14 Tips For ALL THINGS WATER Every Backpacker Should Know
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, Dixie shares essential backpacking tips focused on water safety and hydration. She emphasizes choosing the safest water sources, like flowing over stagnant, and highlights the importance of keeping clean and dirty water bottles separate. Dixie introduces various water treatment methods, including the Sawyer Squeeze, and offers creative solutions for collecting water from shallow sources. She also discusses the risks of overhydration and the benefits of using drink mixes, creatine, and glycerol for better hydration. Additionally, she advises on always having a backup water treatment plan and the necessity of testing water filters before trips. Dixie concludes with practical tips for on-trail fixes and the value of carrying extra gaskets for the Sawyer Squeeze.
Takeaways
- 🌟 Choose the safest water source possible, preferring flowing over stagnant water and higher elevation sources.
- 🎒 Keep dirty and clean water bottles separate to avoid contamination, using different sizes or colors for easy identification.
- 💧 Ensure water is easily accessible to stay hydrated, considering hydration systems or bottles with bite valves for convenience.
- 🌊 Use a water filter like the Sawyer Squeeze for on-the-go water treatment, which is lightweight and quick to use.
- 🏞️ Get creative when collecting water from shallow sources, using leaves, rocks, or scoops to direct the flow.
- 🚰 Back flush your water filter regularly using a clean water bottle and a sports cap to maintain its effectiveness.
- 🐫 Camel up cautiously, being aware of the body's limits and the risks of overhydration and electrolyte imbalance.
- 🍹 Use drink mixes like Element to add flavor to water and stay hydrated, opting for natural sweeteners like Stevia.
- 💪 Incorporate creatine and glycerol into your diet before a hike to improve hydration and energy levels.
- 🦠 Be aware that most water filters do not remove viruses, and have a backup water treatment plan for such scenarios.
- 🔬 Test your water filter before your trip to ensure it's functioning properly and consider carrying extra parts like a gasket for on-trail fixes.
Q & A
What is the first water tip mentioned in the script?
-The first water tip is to ensure you pick the safest water source possible. It's better to choose a flowing source over a stagnant one, and smaller trickles are preferred over large sources like rivers with lots of runoff.
Why is it advised to avoid mixing dirty and clean water bottles?
-Mixing dirty (untreated) water with clean water can contaminate the clean water, potentially leading to illnesses such as diarrhea, especially when consumed on the trail.
How can backpackers ensure their water is easily accessible to stay hydrated?
-Backpackers can use a hydration system like a bladder or a bottle with a tube and bite valve, or attach a water bottle to their shoulder strap using a bungee. The key is to find what works best for the individual to encourage regular hydration.
What type of water treatment system does the speaker prefer and why?
-The speaker prefers the Sawyer Squeeze because it is lightweight, quick to use, and allows for immediate drinking without having to wait for chemical treatments to take effect.
What is 'cameling up' and what are its potential risks?
-Cameling up involves drinking a lot of water at a water source and then filling up bottles before continuing the hike. The risk is that it might lead to overhydration, which can cause an imbalance in electrolytes, especially in endurance athletes and military personnel.
Why should hikers carry a backup water treatment plan?
-A backup plan is essential in case the primary water filter becomes damaged or ineffective. It could involve boiling water or using chemical treatments like bleach as an alternative.
What is the speaker's recommendation for dealing with shallow water sources?
-The speaker suggests using creative methods such as placing a leaf to create a mini waterfall for easier collection, or using a scoop or cup to gather water from shallow sources.
What are the speaker's thoughts on using drink mixes for hydration?
-The speaker recommends using drink mixes like Element to add flavor to water and make hydration more enjoyable, without the negative effects of sugar found in other sports drinks.
How can creatine and glycerol help with hydration?
-Creatine and glycerol can improve hydration by helping the body maintain continuous energy and carrying water to the cells, making them effective for hikers who plan to camel up and utilize this hydration strategy.
What should hikers do if their water filter is not functioning properly?
-Hikers should test their filter before their trip and if it's not working well, consider soaking it in water beforehand. If on the trail and the filter is not effective, they can use backup methods like boiling water or using a bandana to strain sediment before treating with bleach.
What is the speaker's advice for treating water in cold conditions?
-The speaker suggests melting snow in a food pot or heating it up, or placing snow in gallon-sized Ziplocs on the ground to melt. It's important to filter the melted snow to remove any contaminants or particles.
