Catch Phrase: Drink a Liter, Take a Liter

[Gambit McCrae]

Starting about half way thru my AT journey, maybe a bit before, I started really dialing in my water management. Its a hard skill for some! Came pretty naturally for me, take your miles to next water source, and divide by how many liters your willing to carry and that's how many miles a liter has to last you. Except for the last liter, which if approaching a reliable source I will try to kill with in the 2nd to last couple miles because! When I get to the source I am going to drink as much of a liter as I can before filling up and moving on. Its my way of supplementing, reducing weight on my pack and doing my diligence to stay hydrated.

I use to use the same phrase at the liquor store!

[HankIV]

I prefer drink 1.5L take .5L—where safe.

[Alligator]

Your body can only absorb about one liter per hour. That's about the maximum when it's hot and humid and less than that amount otherwise. Most of it is absorbed by the small intestine. If you drink more than you absorb you are still carrying the excess water. Which may seem easier when it is inside you. If you overdo it, you are just going to urinate it out without it actually being used. I'd guess an excess could make it to #2, but not commonly. And your kidneys can only excrete about a liter per hour, which is how most of the water leaves but then there is also defecation and sweating.

It helps to know how much carried water you tend to drink per day while hiking under a couple of different sets of conditions. Then you can look at your mileage between water sources and divide your estimated need up by how long it's going to take to get to the water source(s).

Notice I said carried water. If you drink some water in camp before you go and then some water when you fill up such that you feel hydrated, you are topped off 100%, and the carried water is for in between sources. It gets rationed more evenly for me by using a water bladder and to me that maintains peak efficiency. And you can throw in the coast game but remember you can only absorb it so fast. Cameling up too much will get excreted before you need it later.

[Nanatuk]

Thanks for starting these threads. Entertaining and informative.

I've always used the phrase "better in you than on you". Mentally, water is less of a concern for me if I camel up before bed, first thing in the morning and drink my fill at the springs. When I first started hiking, I would often arrive at the next spring with full bottles.

[Time Zone]

Be careful! Don't drink too much water at once, it can be as dangerous as dehydration, i.e., it can kill you. An Indiana woman died last year from drinking too much water too fast. Look up hyponatremia.