On the fifth and sixth days, the few ounces I made by chewing plants and
distilling my own urine still didn’t suffice. Even the act of eating the plants
used up water in my system needed for digestion. The very act of chewing
in extremely hot weather used up energy I didn’t have to spare. Sometimes
doing nothing is better than trying something that doesn’t work.
Fortunately, I could walk out of the desert. But what if you can’t? Our
bodies need 2 to 3 quarts (2 to 3 L) of water each day. Throw in heat, cold,
stress, exertion, or diarrhea, and you need much more. To survive in the
wilderness you need to know how to find water, make water, and even pre
vent your body from losing water.
One thing that people get hung up on with water (assuming they’re
lucky enough to find it) is whether it’s clean enough to drink. They aren’t
sure whether to drink it at all, for fear of getting sick. I go over this in
greater detail later in this chapter, but for now, learn this mantra: Drink,
drink, drink. You will die a lot faster from dehydration than from the
effects of drinking untreated water. In fact, in all but the rarest circum
stances, drinking untreated water won’t kill you. Even if you do contract
parasites, most of them won’t hit you for at least a week, if not longer.
Should you make it out alive, you can treat most of them (albeit with
powerful drugs).
stroud’s Tip
After drinking questionable water, crush up some
charcoal and place it in a rag. Strain water through the rag
and drink the black liquid. It can prevent stomach upset.
Make sure you use charcoal from nonpoisonous wood sources! And water in remote areas usually is safe to drink. Sure, if you’re
downstream from an African village or just outside a town that happens to
use the stream as its septic system, you’re probably going to ingest patho
gens. Then again, if you’re that close to civilization, you’re not in a survival
situation at all! I’ve been infected with giardia, a nasty parasite that wreaks
havoc on your bowels, after drinking from a seemingly pristine lake. I’ve
(^70) | Survive!