Drinking Water for Hiking: Myths and Facts
Interesting article:
http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html
I am not young enough to know everything.
Interesting. I've just been looking at leaving my Hiker Pro behind in favor of AquaMira or the MicroPur I have. My main concern is some of the mud holes I've had to suck water out of. It'd take me forever to fill a bottle w/o a filter. You don't always get a nice source you can scoop water out of.
JaxHiker aka Kudzu - WFA
Florida Trail Association: NE FL Trail Coordinator (Gold Head to Stephen Foster)
Problems on the trail? Have a great experience? Please let me know. trails at northfloridatrailblazers dot org
Blazing Trails with Kudzu @ www.idratherbehiking.com
Follow me @idratherbhiking
I drank out of a mudhole once in N.H., untreated/unfiltered. It was the worse water I've ever drank, left a slimmy feel in my mouth, but I'm still here to irritate the hell outta all you guysOriginally Posted by JaxHiker
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I knew my coffee drinking was good for me:
"Proponents of the dehydration myth commonly claim that alcoholic and caffeinated drinks "don't count," because alcohol and caffeine dehydrate you. In fact, beer consumed in moderation has a hydrating, rather than a dehydrating, effect,[Valtin 2002] and laboratory studies have shown that caffeinated soda is just as hydrating as water, i.e., the diuretic effect of the caffeine is too small to measure.[Grandjean 2000] Even in the case of coffee, which has much higher concentrations of caffeine than soda, studies going back as far as 1928 have shown that the diuretic effect vanishes for people whose bodies have learned to tolerate the caffeine.[Eddy 1928]"
I found it odd the recommendation for stream vs lake water, and especially avoiding the surface of the lake water. In a stream, there is potential for upstream contamination. This is especially true if the stream is actually an outlet for a pond, marsh or lake. Of course spring fed streams are ideal! regarding lake water, if the water is calm the sun's uV will penetrate the top few inches of the surface disinfecting any possible contamination. I found that portion of the article odd since it was the portion which had zero source citations and interestingly, the only portion which contradicts my experience and research. Even though I do not treat my water, I do not try to convert others, I try to keep it as low key as possible. I was brought up drinking backcountry water straight from the source. I learned what to do and what not to do. i also believe my gut flora is not just used to the microorganism commonly found out there, but is indeed made up of them. The more and more we learn we find that not only are almost all these bacteria, etc... harmless but many are beneficial and (I think) necessary.
John where did you chop that out of?
I watch a group of guy guzzle coffee each morning and down beers at night, like on a carousel they can't get off of.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
The article speaks about NOT washing hands in water sources, I would guess this also applies to cookware, underwear, footwear, pets and yourself. If you confront someone doing this prepare for the canned reply: "this little bit of soap won't hurt anything"
Exactly....a good case for taking a filter / pump... I've had to get water from sources way too difficult to dip out of many times... Of course every one could save a pound of weight by leaving the pump / filter at home and just carry all the water you'll need with you..LOL...I think I'll take my filter and have water when the source is a wet spot in the ground..
From the OP's link http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/hiking_water.html
Third paragraph from the top under the title: Myths about hydration
Yeah, that's my concern. Just because it's a spring doesn't mean it's flowing like a mighty river. Last thing I want to do is push my lips into the mud trying to suck the water up.Exactly....a good case for taking a filter / pump... I've had to get water from sources way too difficult to dip out of many times... Of course every one could save a pound of weight by leaving the pump / filter at home and just carry all the water you'll need with you
JaxHiker aka Kudzu - WFA
Florida Trail Association: NE FL Trail Coordinator (Gold Head to Stephen Foster)
Problems on the trail? Have a great experience? Please let me know. trails at northfloridatrailblazers dot org
Blazing Trails with Kudzu @ www.idratherbehiking.com
Follow me @idratherbhiking
on my thur-hike I really never filtered spring water and I used a drop of bleach per litter to filter everything else unless I was in a cow field then I would use two drops. I never had any issues with it. Also unless I was in PA I never really carried more than 1.5 litters at a time. anymore than that was usually pointless, I found that I only needed 1 litter of water for every 5 miles.
oh yeah I also chugged a litter in the morning to make up for the night
as a wise ridge runner once said "u should always filter ur water" as we drank right out of the spring ... i never realy filterd springs never had issues... pumpd creeks and such tho..... once my pump broke i used a piece of cloth sketchhhyy but it workd i was fine.
A guy I hiked with (the majority of the time) would just shake his water bottle. He claimed it confused the giardia. He carried a hiker pro but he was just too lazy to get it out and use it. He never did get giardia though.
I'm not saying people should do this, I just thought it was funny.
good plan ..much better than what I tried once...I chugged a litter before sack out time to make up for the day and then was aiming at my pee bottle half the night instead of sleeping..
[QUOTE=JaxHiker;1117363]Yeah, that's my concern. Just because it's a spring doesn't mean it's flowing like a mighty river. Last thing I want to do is push my lips into the mud trying to suck the water up.
me either
i drink every source every day allways have. never filtered or treated. carry a filter to get at hard sources. drank the ti river once.straight up. neat.
matthewski
drank un treated maine pond water once tasted off ..but workd out good
great water article southmark!
I've heard this recently, too, and found it interesting to think about. I don't know how old this article is. It may predate the latest thoughts. I'm adverse to pond scum, but have drunk it in emergencies with no ill effect. I carry Aquamira in cattle country, but generally, thanks to articles like this one, I don't treat water either. And I do pay more attention to food handling, hydration, and personal hygiene.
In the last couple of decades, I've met as many city folks (and pet dogs) diagnosed with giardia as I have hikers, so from my experience the article seems correct overall.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
Too much common sense in that article. It'll never catch on.
Me no care, me here free beer. Tap keg, please?
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