Back Country Hunters, Water Question

[Wink]

For you Back Country and Wilderness area hunters, what do you do if anything to purify water? I've been looking at the various pumps and filters along with water purification tablets, and there seems to be quite a variety on the market. I was kind of looking at the tablets but wonder about the taste.

 

[laufer]

boil it.
tablets.

 

[Rancocas]

I've used the tablets, but I don't like the iodine taste they leave in the water. A friend of mine simply adds a couple of drops of common household bleach to a quart of water. I've never tried that myself. Boiling enough water is bothersome.
I use a backpacker's water filter by Katadyn. Without looking it up, I don't remember the model number. I've been using it for several years now and am completely happy with it.

 

[Headhunter]

I carry a Heavy Duty water bottle and my Katadyn Hiker filter. Water in the mountains is pretty easy to come by. No need to pack more than you have to.

I also carry a canteen cup and boil it for around camp.

HH

 

[huntertrapper]

As said boiling is a good way, but i used this one small water filter pump and we filtered out a dirty creek in the middle of the wyoming wilderness... filter might be best but carry as much water as you can, less work.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Be careful about using boiling as a method of sterilizing water if you are above 10,000 feet. Water boils at a lower temperature, and may not kill off all the bacteria needed. You have to boil water for at least 10 minutes, and boiling does not improve the taste. Nor does filtering the water with those niffy backpacker filters. You get rid of Giardia, the bacteria that is associated with the trots and an upset stomach, and if left untreated, can kill you, but they don't improve the taste of the water.

Most " city people " drink water that is treated to some extent with Chlorine. A small drop of chlorine bleach in a half gallon container of water will kill the harmful bacteria, regardless of altitude, and the taste will be closer to what these folks are more used to at home.

Iodine, and Bromine are two other chemicals used to purify water. Iodine has been used for years since it was in the first aid kits of all soldiers at least as early as WWI. Awful Tasting, tho', IMHO. Bromine is used to kill bacteria in swimming pools, along with chlorine bleach. Bromine is easier on the eyes, than Chlorine, however, and it doesn't turn blonde hair GREEN!

 

[Little Wattsy]

Just drink it...IF you get the squirts then you do and your immue system will be the better for it nest time.
Ive NEVER had an issue drinking outta moveing water.

 

[longcruise]

For you Back Country and Wilderness area hunters, what do you do if anything to purify water? I've been looking at the various pumps and filters along with water purification tablets, and there seems to be quite a variety on the market. I was kind of looking at the tablets but wonder about the taste.

The Clorox method is probably the most practical. I don't use filters cause they can clog and are rather pricey (I'm cheeeeaaaap). There is a new powder out that uses a chlorine system to purify and also has the ability to cause particals etc to clump together. Can't remember the name of it though, sorry. :redface:

Don't be fooled by those clear rocky mountain streams!! :shocked2: Beaver Fever (giardia) is everywhere. Your quarry (elk) are a primary distributer of it.

Follow this link for accurate info on how to use chlorox bleach to purify water.

Link

 

[Trench]

I've been happy with my Katadyn.

 

[Tater John]

Hey, something I know something about. If your serious about your health, like simplicity and convenience...Katadyn

If your pulling water from a clear stream with a flow you won't notice any disagreeable taste. Water from a swamp, rain filled brackish mud puddle type source its pretty likely the taste wouldn't be to the liking. I've never been that desperate
Rusty

 

[El Lobo]

I have used iodine as water treatment for almost 40 years. I started with Polar Pure and now use Potable Aqua tablets. With Potable Aqua you can easily carry enough tablets in your shirt pocket to treat 50 gallons of water. If you don't like the taste (I don't mind it as it is pretty mild) Potable Aqua makes a taste neutralizer tablet to add to your water after the iodine kills the beasties.

I have tried filters and find them too much hassle. I often travel in the backcountry without a stove or cooking gear so boiling is not always an option. For me, iodine is a great solution.

 

[roundball]

Like many folks probably have, I've had a number of hunting/fishing/camping trips when I was a young man but nothing in 'back country'...the most rugged I ever had was on a little raised piece of ground deep in a South Carolina swamp that I got to in a jon boat and it was tied up in site of the campfire.

Used to dream about a back country hunt but it never happened and now at age 63 its not going to for sure...and no longer want it to...kind of like parking, walking a few hundred yards to an oak flat, taking a seat with a plastic water bottle in my vest...dragging a buck out to the truck, going home and taking a shower.
:grin:

 

Water is the one thing i wont fudge on. Parts of the National Forest that i travel are leased out for cattle grazing, and coming upon a meadow with a beautiful stream littered with cow pies will certainly make you think twice about a drink. used to use tablets but never got used to the taste. Now i stuff a 'first need' or an 'MSR' filter in my bedroll and never had a problem. BE SAFE and treat your water. :v

 

[sidelock]

If there are cow pies in your water you ain't in back country. If you are in back country you don't need water treatment. Just my exp. :thumbsup:

 

[jtmattison]

I boil it if necessary. When available, I drink from mountain springs (there's no shortage of them in the Adirondacks). I have drank from many streams that some might be afraid of, but knock on wood, I've never gotten sick.

