Water is fundamental to your survival. Clean water can be hard to come by when you are in a survival situation. Many people believe falsely that if they see animals drinking for a water hole than that water is safe to drink based on the fact that the animals are drinking it. Unfortunately that is just an old wives tale.
Animals have different digestive tracts than humans. The point is you can not simply drink water you find in the woods. You have to be able to filter and cleanse it first. There are steps you can take in the field to make sure your water is clean.
Purifying water is easy with water purification tablets. You can also purchase a portable water filtration system as well but what do you do when your purifying tablets are gone? What if you need to survive beyond the supply?
There are simple steps you can take to purify your drinking water without tablets if the need arises. Always proceed with caution drinking contaminated water can make you really sick and can be your demise when you are lost in the woods!
Back Up Methods
You should always have a back up method when you are headed out. It can not hurt to bring tablets with you for purification AND a small bottle of Iodine. You should also brig with a small hand held filter.
You have to treat your filter with kindness because most are sealed so you can not see if there is damage or cracking on the inside so avoid banging it around too much. If you should drop it you are probably better off not using it because there is no safe way to asses to the damages. A small crack that you may not be able to see that can prevent your water from being filtered
Cheese cloth is light weight and can be a valuable source for water filtration. Through a square in your bag. It will literally take up no room and can be a life saver. Other cloth will work to filter water as well but of course the thinner the cloth the better off you will be.
Collecting Fresh Water
There are some easy to do collection methods for fresh drinking water. This method will not provide you with tons of drinking water but it will provide you with enough to get by. The process is simple and anyone can do it. With a few hand tools.
Materials:
Plastic sheet(garbage bag, food storage bag, any kind of plastic) Several sticks Catch bottle Something to dig with
Dig a hole large enough to hold your plastic make it shallower in the middle than on the edges. Use your catch container to weigh your plastic down in the middle, than use rocks to secure the edges of the plastic.
Moisture will collect on the plastic that you can than pour into your catch container. You may not collect tons of water this way but you will collect enough to keep your self alive.
The moisture that collects is dew. Some people dig their holes place their catch containers in the middle than cover the containers with plastic and poke a hole in the center of the plastic that is sitting over the hole so that the moisture runs down the plastic into the container. This method works well but then leaves the plastic useless for other purposes.
Some Tips
Always filter large particles out of your water even if you boil the water to purify those large particles can become purified on the outside and remain contaminated on the inside. Also keep a map with you that you can mark on to help you remember where the water is that you pass.
Always err on the side of caution when it comes to the water supply. If you believe that it is unsafe than it probably is. Do not take the chance. Prepare and than prepare again. Plan and then plan again.
Being prepared can save your life. Water purifying tablets are cheap and so is iodine. Get the items that you need and plan to get a bit extra.
----------------------------------------------------
Paul is a life-long survivalist and writer. He's always been prepared and now attempts to obtain his family and friends prepared too. You could read more about this topic and discover survival gear at http://survivalaisle.com/emergency-water-filtration-systems/
EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=304690
No comments:
Post a Comment