Is drinking ‘backcountry’ water safe? Does anyone do this when they are hiking, hunting, etc.? I never have and generally wouldn’t, but that’s really depressing.
I found this quote:
…but a lot of people claim a lot of crazy things.
if it’s brown, drink it down.
If it’s black, send it back
any warm still water has the potential for harmful bacteria… so if you do need a drinka fast moving stream is probably your best option… the earth can naturally filter water and many creeks and streams have delicious and drinkable water…
it’s a judgement call you must make to saywether a certan creek is clean or not… it depends on the terrain…
obviously don’t drink still water or water that animals drink from…
im no biologist but i would say these few tips would save you from contracting Giardiasis.
as for the amount of Giardiasis in waters,… i’m no biologist
Thanks Wonderer. I’m thinking only of clear, fast-moving mountain water. My general rule is to not drink any backcountry water unfiltered. But our society is so overboard in terms of safety that I wonder…
clear fast moving mountain water is better than whya you would find in a dasani bottle…
i used to go out and drink random water that i would find… i got sick one time (i learned to avoid the foam), but i remember dringing water that ran down from a high cliff and it was extremley tasty.
generally any moving clear water is o.k to drink (the cold temperatures also inhibit bacteria)…
however when you start going south that can change fast… i remember finding a creek that looked extremely fresh but when i followed it to its source it was a duck lake…
also the farther you are from civilisation, the better your odds are…
one of our lakes is called “second lake”… it got its name because it was the second cleanest lake in nova scotia (my province)
10 eyars after they built suburbs around it it is now our dirtiest lake…
If i am more than 1 hour away from the enarest hospital, i’ve learned not to drink any wild water without bioling it first…
(but i do enjoy sticking my head in a waterfall)
Yep, wonderer is right about it. If you have no choice just boil it for about 3 to five minutes, a nice rolling boil.Any cloth can filter debris out after that. You willl have sanitary water. Or just go to a hiking or camping store they sell pills to sterilize water.
Yeah, drinking random unsterilized water, can’t be safe, period.
Doesn’t matter if you can’t get X disease, you can get, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, etc disease/conditions.
Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of un-named unknown virus/bacteria that randomly make people ill.
No untreated is reliably safe. If you know for certain that there is no human habitation anywhere upstream, the odds increase that the water is safe, but animals carry organisms that can make you sick, and they can always be upstream from you.
Boiling works. Filters are almost as good. Tablets are almost as good.
Mostly, you’re not going to die from infected water. Mostly, you’ll just get sick.
Personally, I wouldn’t take the chance. The stuff you need to make backcountry water safe is fairly cheap and portable nowadays. And beer is mostly water, so you should always bring some along, anyway.
They really need to make dehydrated beer, Carrying a case of beer while hiking is backbreaking, unless you lighten the load and get a load on 
Offer your hiking companions a chunk of dehydrated Budweiser. Get the buzz and the taste without having to visit a tree every hour =D>
I never go anywhere without homemade pasta puttanesca and an IPA. 
And a water filter. 
i just raid the fridge and go out with a backpack full of meat and a lighter
Kris - I think you’ve got something there. How about beer chewing gum?
We could be rich.
I also never leave the house without a water filter - it’s in my truck at all times. So are purification tabs and a JetBoil stove. And dehydrated meals. And candy.
There is still snow on the ground here in Maine.
Spring comes late and lasts about ten minutes.
Hmm, beer chewing gum, is that by the case ,12 pack or 6er?
How about a 40?
Sounds good to me… how to keep the alcohol content in the gum and the flavor might be tricky though.