Survival Training...BOB's...and info

B

Bo Hunter

New member
With all the talk of Bug Out Bags, and the chaos in N.O. you guys have really got me interested. I grew up in Upstate NY, with the worse natural disasters being Ice Storms that usually shut us down for a couple days at the most. The worst one a few years ago in the north shut them down for a max of two weeks.

We don't have debilitating natural disasters like tornados, hurricaines, floods, mudslides or earthquakes. So really, no one here is prepared.

While I'd probably never need it (although its always been something in the back of my head, I'm interested in creating a BOB kit "just in case".

So yesterday I was at Gander Mountain molesting their pistol inventory, and decided I'd head over to the camping section and check out the water filters I'd seen everyone talking about. If there WAS a meltdown and total chaos, these items seemed one fo the most valuable. So they had several different Katadyn filters. One was $40 (which they were out of BTW), one was around $60, and the last one was $200.

My question is, how do these work, and what makes a $200 unit worth $200? Also, if anyone could give me a readers digest verson of making contaminated water potable, I'd be interested in hearing it. I'm confused as to what these filters do, how they work, along with the tablets you guys mentioned.

Can one make chemically contaminated water drinkable or is this just for "dirty" water, i.e. bacteria etc?

In addition, any books or online reading programs about survival etc. would be helpful. I saw on "Brat Camp" how they taught the kids to "bow" fire. It was pretty cool stuff. I'd like to learn more about that stuff "just in case".
 
As far as water filters go there are several factors to consider. Are they well made? How do they work ( straight draw or lever pump)? Can they be cleaned, and reused, or do they require the purchase of extra filters? Amount of water they can provide (GallonsPerMinute), and over the lifetime of the filter. How fine of a particle will it filter? These are rated in microns. The smaller the better is a good general rule, but if you have to sweat more water than it takes to filter potable water then it is pretty much useless.

Mine is a MSR that uses a cramic filter. It has a pump handle to make it easier to operate. It has a hose to reach the water source, and the bottom (the outlet side) will screw onto a Nalgene lexan bottle. It comes with a scotchbrite pad to clean the filter with. I bought from a retailer that sales supplies for mountain climbers, and it cost me $80.00. It fits in a 3 day back pack.

When things aren't critical I will fill a bottle, and drop in a purification tablet. After letting it sit for awhile I will then filter it again to another bottle to remove the tablet taste. Some of the best water I have ever drank.

I am hoping others have more detailed, or better information as I can always stand to learn a thing or two. Siince I just woke up I haven't learned anythng yet today. This would be a good place to start.

In short a good unit that is easy to operate, maintain, well made, and will filter down to reasonable level of microns is going to be just as good as a $200.00 unit.

As far as radioactive water I don't know if iodine will help or not.

For survival trianing, type it into your search engine. You will find thousands of places to get instruction, and tips. Most of it free. Read, read, read, and then read some more. Copy, and paste to your own text program, and print it out. Put it with your gear.
 
For water filters, I have a Katadyn filtering straw in my BoB and the hiker model pump filter in my camping gear. I'm honestly not positive about their chemical filtering capabilities, I would venture a guess they'd be less than effective since they're designed to filter nasty little creatures that grow in water (micro-organisms) and chemicals would probably pass through the filter easier. Radioactive? If you end up in a radioactive contaminated area, drinkable water isn't going to be much of a worry anyway.

For survival books, I would honestly say pick up a copy of the Boy Scout's Handbook. That will give you a start in all the basic need-to-know things. There are a lot of other sources---internet, bookstore, hiking mag's, you name it. One thing I'd like to point out though is PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. Don't slap a few books in the BoB and think you're covered. Go out and apply the techniques for yourself. Play with them in a no-stress situation to see if A) they work and the author isn't just blowing smoke, and B) you understand the concept. Because if it ever comes down to a situation where you could need to apply survival techniques, you probably won't have time to mess around with trial and error. Make your mistakes practicing.
 
I wouldn't trust filters or iodine for anything but biological contaminants. If for some reason the water is contaminated with chemical or radioactive contaminants, your only safe bet is bottled water and evacing from the contaminated zone as quickly as possible.
 
