Re: Backpacking Water?
blaine a. jackson (blainej@JUNO.COM)
Tue, 25 Mar 1997 10:00:17 EST
On Tue, 25 Mar 1997 09:11:40 -0500 Wayne Hill <whill@CBIS.ECE.DREXEL.EDU>
writes:
>Hi all,
>I'd like to hear your opinions about how much water a person needs a
>day when backpacking.
Wayne,
I am posting this to the list as a means of generating more comments on a
VERY important subject.
1. Easy answer, scouts need more water than they will drink. They
should avoid soft drinks. "Sports" drinks are better than "coke", but
anyone eating a balanced diet probably does not need the "extras" in the
sports drinks. Since the boys will be more likely to drink the "sports"
drinks, they do serve a useful purpose.
2. You can find any number of guidelines about the volume of water
that a person should drink. It is really depends on the person, the
activity and the environment. Many leaders forget, or do not know, that
water intake is as important in cold weather to prevent hypothermia, as
it is in hot weather to prevent hyperthermia.
3. DO NOT use "salt" pills, etc.
4. The best "on the trail" way to determine fluid needs is to
monitor "output" rather than "intake". After a break, ask each scout
what color his urine was. Any "color" other than "clear" means that he
needs to increase his fluid intake.
5. When in doubt, keep drinking. Although it is possible to
develope "water poisoning", the chances of it happening to a scout are so
small that it can be igmored in almost any troop situation.
6. DO NOT encourage scouts to "save" drinking water. Let thim
drink all they will. It is lighter to carry "inside" that "outside". If
availability of water is a significant problem, you should re-evaluate
the safety of the outing. I cringe every time I hear a scouter boast
that he carried a 75 pound pack 15 miles a day with only one quart of
water. (This guy will always be carrying quarts, because the idea of a
liter is too modern for him.)
7. See the latest issue of Backpacker magazine for an excellent
review of water purification, water filters and the "bugs" to worry
about.
YIS,
Blaine Jackson
blainej@juno.com
Wilderness First Responder
NASAR certified -- Wilderness Medicine
SM T450, Bentonville, Arkansas1st SA Jambo T1807I used to be a Bodacious
BobwhiteNon habeus malus, habeus equs
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
