🚀 go-pugleaf

> For hikers/backpackers/survivalists/outdoors people, what way(s) do
> you prefer purifying your water?

My number one method is to avoid questionable water.  Unfortunately, even in the
Cascades, this is getting harder and harder.  On a day trip, I can usually get
by on a liter of water brought from home.  Otherwise, I avoid drinking from all
but the highest streams and lakes.  I have never purified Cascade water...yet.

The only time I have purified water was on a climbing trip in the Andes.  We
used iodine tincture, not crystals.  Eight drops to a liter of water, more if
the water is cloudy.  Wait 30 minutes, no boiling required.  This method is
simple and reputedly effective.  Iodine crystals make me nervous since they are
poisonous.  I would worry about accidentally dropping one in my water bottle.

					Lowell Skoog, Seattle

> > For hikers/backpackers/survivalists/outdoors people, what way(s) do
> > you prefer purifying your water?
> My number one method is to avoid questionable water.  Unfortunately, even in
> the Cascades, this is getting harder and harder.

Two years ago, one of my climbing partners purchased a First Need filter
pump system.  Last year I also purchased one.  They appear to be adequate,
but I am uncertain whether I have given it an adequate test.  Some of the
claims about removing certain toxic substances seem farfetched.

It is truly a sad day on earth when people have to restore  to this
type of high-tech to get a drink of water.  We are certainly loving
wilderness to death.

From the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:
--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  {hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,decwrl,allegra}!ames!aurora!eugene
  emiya@ames-vmsb

>For hikers/backpackers/survivalists/outdoors people, what way(s) do
>you prefer purifying your water?
.
.
.
>Of other known methods:
>- filtering (e.g. Katadyn 2 micron filter)
>  Gets most microbes though does nothing about chemical pollutants.

>John Daleske

I use something called the "First Need" water purification device,
made by General Ecology.  From the blurb that came with it,
it has a 0.4 micron filter (small enough to stop giardia),
a matrix of + and - charges to capture charged particles,
and a pharmaceutical grade absorber for chemicals (herbicides, etc.).

The nice thing about using it is that you don't have to wait for
the sterilizing chemical to act.  So far I've had no trouble with
its use (never gotten sick), but then again, I don't know the
condition of the pre-treated water.

The thing has basically two pieces: the processing unit (filter+)
and a pump.  When the filter+ gets full (supposedly at 600-800 pints,
but I haven't gotten that far yet), you can buy a new one
(or backwash the old), but can keep reusing the pump.  The only
(slight) problem is that you seem to need 4 hands to use it,
2 to work the pump, 1 to hold the filter+, and one to hold the
water bottle.  It pumps about a pint a minute, which isn't real
fast (at least not while you're squatting down beside a stream),
but not too bad (and a lot better than some other filters that
use a gravity feed).

All in all, I like it a lot and would (and am doing so,
if you think about it) recommend it.

-- 

". . . and shun the frumious Bandersnatch."
Robert Neinast (ihnp4!ho95b!ran)
AT&T-Bell Labs