not just in the dead of winter, but in springtime too—anytime you are
eating snow.
The ideal is to be able to melt the ice and snow and even heat it
before you drink it. If I don’t have a fire available, I like to fill a water
bottle (or similar vessel, or even a Ziploc bag) with snow, and slip it inside
my clothing during the day while I work or in my sleeping bag (not
touching my body) at night while I sleep. It takes a while for the first bit
to melt, but once that’s done, the rest melts quickly. If I can manage to
do this overnight without chilling myself, it’s great to wake up to find the
water melted and ready to drink.
Water from snow (or rain, for that matter) is very low in salt and
minerals, which we need to survive. But that is a longerterm concern
that should not affect your decision to eat snow, if you need to, during a
survival ordeal. Add edible plants and grasses to your melting pot to help
supplement these missing nutrients.
LastDitch Water Sources
If you have exerted your best efforts to find a primary source of water and
have come up empty, you need to turn to lastditch water sources, those
that may not keep you thriving but will at least keep you alive for a while.
Collect Rain: Most of us have heard about the ravages of acid rain, but
this isn’t a concern when it comes to survival: you can drink rainwater
anywhere on earth. To harvest enough to keep yourself going, you need
to use as big a catchment area as possible and contain the water in some
sort of receptacle. If you don’t have a suitable container on hand, dig a
hole in the ground. This should hold water for a while, but you will need
to line it with clay, plastic, or some other impermeable material, and keep
it covered.
Collect Dew: Heavy dew has been known to provide water for wilderness
survivors, and there are various ways to procure it.
If you find yourself in an area of long grass, heavy with morning
dew, you can make like native Australians and tie rags or tufts of fine grass
around your ankles while walking through the dewcovered grass. As the
rags or grass tufts absorb the dew, wring the water into a container. Don’t
Water (^) | 77