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Why don't you cary a water filter?

I don't like Iodine tablets. They make the water taste nasty.

Filter - maybe I should carry one.
Most of the compact ones are junk though and only work for solid material, don't really work for parasites.

If I don't get over the runs, I'll go see the doctor.

Last edited by resedit (2009-10-25 3:41 am)

I'm not in super shape, but I do have some endurance.
Farthest I went this year was 34 in a day, and I had to stop and take two naps. I also almost passed out, I got to Lake Shasta City and went into the market to get some food and beverage and suddenly became ill, almost threw up in the store but didn't, went to the park and almost threw up there and watched mothers ferry their kids away while I crashed under and oak tree and slept.

If I was in better shape (I am now than I was then) that wouldn't have happened. When I hear the distances soldiers are expected to hike with a pack full of supplies, I'm literally in awe. I think I'm too old at this point to do what that.

I'm going to be doing some good winterish hikes in November and Feb - got to find me some salamanders, and Redding is just too low in elevation (Coastal areas sallies go down to sea level, but there are none in the California Valley - except when coastal Ensatina's decide to migrate to Sierra's, which has happened recently - but they didn't leave any populations there), but I can bus to where I can hike to where I can find some.

resedit wrote:

I'm not in super shape, but I do have some endurance.
Farthest I went this year was 34 in a day, and I had to stop and take two naps. I also almost passed out, I got to Lake Shasta City and went into the market to get some food and beverage and suddenly became ill, almost threw up in the store but didn't, went to the park and almost threw up there and watched mothers ferry their kids away while I crashed under and oak tree and slept.

If I was in better shape (I am now than I was then) that wouldn't have happened. When I hear the distances soldiers are expected to hike with a pack full of supplies, I'm literally in awe. I think I'm too old at this point to do what that.

I'm going to be doing some good winterish hikes in November and Feb - got to find me some salamanders, and Redding is just too low in elevation (Coastal areas sallies go down to sea level, but there are none in the California Valley - except when coastal Ensatina's decide to migrate to Sierra's, which has happened recently - but they didn't leave any populations there), but I can bus to where I can hike to where I can find some.

Get a Camel Back to carry water. I had one that could hold almost a gallon and a half and it was very comfortable.

resedit wrote:

I don't like Iodine tablets. They make the water taste nasty.

Seems like a small price to me. But I hate being sick.

If I don't get over the runs, I'll go see the doctor.

Remember to drink plenty of water so you don't get dehydrated.

Feel better soon.

This filter looks pretty good, actually - I may buy one

http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-Hiker-PRO … B0007U012U

Only complaints are that the filters clog easily in water with sediment. But that's not a worry for me, there are almost always flowing creeks where I go, and I do carry water if there aren't.

resedit wrote:

What I might try is iodine to sterilize, filter to remove some of the iodine, and flavoring to mask what is left.

Something like these? I prefer the raspberry iced tea flavor, myself.

sturner wrote:

Iodine. The breath of life. I've drunk water flavored with iodine so much, that when I don't taste it, it seems strange.

My mother is deathly allergic to it.
She can't have sea food, when they put her under at the hospital they have to use an alternative, etc.
She almost died once when the technician screwed up.

I'm not allergic though.

I do use my hybrid to get out there sometimes - by hybrid I mean not really a street bike and not really a mountain bike. That's probably best for me, cause once I'm no loner on pavement I need to walk, as I need to be able to flip logs/rocks/etc on side of trail.

Water filters have come a long ways through the years. The most recent models can get well below microbial sizes - about the only thing that they can't filter is viral stuff.

A combination of filter, with iodine, can turn just about anything short of stockyard runoff into safe water. Take something to flavor the water to hide the Iodine. I like Gatorade, because it helps restore electrolyte levels as well.

When I hiked a lot, I took two Nalgene bottles, full; my Pur scout, iodine tabs, and powdered Gatorade. If I ran low on water, I just pumped them full again, added iodine, and after a few minutes, the Gatorade. Never got sick. Note, you want water near the top, which is why most of filters have a foam-ringed particulate filter that floats on the surface.

Some1 wrote:

Wouldn't it make more sense (taste-wise) to add the iodine, then filter, then flavour?

Do you think there'd be any advantage to filtering twice? (Before and after the iodine treatment)

The more I think about it, I suppose there wouldn't be. At least assuming the filter is good enough to get what it's going to get the first time around, and assuming that the iodine will kill anything, no mater how much is there.

But my belt-and-suspenders hindbrain is telling me I would want to do it that way.

Some1 wrote:

Wouldn't it make more sense (taste-wise) to add the iodine, then filter, then flavour?

Iodine will foul the filter if you don't flush it properly. While you certainly could do that, you would need to make sure you flushed it carefully after each use.

Also, the unit I have has an intake designed to be placed in the stream. The only way to do this with my filter would be to carry along another bucket or jar.