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101 Ways To Survive In The Field, Tuesday
Tuesday, March 29th, 2016 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
suitably_heroic"Today, we're going to be talking about water."
They were standing in something not unlike the New Mexico desert, so no points to anyone who'd guessed that.
"Food's important, but you can go without for a couple of days. Lack of water, though, that'll kill you." Atton gestured at his surroundings. "There's a couple of ways to deal with that. Best thing is if you find a source of running water, of course. Any water you find out in the wild still runs a risk of being contaminated, but dealing with it is pretty straightforward. There's a ton of gear you can take with you to help: straws that filter the water, special canteens, or even pumps you can use. The filters will take out most of the contaminants, though if you want to absolutely avoid getting a water-borne illness off of it, you'll also want to boil the water, or maybe add chemicals like iodine, sodium chlorite, or potassium permanganate. The latter is usually sold as a water softener at hardware stores, so not hard to get."
He eyed the class. "Now, if you don't have the right gear, or there's no running - or even still - water nearby, that's where it gets interesting," he said. "Most of you probably already know this, but if you don't: if you leave something with water in it out in the sun, and you cover it with plastic, the sun will convert the water to steam, and when it hits the plastic, it'll condense back into water. This is vital to know if you want to get drinking water and you don't have any filters or pumps on you."
He squatted down by a small hole he'd carved out in the ground. "This is called a solar still," he said. "Well, it isn't yet, but it will be one. You dig out a v- or box-shaped hole in the ground. You put a container in it, like a bowl or a mug." He produced a small bowl and set it down in the center. "Now most soil contains some moisture. You might have to dig for a while to hit the deeper ground that retains more of it, but still, it's in there. You can also get more condensation going if you toss in some leaves or other vegetation."
He picked up a roll of plastic he'd taken with him. "This is your plastic," he said. "Now, I think you guys already know where I'm going with this--" He stretched the plastic out over the hole, cut off the necessary part from the roll, and then started scooping up mud and putting it down to pin the plastic down. "You'll want to make sure you get a good seal," he said. "Make sure it isn't in the shade, and then just let it do its thing for a while."
He stood back up. "A still like this won't get you enough water to last you for weeks, or anything," he said, "But it'll help you survive a few days longer. Another, better alternative is if there's trees around. Same effect, easier to do. You just put a plastic bag around a branch full of leaves and let the sun do its work for a while. When you come back, you should have about a cup of water. You'll need a couple of these to last the day."
He cleared the mud off his hands.
"All right, I want you all to grab some plastic and a bowl and get to work. There's some trees around here somewhere, too, but you'll have to look for 'em. The sim is set to speed up, so you should have something to show for your work at the end of the class. Go."
They were standing in something not unlike the New Mexico desert, so no points to anyone who'd guessed that.
"Food's important, but you can go without for a couple of days. Lack of water, though, that'll kill you." Atton gestured at his surroundings. "There's a couple of ways to deal with that. Best thing is if you find a source of running water, of course. Any water you find out in the wild still runs a risk of being contaminated, but dealing with it is pretty straightforward. There's a ton of gear you can take with you to help: straws that filter the water, special canteens, or even pumps you can use. The filters will take out most of the contaminants, though if you want to absolutely avoid getting a water-borne illness off of it, you'll also want to boil the water, or maybe add chemicals like iodine, sodium chlorite, or potassium permanganate. The latter is usually sold as a water softener at hardware stores, so not hard to get."
He eyed the class. "Now, if you don't have the right gear, or there's no running - or even still - water nearby, that's where it gets interesting," he said. "Most of you probably already know this, but if you don't: if you leave something with water in it out in the sun, and you cover it with plastic, the sun will convert the water to steam, and when it hits the plastic, it'll condense back into water. This is vital to know if you want to get drinking water and you don't have any filters or pumps on you."
He squatted down by a small hole he'd carved out in the ground. "This is called a solar still," he said. "Well, it isn't yet, but it will be one. You dig out a v- or box-shaped hole in the ground. You put a container in it, like a bowl or a mug." He produced a small bowl and set it down in the center. "Now most soil contains some moisture. You might have to dig for a while to hit the deeper ground that retains more of it, but still, it's in there. You can also get more condensation going if you toss in some leaves or other vegetation."
He picked up a roll of plastic he'd taken with him. "This is your plastic," he said. "Now, I think you guys already know where I'm going with this--" He stretched the plastic out over the hole, cut off the necessary part from the roll, and then started scooping up mud and putting it down to pin the plastic down. "You'll want to make sure you get a good seal," he said. "Make sure it isn't in the shade, and then just let it do its thing for a while."
He stood back up. "A still like this won't get you enough water to last you for weeks, or anything," he said, "But it'll help you survive a few days longer. Another, better alternative is if there's trees around. Same effect, easier to do. You just put a plastic bag around a branch full of leaves and let the sun do its work for a while. When you come back, you should have about a cup of water. You'll need a couple of these to last the day."
He cleared the mud off his hands.
"All right, I want you all to grab some plastic and a bowl and get to work. There's some trees around here somewhere, too, but you'll have to look for 'em. The sim is set to speed up, so you should have something to show for your work at the end of the class. Go."