stroud’s Tip
Make sure you have enough water for yourself, given the
situation. Make sure everyone in the group has enough water
for themselves. Repeat these two lines over and over!Physiology
TOAPPRECIATE THEIMPORTANCEOFWATER FOROURWELLBEING, let me remind
you that you should drink a minimum of a gallon (about 4 L) each day,
even if you’re sitting in the shade doing nothing. Water is constantly being
used by our bodies through normal processes such as breathing. Throw in
the extra stress of surviving in the wilderness—which may entail extreme
physical activity, perspiration, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding as a result
of injury—and you can see how the situation can become dire. Even diges
tion, particularly after eating foods that are sweet or spicy, as well as those
high in salt or protein, uses up precious stores of water in our system.
From everything I’ve read, death by dehydration is horrible and pain
ful. In fact, you can start to feel the many adverse physical and mental
effects of dehydration after dropping your body’s water supply by as little
as 1 percent. In addition to the headaches I noted above, nausea, poor
judgment, and depression are all symptoms of dehydration, symptoms
you don’t want to be dealing with anytime, let alone when you’re trying to
survive in the wild.
Thirst is not a good indicator of your body’s need for water: you may not
notice when you need more. While surviving beside a lake in Canada’s boreal
forest during a heat wave, I forced myself to drink about 8 ounces (237 ml) of
water every hour, whether I felt thirsty or not. This simple act kept me feel
ing refreshed and even helped mask the hunger pains I otherwise would have
suffered, as I had little food at the time. Oh, I was still hungry, but drinking
regularly, almost constantly, seemed to take away the pain.
So in a survival situation, setting a mandatory time to drink each
day, especially in the winter (when you don’t normally feel like drinking),
will help you get past your mind’s lack of attentiveness, itself another
symptom of dehydration. If you are not alone in your ordeal, then you
Water (^) | 73