Wild In Western PA

Basics to Camping
Water

Water might not be on your mind when you go camping but on a hot summer day and a few hours with out it and you will think about it a lot. I am writing this because I camp in very rustic locations. If you are going to a campground and driving right up to your campsite I would not worry about water so much. I feel crowded at campgrounds and don't like the fact there are so many people around so I tend to head deeper into the woods.

Camping

Hiking

Think Twice: You might think water is easy to find but think again. I live in PA and thanks to old mines, strip mines and industry we have to be carefull about how many fish we eat. Thats right there are certein rivers and streams where if you catch a fish you can only eat a few a month. Come to think of it Lake Erie caught fire one time. Along with how bad man has trashed our water there are other things to worry about. Bacteria is a huge concern since you can get very sick drinking "dirty" water. They warn you about the water in Mexico right... its for the same thing. The average American can not drink water that has not been treated because our system can not deal with it. We have made our systems weak.
Here is a story to make you think twice about drinking unclean water. A man in NJ who grew up in a section of woods always drank from a stream he thought to be safe. After drinking some water from the stream he continued his hike upstream only to find a dead deer laying in the water. So now that I scared you from water lets talk about how to make it safe to drink.

Index

Filters: A lot of camping supply stores can sell you filtration systems you can take a long with you. Most are a pump where you put a hose in the water your now afraid to drink and the other end in a canteen or water bottle. You pump the water through a filter and it is now, for the most part, safe to drinik. These units can cost from fifty to over one hundred dollars depending on what you are looking for.
Another type of filter is a water bottle with a filter in it. Just fill the water bottle up with creek water and when you drink out of it the water passes through a filter. These can cost from sixteen to fifty dollars.
The last type of filter is what I like to call a survival straw. It is a straw with a filter in it. These can cost from eight to thirty dollars. The one I own makes water taste like iodine.
I have all three types of water filters but trust me I do not take all three with me everywhere I go. It depends on where I am going, what time of year, what water sources are in the area and how long I will be gone.

Chemicals: More like pills that you can find in almost any Walmart store. These guys only cost a few bucks and can fit in a pocket. they take a little longer than a half hour to work and this is a two step process. First you had the pill to your water bottle and leave the lid loose, then you tighten the lid and wait thirty minutes to make the water safe. I have carried these pills almost everywhere but never had to use them. I am guessing for the most part they work or else they wouldn't sell them in a sue happy country like ours.

Heat: So your thirsty and you don't have any of the above? Well you can just boil your water for ten minutes or so to make it clean. There are a few issues with this, you need a fire, you need something to hold water that can be put on a fire and it has to be large enough to hold water. If you have a mess kit or pot this will not be a problem. If you don't you might be in trouble. Depending on how bad the situation is you can do a few things. You can boil water in a styrofoam cup over a open flame. Sounds stupid but try it. The water keeps the cup cold enough so it will not burn the whole way through, it will leak though. I have watched water boil in a gallon plastic milk jug myself. There is a warning though... the water is going to taste bad...

Survival:
Solar Still: Well here is the "I am going to die" answer to water. The most widely known is the solar still and below is a picture of one. The thing about this is most people just set up the still and dont setup for enough water. After you dig the hole you can add grass and vegetation to it, dump dirty water in it, pee in it or anything to get moisture into the hole. Then finish setting up the still. The water will evaporate and find its way into the cup.

Items for a solar still:
1. plastic or moisture barrier
2. cup
3. hole
4. a weight.

Remember to have the weight directly over the cup so you do not waste your efforts building a still.

Dew: Well it doesn't sound like a lot but if your in a area that gets a lot of dew try spreading your clothes out over the ground or nay clothe and it should soak up some dew. You have to wake up early to drink it and there will not be much of it. If there is grass around and its covered in dew pick it and squeeze the dew into your mouth. Again, there will not be much water.

There are more ways to collect water like digging holes in low areas or dried stream beds and prey you hit the water table. You may waste a lot of time if you are not sure where to dig. Also water can be found in some plants, stumps and logs. This water is known as skunk water because it taste very bad and will most likely get you very sick if you don't clean it. Getting sick from bad water can kill you in a survival situation. Certein bacteria in the water can casue diarrhea, vomiting, a fever and more. You can not see bacteria but if you must drink water you are not sure about try to stay away from anything stagnet like puddles, lakes and ponds. Try drinking water from fresh streams and fast moving water that shows signs of life like plants, fish, insects and animal tracks to the waters edge.

Your best bet is to be smart when planning water consumption. Once its gone its gone unless you pee it out into a solar still and recycle it. If you learn more about wilderness survival you will learn things like cooking animals and fish without gutting them keeps moisture inside the meat. And eating snow works to get you water but could cause hyperthermia because you lose so much body heat to melt the snow. Moving slower and not over heating will help conserve water. If its really tough then stop eating... eating food causes your body to use water for digestion. You can go a lot longer without food then you can without water. If you really plan on roughing it you might want to purchase a survival book and learn about keeping yourself alive in a survival situation.

Quick pocket survival kit:

1. Condom or large thick ballon
2. Emergency blanket
4. Pocket knife
5. Pocket flint.
6. Water Pills
7. Thin but strong line
8. Cotton Balls.

The condom or ballon is your new canteen and can also be blown up to signal air searches. The bouncy ballons for kids work great. The water can be treated inside the ballon with the pills. The emergency blanket can be used to create a solar still, a rain cover, signal and it will keep you a little warm. It can also be used to collect rain water which is pretty safe to drink. Well, there are too many reasons to give why you need a pocket knife so just carry it. The pills are to purify water and the cord is to help build snares, shelters, make splints or any number of concerns. The cotton balls and flint are to build fires. Use as little of the cotton as needed. Your main concerns for short time survival should be shelter or warmth and water. You should survive for a few weeks if you have water and don't freeze to death or are injured. Stay Calm!

Quick hint: All small streams run into creeks, creeks run into rivers, river join to make larger rivers and these run into the ocean. Most towns are built next to water so follow any water downhill to civilization.

Not sure how I got from camping with water filters to survival packs and recycling urine but maybe I will add a page of quick survival tips and move this info to that page.