Drinking water purification.

There is probably NOTHING more life threatening than getting a severe illness while out in the wilderness. Water bourne illness can sap you of strength and can dehydrate you, both of which can prevent you from getting out of the woods safely.

Out in the wild, water is almost never pure and MUST be purified before drinking it. When you’re out on a 2 night backpack trip the chance that you will be able to carry enough water to get you through a 3 day/2 night tip is pretty low. Even if water in a stream looks really clean, it will probably contain some microorganisms or parasites that can make you extremely ill almost immediately. [yes, be very very afraid.]

ALWAYS filter water to remove particles of silt and other contaminants. We like the Katadyn set of filters, but anything in this price range (not cheap) will do a great job of filtering out over 99% of the ’stuff’ in the water. Don’t try to cut corners with these systems because you’re really playing with life and death here. These filters are not foolproof (thus only 99%), so you DO need to take additional steps.

Step 2 –> sterilize the water. We recommend that you use sterilization tablets. Yes, they make the water taste a bit like pool water, but believe me, you don’t want to get sick. After filtering the water, you put tablets (according to instructions) into the water and let the tablets dissolve for at least an hour (again, follow the instructions).

IF you still have any doubts about the water, boil it. The last time I was out on an overnight I:

  • Filtered the water
  • Used sterilization tables
  • Boiled the water

just to make certain that I wouldn’t get sick. To cool off the boiled water, I put the water back into my water bottles and then put the bottom of the bottles into the stream that I was using for the water. This allowed me to cool the water off before heading out the next morning.

This does sound like an involved process, but waterbourne illnesses like Leptospirosis (from animal urine), Schistosomiasis (freshwater worm), Amebic Dysentery (from infected sewage), Hookworms and Giardiasis are NOT to be taken lightly. At one time, I did have some illness like this where I had symptoms similar to amebic dysentery (diarrhea with blook and an infected colon) and believe me, the pain and the misery for nearly 2 weeks is barely endurable. [no, i did NOT get this from water, i actually got this, along with about 20 other people in my town, from a local restaurant that has since been shut down.]