
Finding Water in the Wild - evolution2
https://survivorsupply.com/3-rules-for-finding-water-in-the-wild/
======
AnimalMuppet
First, I have found water in the southern Utah slickrock desert by noticing a
small area with flying insects. It was just a small pocket of water in a crack
in the slickrock, but had I needed it, it could have saved my life.

Second, there are some places where "look for the green" can get you to water
that you can't drink. In particular, in southern Utah, there are some springs
that contain arsenic. Some plants will grow in that water, but there are no
animal tracks leading to it. There aren't even insect larvae in it. Nice clean
water isn't necessarily a good sign.

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overcast
"carrying along more than a liter or two of water is just plain realistic."
Well if you say so!

Also, I hike a ton, many miles up many mountains. 3 liters really isn't that
much weight at all, many camelbak style products support that volume, and will
get you through a pretty long and arduous day. In my experience 12-15 miles in
hot climates.

~~~
newnewpdro
I hike pretty often and unless it's extremely arid like in the desert, I'll
usually just eat a bunch of fresh fruit and vegetables before setting off on a
full day of hiking. It's far more pleasant to be unburdened by carrying
things, and I'm more likely to mix in some trail running as well.

What I've found is I can pretty trivially go a full day without any food or
water, even when doing physical activity. It's just important to not start out
already dehydrated, and a last meal full of moisture with enough bulk to take
some time to digest doesn't seem to hurt.

~~~
sixstringtheory
This is extremely irresponsible advice.

Any food you put in your body requires water to digest. If you can’t convert
calories, your body will struggle to regulate core temp, so this is a danger
in cold temps, not just heat.

Dehydration can impair judgement. If you get injured or lost with no way to
get more water or food, you run a serious risk of dying, or at best requiring
a very expensive rescue.

Experienced hikers have died mere hundreds of feet off trail [0], and that’s
starting with food/water/gear/etc. If you are comfortable going an entire day
without water, that is your prerogative, but to anyone looking to dabble in
outdoor adventure, DO NOT attempt any hike without some kind of survival
supplies. The cost/impact ratio is just ludicrous and should be a no-brainer.

[0]: [https://m.ranker.com/list/lost-hikers-near-
civilization/jaco...](https://m.ranker.com/list/lost-hikers-near-
civilization/jacob-shelton)

~~~
peterwwillis
Seconding this.

Back in the 50's and 60's, the top Tour de France contenders would tell people
not to eat or drink anything before or during a race, for fear that their
stomach would start digestion and rob them of power. Several of them died on
the tour essentially of exertion and dehydration.

Your body will not tell you when you are dehydrated until it is too late. Your
mind can get clouded, you can get delusional, and then lost. You might try to
wander around and an accident will happen. Or you might get really tired and
decide to sit down and wait for someone to come by you. It's just stupid to go
out for multi-hour hikes or runs in the wilderness without the essentials
(such as water).

~~~
somecontext
> Several of them died on the tour essentially of exertion and dehydration.

In case anyone was curious, four cyclists have died during the Tour de France.
One drowned during a rest day (in 1910) and two crashed in different ways (in
1935 and 1995). The remaining cyclist died of heart failure on a hot day (in
1967), after mixing alcohol and amphetamines.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Tom_Simpson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Tom_Simpson)

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altec3
"It may be hard to figure out where downhill is, when the land appears flat,
but it still slopes downhill. If nothing else, it always slopes towards the
ocean."

Not always -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Basin)

~~~
lostlogin
I like that low point is known as Badwater Basin.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badwater_Basin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badwater_Basin)

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nixpulvis
> Water is our second biggest survival need, beaten out only by the need to
> maintain our body’s core temperature.

Hmmm, I'd say oxygen supply in the blood is probably #2.

~~~
cornellwright
One useful way I've heard to remember it is the rule of 3's:

You can survive approximately: 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 hours of exposure
(core temperature), 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food

Supposedly the special forces add to this "3 seconds after a bad decision."

~~~
nixpulvis
3 cycles after a bad instruction?

~~~
potta_coffee
3 seconds after the LT makes a bad decision

~~~
utkarshsinha
3 funding rounds later

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stevehawk
> According to the laws of physics, water always flows downhill. So if you’re
> looking for water, it only makes sense to flow the same way. No matter where
> you are, there’s always something downhill of you, unless you’re standing at
> sea level.

New Orleans, Death Valley, and a lot of other places would like to have a word
with you.

~~~
jlarocco
I don't know why people are bothering to point this out.

All things considered, those places are very rare. Surely you're not saying
people should disregard advice that's accurate 99.99% of the time because of a
handful of counterexamples?

New Orleans and Death Valley are particularly silly examples because New
Orleans is not wild in the sense of the article, and a person will almost
certainly know when they're in Death Valley and be aware of its unique
situation.

~~~
jcranmer
In a temperate woodlands environment (such as the eastern US), you will be
able to get water by setting out a container and waiting for it to rain, which
will likely happen before you die of dehydration. If that takes too long, then
just wander around aimlessly for a bit and you'll find a stream that's at
least intermittent if not permanent. You don't need a guide to find water
because you can't get away from it.

The only reason to have a guide on how to find water is if a) you need a guide
on how to find potable water (which this dismisses by saying "eh, you'll be
filtering everything so any water is good enough" [1]), or b) you are in an
arid or other similar environment where water is hard to find. In the later
situation, endorheic basins are going to be substantially more common, and the
problems with endorheic lakes as water sources are definitely worth
mentioning.

[1] As others have noted, this isn't true. Water sources, particularly in
endorheic basins, can be unacceptably concentrated in poisons such as
agricultural runoff or arsenic, or too salty to drink.

~~~
e12e
> In a temperate woodlands environment (such as the eastern US), you will be
> able to get water by setting out a container and waiting for it to rain,
> which will likely happen before you die of dehydration.

What? I used to live in Bergen - and even there we'd see a full week without
precipitation parts of the year. If you're out of water, I can't imagine there
are many places in the world where "waiting rain" is the surest way to ensure
hydration within the next 72 hours? Especially if you go hiking in periods of
"good" weather.

[http://www.bergen.climatemps.com/precipitation.php](http://www.bergen.climatemps.com/precipitation.php)

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justinator
I'm amazed, "start digging" didn't make the cut.

I don't know if this is the best blog to learn to survive from.

~~~
jjnoakes
Digging is addressed by the article.