Outlines
🌞 Enjoying Nature and Water Safety Tips
Dixie shares her experience of enjoying a sunny day in Alabama after days of dreary weather. She emphasizes the importance of choosing the safest water source while hiking, suggesting flowing sources over stagnant ones, and upstream from any contaminants. Dixie also advises against mixing dirty water bottles with clean ones and highlights the use of a 7L water bottle with a flip cap for easy access to safe drinking water.
💧 Water Accessibility and Collection
Dixie discusses the importance of keeping water easily accessible to stay hydrated, suggesting personal preferences for hydration systems. She shares her experience with a hydration system that hooks to a bottle with a bite valve for easy access. Dixie also talks about her preference for the Sawyer Squeeze for water treatment due to its lightweight, quick filtering, and ease of use, and mentions alternative options like inline and gravity systems for different hiking styles.
🌊 Creative Water Collection Techniques
Dixie provides tips on collecting water from shallow sources, such as using a leaf and rock to create a mini waterfall or using a scoop. She shares her personal preference for a seed assignment cup as a scoop and discusses the challenges of filling a bladder from stagnant water sources. Dixie also talks about backflushing the Sawyer Squeeze with a smart water sports cap top and emphasizes the importance of not overdoing water intake during 'cameling up'.
🍹 Enhancing Hydration with Mixes and Precautions
Dixie talks about using drink mixes like Element to add variety to plain water without the downsides of sugar. She also discusses the benefits of creatine and glycerol for hydration and maintaining energy levels. Dixie warns that most water filters do not remove viruses and suggests having a backup water treatment plan, such as boiling or using bleach as a disinfectant. She also shares tips on melting snow for water without using fuel and the importance of testing water filters before a trip.
🛠 On-Trail Fixes and Extra Tips
Dixie shares practical tips for on-trail fixes, such as using Tenacious Tape to solve a loose gasket issue with the Sawyer Squeeze. She advises carrying an extra gasket as a backup and suggests soaking the filter before use if it's slow to flow. Dixie concludes with her experience of needing to boil water as a backup plan when her filter froze and emphasizes the value of improvisation and preparedness in hiking.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Backpacking
💡Water Sources
💡Hydration
💡Water Treatment
💡Sawyer Squeeze
💡Drink Mixes
💡Electrolytes
💡Glycerol and Creatine
💡Filter Testing
💡Backup Plan
💡Tenaious Tape
Highlights
Choose the safest water source possible, preferring flowing sources over stagnant ones.
Opt for smaller water sources like trickles from mountains over large bodies like rivers with potential contaminants.
Water from higher elevations is generally safer as it's less likely to have been contaminated.
Avoid mixing dirty water bottles with clean ones to prevent contamination.
Use designated bottles for clean and dirty water, ideally with different sizes or colors to avoid confusion.
Ensure water is easily accessible to stay better hydrated, considering hydration systems or bottles with tubes.
The Sawyer Squeeze is a lightweight and efficient water filtration option for on-the-go situations.
For shallow water sources, get creative with methods like using a leaf to create a mini waterfall for easier collection.
A smart water sports cap top works well for backflushing the Sawyer Squeeze to maintain its efficiency.
Cameling up can be useful for long stretches without water sources, but consistent hydration throughout the day is key.
Drink mixes like Element can enhance the taste of water and help with hydration without adding too much sugar.
Creatine and glycerol can aid in hydration when used in conjunction before backpacking.
Most water filters, including the Sawyer Squeeze, do not filter out viruses.
Always have a backup water treatment plan, such as boiling or using bleach as an alternative.
Melt snow for water by heating it in a food pot or using Ziplocs to melt in the sun without fuel.
Test your water filter before your trip to ensure it's functioning properly.
Carry an extra Sawyer Squeeze gasket as a backup to prevent leaks and ensure a good seal.
For an on-trail fix, use Tenacious Tape to wrap around the threads of a leaking water filter.
