Survival in Various Situations

Discussion in 'Survival Reading Room' started by melbo, Sep 6, 2005.


  1. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    From The Manual by Eduardo

    -sample-
    Water (it weighs approximately 8 pounds/gallon)

    Drinking: From two quarts/day/person under ideal conditions (cool, no travel, humid, no
    wind, with healthy people) to two gallons/day/person under adverse conditions (any of the
    above). Extreme conditions may require even more drinking water.

    Preparing food: plan on one quart/day/person

    Washing: At least one quart/person/day. Re use as appropriate on lesser tasks. Re distill or
    boil, or throw out on dry land if it becomes irrecoverable.

    Where you get it:
    Homes: Go to lowest water tap in house, drain water from pipes by opening highest taps
    one at a time (five to ten gallons/house).

    Toilet tanks: generally potable unless some kind of sanitizer in tank. Do not drink
    if sanitizing device is in tank, even if it looks used up! Uncontaminated toilet tank
    water can also be used for food preparation. If "sanitized", use this water for
    washing, fire fighting, etc.

    Toilet bowls: NEVER drink this water! It can be used for washing (not wounds or
    open skin), fire fighting, plant growth, cooling, etc.

    Hot water tanks: This is generally safe to drink, but bad tasting. A tank can hold
    twenty gallons or more. Hook up a clean garden hose to the bottom of the tank,
    open the cock (faucet) and open the faucets on top.

    Cached water: You should store as much fresh water as you can, ideally thirty gallons
    per person minimum. Store in clean, full containers of 1-5 gallon capacity. Dump, air
    dry, and refill containers every 90 days before the disaster, and you will have a month's
    supply of drinking water for your family. Some families will abandon their homes. Look
    for their stored water.

    Public buildings: Generally same as homes, except that many public buildings will have
    higher pressures due to their height, so use caution.

    Note: Many public buildings remove tap handles; you may have to bring a vise grip
    pliers or a hacksaw and other tools. If you cut off a tap, or cut into a pipe, you may get
    more water than you bargained for, so be ready to catch large quantities, and have a
    tapered plug ready for the hole(s).

    Outdoors: Always purify the water before drinking or using it for food preparation
    (purification tablets, boiling al least five minutes, iodine, distilling).
    Note: Surface water is usually more polluted than underground water. Do not be fooled
    by "pure" looking streams or lakes!

    Purifying water: There is no safe way to remove some contaminants (e.g. nuclear fallout, some
    chemical agents). These procedures should be used for all cases when the water is not known
    to be safe:

    Distilling: this is the best method to recover clean water, provided the equipment is
    clean. See figure 1 [which is not currently available] (creating a solar still), or build
    from available pots and pipes for more permanent installation. Tastes fine, and is as free
    of chemicals, bacteria, viruses, etc., as is the equipment used.

    Solar still: Dig a hole 3X2 on a side and 3X2 deep. Set heavy plastic (4mil+) over the
    hole, anchor the edge with rocks, place one rock in the center over the cup, fill pit with
    wet leaves. Use drinking tube to avoid having to dismantle.
    These methods will kill bacteria, but will not affect nuclear fallout, and will not generally
    affect poisons:

    Water purification tablets: (Source: Camping stores, discount stores in camping
    section.) These kill bacteria, make the water taste funny. Use per directions.
    Note: Do not open the package containing the tablets until you need them.
    These tabs deteriorate with age and humidity, and opening the original package "starts
    the clock" on deterioration. For better taste, treat, then filter the water, then shake it up.
    Let it stand fifteen minutes or so, shake, and drink.

    Boiling: filter after boiling at least five minutes on a heavy rolling boil.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Feb 3, 2015
  2. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Looks interesting. Will have to read through it later.
     
  3. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    yes, looks interesting, saved it to my drive for some offline reading.
     
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