5 unusual ways to get water in a survival
Plants provide water for us.
When it comes to living in harsh heat, the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert have no choice. They have learned the ability to extract water from plants as a result of having to adapt to such a hostile environment. Their ability to travel great distances, hunting for roots along the way, which they then break into bits and mash, gives them a competitive advantage. The water that they squeeze out and swallow helps to replenish their supplies of nutrients.
In the bush, the Bushmen are well aware that water may be found anywhere vegetation grows. However, in the majority of instances, the procedure is excruciatingly slow and results in barely enough liquid to moisten the lips.
Furthermore, in order for you or I to be able to detect and accurately identify a waterbearing root or plant, we must first get instruction from a local specialist in this field. Still, the odds of coming across one of these plants are tiny, making it unwise for most individuals to put in the effort.
The fact that certain plants can give water by means of their interiors notwithstanding my reservations is not without precedent. A great supply of clean, odorless water, green bamboo is abundant in the rainforest.
Straighten out the green bamboo stalk and fasten it to a stake, then chop off the top of it. During the night, water will drop from the stalk into a receptacle that has been set up.
A water-producing trick is to reach inside an old birch tree and take out the moist, spongy, punky wood with your hands before squeezing it.
If you have the necessary tools to chop down a banana or plantain tree, they may also give water. Chop the tree down to around 12 inches (30 cm) in height, leaving a stump behind as a reminder.
Pour water into a bowlshaped hole in the middle of the stump by scooping out the center of it; water from the roots will fill the depression instantly. It is likely that the first few fills will be bitter, but the remainder should be acceptable. For a few days, the stump will provide water.
If you know what you’re looking for, vines might be an useful supply of water.
Toxic vines (such as poison ivy and moonseed) are found not just in tropical rainforests, but also in a variety of other environments. The water vine that I discovered while living for a week in the marshes of Georgia had the most water I’d ever found in a plant to date.
To get water from a vine, cut a notch as high as you are able to get your hand through it.
If you cut the bottom of the hole first, the water will retreat due to capillary action, so make sure you do this first. Cut the vine close to the ground and discard it after that. Fill a jar with the liquid that has dripped off the cut vine, or put it in your mouth to drink.
My method of collecting fresh clean water in the Georgian wetlands was to simply cut one end of the vine and let it to trickle into a container for hours (and a few swimming ants).
The pitcher plant, which grows in northern Ontario, serves as a natural receptacle, collecting water in its cupshaped chambers. However, you must have received onsite plant identification education in order to be certain that you are collecting water from nonpoisonous plants.
Although it is not water, the milk from unripe (green) coconuts will offer your body with muchneeded fluids, even if it is not water. While you may be able to subsist for a period of time on the milk of mature coconuts, you should be aware that they contain an oil that has laxative properties.
I have, on the other hand, lasted for a week on coconut water combined with rainfall in two different tropical regions with no negative effects.
The following trees (the majority of which may be found in tropical climates) can also supply water in their own right:
Buri, coconut, sugar, rattan, and nips palms, among others, contain a sweet, drinking liquid.
Bruising and pulling a lower frond will cause the tree to expel fluids at the location of the damage. Every 12 hours, cut another piece to keep the flow going.
The Baobab tree, which may be found on the sandy plains of northern Australia and Africa, gathers water in its bottlelike trunk during the rainy season. Even after weeks of dry weather, water may be discovered in these trees on occasion.
Some members of the banana family have the ability to store up to 2 quarts (2 L) of water at the base of the chevron of their leaf stalks (the point at where the leaves join to the trunk) in their root systems.
Water drawn from a borehole
Remember when you were a youngster at the beach and you dug a hole so deep that water finally began leaking through the walls of your creation?
In a survival situation, you may utilize this approach to get fresh water. (If you’re going to go to the trouble of digging a hole and already have the appropriate gear, it’s probably best to build a solar still.)
When I was trying to survive on the plains and in the wooded parts of northern South Africa, I dug for water in various locations, frequently without success. There, I discovered a mudhole that had been polluted with wild boar excrement and urine.
