outdoor enthusiasts that spend any amount of time drinking water from unknown sources. Truly, they are the top of the line. But as mentioned before, your life is more important than any amount of dollars you spend to protect it.
When in any survival situation no matter where you are at, if you do not have a filtration product, then boiling your water is the best method to use in order for the water to be safe to consume.