Many of these water filters will filter out heavy metals, and bacteria. I have an inexpensive one in my bob that looks like a regular plastic sports bottle. Fill it up at one end, squeeze the plastic bottle and it forces water through a filter at the other. Good for filtering 200 gallons of water.

It eliminates or reduces up to 99.8% of:

Unpleasant tastes and odors, cloudiness, silt, sediment and chlorine, toxic chemicals such as trihaolmethanes, PCBs, PCEs, detergents, pesticides, etc., pathogens such as cryptospridium and giardia, heavy metals such as aluminum, asbestos, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, and as for radiologicals it will filter out radon 222. All of this in a handy little squeeze bottle that is easy to throw in a bob and costs very little. This one is a brand called "bottoms up" - do a google search.

On top of that you can carry a small bottle of bleach and chlorinate your water before drinking it if you so desire, not to mention boiling it......
 
...Try to remember though..even if an area hasn't been plagued by certain natural disasters in the past..don't let that comfort you too much...because nature often gives little warning...
 
Disease warning as dysentery cases reported

Lack of clean drinking water increases risk of outbreaks

Associated Press in Biloxi and Washington
Monday September 5, 2005
The Guardian


Officials yesterday warned that those stranded by Hurricane Katrina face a serious risk of dysentery and other diseases from contaminated water.
The US health and human services secretary, Michael Leavitt, said he had received a report of an outbreak of dysentery in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The lack of clean drinking water in parts of the Gulf coast region and standing floodwaters with decomposing bodies and human waste in the streets of New Orleans could cause a rash of infectious diseases, including West Nile virus and the often fatal E coli bacterium, he warned.

"All of the infectious diseases that occur when people are in large congregations of people can spread," Mr Leavitt said.
It was reported that officials had closed a shelter in Biloxi on Saturday because more than 20 people had fallen ill. Doctors believe the patients may have contracted dysentery from tainted water.
Another 20 people in the area were treated for vomiting and diarrhoea.

The shelter at a Biloxi school had been without water and power since Katrina hit on Monday. About 400 people had been staying there, and doctors said some may have ignored warnings to stay away from water.

Some running water came back late on Friday, but it was not safe to drink or even to use to brush teeth or wash, said Dr Jason Dees, a volunteer working at Biloxi regional medical centre.

Most of the patients were treated with antibiotics.

About 30 of the affected residents were taken to a hospital in Mobile, Alabama, while the rest were taken by bus to a shelter in Thomasville, Georgia.

Corporal Kayla Robert, of Biloxi police, said she had no idea what caused the illnesses.

"Who knows what they swallowed before they got here," she said.

"Half of them were swimming in stuff that we don't even know what it was."

Harrison county's health director, Bob Trabnicek, said: "It's not a disaster, it's a catastrophe."

Oliver Morgan, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Los Angeles Times that the threat of disease was not from the corpses but from those living in squalid conditions without clean water.
"After these big events where there are large numbers of fatalities, there is a rush to dispose of the dead and a lot of scare stories about imminent epidemics," he said.

"But the risk of disease transmission is really coming from the surviving population."
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Water filters anyone?
 
Chemicals...

The reason I asked is, how does one know - especially in a flood if waters are contaminated with petrolium products from vehicles and service stations, or even vehicles in the flood. That was more my concern than radio active waste.

I guess the intent is to find a river or stream to obtain water from, rather than flood waters though. However, if you were trapped in a flooded area, it might be a concern...

So - basically one doesn't need a $200 filter. BTW - the two I was looking at had the same filtration capabilities. The $200 unit was stainless. The other was plastic.
 
So - basically one doesn't need a $200 filter. BTW - the two I was looking at had the same filtration capabilities. The $200 unit was stainless. The other was plastic.
Click to expand...

Stainless is good, durable, easy to clean, but heavy. If the plastic is lexan, then it is practically unbreakable, and lighter. I personally would go for the plastic. If it is lexan. and is well made.
 
Only an Activated Charcoal filter will remove hydrocarbons. If you look at the aerial photos from NO you can readily see the lilght hydrocarbob sheen on the water but that woill not always be there. The safest bet is to pull your water from 5 or 6 inches below the surface. Most Hydrocarbons will be on or near the surface as they are light than water.

Bob
 
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