I walked a little way downstream from the mudhole and dug a tiny hole in the soft sand. I had a hole full of water in a short amount of time—muddy, but devoid of animal waste and bacterial contaminants.
You’ll need to dig a hole that’s deep enough to enable water to seep in.
The depth of the hole you dig and the concentration of water in the soil will determine how soon it enters. When seepage occurs, use a cloth to absorb the fluid and then wring it into your mouth or into a container.
You could come upon water.
- everywhere there is a lot of green foliage.
- Anywhere that surface sand is observed to be moist.
- in valleys and other low-lying locations
- near the base of the concave banks of dry riverbeds
- at the base of cliffs or rocky outcroppings
- near the first valley behind the first sand dune of the dry desert lakes
the water that comes from the rock
That’s right, it’s not a typo. Believe it or not, even in very arid locations such as the desert, rocks may be a reliable (though intermittent) supply of water. During a rainstorm, water may gather in depressions, holes, and cracks in the rock. Almost any kind of flexible tubing may be used in order to extract the water from these inaccessible locations.
During a rainstorm, certain varieties of porous rock may even behave as sponges, soaking up excess water. A flexible tube may be inserted into a crack or hole in the rock and used to transport water to your location.
You should remember that every rodent in the vicinity will drink from, and most likely pee or defecate in, this same water source as you do. It’s preferable, then, if you can collect the water and boil it. Another technique of collecting water from rocks is to wipe the dew off them first thing in the morning with grass or a piece of cloth.
Animal-derived water
Generally speaking, fish have a drinking fluid, albeit you must exercise caution while consuming them.
Large fish, in particular, will develop a water reservoir along their spines. Because it is high in protein, you should avoid drinking the juice from the meat because it actually depletes (rather than refills) your body’s water reserves when you consume it.
Animal eyes contain water, despite how gross they seem. By making a little incision in the eyeball and sucking it out, you may remove it.
Urine contains water.
There are few topics that generate as much debate as the subject of survival.
There are some individuals who are strong supporters of drinking urine—even when it is not necessary for life! It has been used in numerous civilizations for millennia to treat a variety of ailments.
For medical or aesthetic reasons, this treatment includes drinking urine or rubbing pee into one’s skin. Some individuals even used urine to clean their teeth during the Renaissance period.
So, what are my thoughts about urinating? No way! Do not use this route. Water with high levels of salt and toxins is particularly hazardous (the same risks apply to drinking salty ocean water). It’s a case of one stride forward and two steps back since the salt level (approximately 2 percent) tends to create greater dehydration.
Besides metabolic waste by-products such as formaldehyde, ammonia, and dissolved heavy metals, urine also includes a variety of other substances. The less diluted it is, the higher the concentration of the by-products you’ll be eating will be in your system. Several reported examples of persons dying after consuming their own pee have been documented.
It is possible that you may produce little pee if already dehydrated.
My urine was a nasty yellow-brown hue and generated very little while I was living in the Kalahari Desert. The one time I did pee throughout the week was the only time I had during the week.
Using a solar still to distill your pee, as previously discussed, is a safer alternative to drinking your urine.
Purification and Filtration of Water
When it comes to water purification and filtration, there is one hard and fast rule: if you have the capacity and energy to do it, do it. If you don’t, don’t bother.
Keep your containers horizontal in the sun if you have them on hand. Using some sand or earth, cover the clean container and leave the contaminated container exposed to the stroud’s rays. Tip
Here’s a clever approach created by survival expert Allan “Bow” Beauchamp, provided you’re fortunate enough to have two big plastic bottles (such as a Pepsi bottle) or something similar: “Fill one bottle one-quarter full with pee. Fill the other bottle with urine.”
Attach the mouth of this container to the mouth of the second container using packing tape or duct tape. The sun is now in the sky. Evaporation will occur as a result of the heating of the contaminated container.
Moisture will move into the previously empty, clean container, leaving behind the leftover waste that was previously there.