HD

 

If there are cow pies in your water you ain't in back country. If you are in back country you don't need water treatment. Just my exp. :thumbsup:

That's not a very helpful comment for most people, and they run cows in the biggest wildernesses in the SW like the Gila which is big enough to suit even Montana standards. Besides 1)it isn't just cows that spread Girardia 2) Girardia isn't the only thing that can give you the trots, and 3) I can tell you from experience there is nothing like a hard case of the trots to put you in serious trouble in the back country and make you want your mommy.

Now, filters are not complex and they are quick. When you hit water after a hard 4-6 hour hike you don't want to have to build a fire, wait for it to boil and drink it hot. You also don't come to the mountains to drink stuff that tastes like Iodine or bleach. A filter will actually give you a quart of water faster than the tablets or bleach if you are following the directions for the last two. If you're not you're asking for trouble anyway. As for cost, how much does it cost to get dehydrated and disoriented in the boonies and get medivac'ed either alive or dead?

Now, I always carry back ups in terms of a bottle of the tablets or bleach because I've had filters plug up on me. I've also spent a lot of time running around in the hinterlands of the SW and Great Basin in dry country where I've had to drink some nasty looking stuff on occasion. Tablets do not improve the taste and smell of that stuff. What comes out of the filter is always good. They are worth it. Buy a good one.

Finally, I will occasionally drink spring water unfiltered, but there are some caveats to that. Sometimes what look like springs really aren't. They are just creeks that go under the surface for a while and reemerge down the hill. If that spot up the hill is a big wallow with a dead bull elk in it, you're gonna get a case of the quick step and its gonna suck. Also hot springs can actually have organisms living in them that can cause problems. The ones in SW NM often have a little amoeba in them that can cause you to go deaf if it gets in your ears. Some springs and waterholes in arid country can be pretty alkalai and that will make you wish you packed diapers and ointment, not to mention those cramps that will make you want to die.

I have run some country without a filter, tablets or bleach, but I do not recommend it. I can recall once being without water for two days and finally finding a little seep coming off a canyon wall. I spent hours and hours there catching water droplets with the cap of my water bottle. I still think it was the best darned water I ever drank.

Your mileage may vary.

Sean

 

[LaBonte]

If there are cow pies in your water you ain't in back country

Like Sean said - cow critters run in a lot of places here in the west that are bonafide back country. Been running the wild country of the Rocky Mtn west for better than 40 years and I've seen them in the Bob Marshal, the Absaroka, and other wilderness areas in Montana as well Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico.....
Take chances all you want, but making sure you've got GOOD drinking water is a no brainer and cheap...a lot cheaper than a helicopter ride or a coffin.....

 

Chuck is correct, and Sean speaks from good experience. ive posted this pic before (dont have many as i dont carry a camara usually), so sorry for the redundancy, but i post it to show sidelock that i have seen cows in the thick of all this - Spring, Summer and Fall - where no horse or quad can go. This is where the logging road stops. Walk about 70 mi NE and you hit Lake Tahoe. elev. 6500-8000'. Eldorado Nat. Forest. You get a water born illness here and youre in trouble. Heart attack? they wont find you for two generations. Livestock? You bet.

 

[oletymepreacher]

If not carrying water from home, or have used it up, I will look for a spring that I might know about. But never leave home without a filter, or iodine tabs. Iodine tabs may adversely affect the kidneys, and will make big city water seem like the best in the world. It only takes a few minutes to filter a day's water. When camping way back in, boiling is the way to go if clean water is found without a whole lot of sediment. A fire will be going anyhow and a pot of water can boil while supper is being prepared. Hunting hard in the mountains requires a LOT of water, I use a gallon a day. Dehydration can sneak up and kill anyone.

Giardia is more than a bad case of the trots, and may never leave your system, coming back to make you sick years later. A friend of mine stopped for a drink in a 'clean' stream over 20 years ago and she still has bouts with Mr. giardia.

I always go into the back country with a filter and iodine, canteen and boiler pot. All the filters on the market do what they claim. I have never had a filter clog up, but take a spare insert in case it does happen. Giardia and most other creepy crawlies die at 160 degrees F, so when water begins to boil, it is ready to drink.

 

[peeweet]

I use a pure hiker,pretty much the same as a Katadyn.I know people who have gotten giardia and dang near died from it!!I am not going to take the chance,I live right next to the Frank Church wilderness here in Idaho.The best way to avoid an accident is to be prepared for it.