Transcripts
hey y'all Dixie here we are finally
having a beautiful sunny day in Alabama
it's been dreary and gross for days so I
wanted to get out on trail and enjoy the
sunshine I'm sure the snakes have the
same idea but while I'm doing my Day
hike I figured I would talk to y'all
about tips that I think every Backpacker
should know about all things
water my first water tip is is make sure
you pick the safest Source possible now
you may only have one source for miles
at a time and you're kind of limited but
if you do have options or even if just
at one body of water you can kind of
make a choice so if you can pick a
flowing Source over a stagnant source
that is always a plus and sometimes even
if you're limited to One S course you
might see for example a dead animal near
the water and it makes more sense to go
Upstream of that dead animal than
Downstream smaller trickles are
preferred over big sources so like if
you find a little trickle coming off of
a mountain that's less likely to have
contaminants in it than say like a big
river that has a lot of runoff and a lot
of opportunity for things to doo in it
and in that same vein water sources that
come directly from the ground like
Natural Springs are going to be less
risky than something that's been flowing
openly and finally water from higher
elevations tends to be safer than water
that's had a chance to run through cow
pastures and other areas that might
contaminate it you know because if
you're at the top of the mountain if you
can kind of Envision it near the source
from wherever this water is coming from
from then you know the closer to the
source the less chance of
pollutants the better chance of being
safe another water tip for you don't mix
up dirty water bottles with clean water
bottles basically what I'm saying is if
you're going to ooh pretty
flowers but anyway if you have a water
bottle that you've got dirty water and
water that you've collected from a
source that has not been treated
you don't then want to use it to mix up
like a drink mix even if you're filling
it with treated water because you can
contaminate your drink and then you know
end up with diarrhea on trail and nobody
likes diarrhea especially not on trail
so with that said you want to make sure
you have designated bottles and it's
more helpful if they're a different size
or a different color or you know
something different color caps something
that stands out so you don't accident L
take a swig of the dirty water now
typically I use a 7 L water bottle like
this with a flip cap and I know that the
one with the flip cap is the one that's
safe to just chug from whether it's
plain water or whether I decide to mix
up some kind of drink packet in it and
then typically when I'm backpacking I'll
have one lit smart water bottles that
are my dirty bottles I've also used
things like gat bottle before for my
clean bottle but again anything that
you'll be able to tell the difference
next water that is easily accessible
will help you stay better hydrated us
hackers and Backpackers can be lazy in
the most interesting of ways we're
willing to go out and travel 2 miles per
hour by foot but if something's just a
little too tedious we're probably not
going to do it so having your water
easily accessible will assure or at
least give you better chances of staying
hydrated so you are going to find out
what works specifically for you it's
different for everybody but having
something like a bladder or even a uh
bottle and Tube system that leads to a
bite valve might work well for you and
I've actually got a little tube
hydration system that hooks to a bottle
that I'm going to try for the first time
today in just a little bit and basically
that tube system and bite valve is just
right there on your shoulder so that you
can access it anytime you really think
about it and you don't even have to you
know pull out a bottle and unscrew it
and all that another option is if you
don't have a bunch of junk you carry in
shoulder pockets on your shoulder straps
then they make these bungees
specifically for hooking something like
a 7 L water bottle to your shoulder
strap so your water bottle is right
there in your face and I would argue
that it's a little bit more involved to
take that off and drink out of it than
just you know grabbing a hose and a bite
valve but it really just boils down to
again personal preference for me having
my water bottles in my side stash pocket
like that one right there works out
better just because I do carry so much
junk up here in my face in my shoulder
strap Pockets but anyway it really boils
down to like I said personal preference
well I took me a short little break here
at the beautiful Lake Martin another
little slew area if you will and I keep
feeling like I don't know what to do
with my hands cuz I realized when I
pulled up here that I left my trekking
poles at home but anyway well it took me
a little break I uh hooked up this one
bottle hydration system here it goes
into my clean water bottle and it's got
a little magnetic clip
here I'd probably have to play around
with how I've got this set up but you
know first time you don't know till you
till you do it but uh I do like that
it's got this cover for the bite valve
because those things tend to get nasty
honestly if I was on a thr HCK I'd
probably get tired of undoing it and
doing it back so I would just be gross
and embrace getting a stronger immune
system but also one of the downsides to
these bite valve things is sometimes
they can leak so I do like that
also it's got like a
little on and off switch here not doing
a great job of it but anyway this little
yellow thing
right here is an on andof switch and
even though I had a little start guide I
failed to actually like read it so it
was easy to figure
out um but
anyway it's a success so far my next tip
is make water collection SL treatment as
simple as possible this really is going
to depend on your preferred hicking
style and since most of the time my
hiking SLB backpacking style has been
through hicking so I don't typically
stop and take a break at every single
water source just because time is of the
essence so I like the option of scoop
and go and for that reason the sawer
squeeze has worked out well for me uh it
costs about $45 weighs approximately 2
to 3 o and the system that I have which
is just the screw onto a smart water
bottle you just scoop your dirty water
into your smart water bottle grow on the
top and drink right through the filter
now the Sawyer squeeze does come with
multiple options you can squeeze from a
little pouch if you want to instead of
drinking through the filter you can do
an inline type thing so you could have
something like this like a tube with a
bite valve and have the Sawyer squeezed
hooked up to it you can also do a
gravity type system so if you're
somebody that knows you're going to be
hack in where there are trees branches
Limbs and you're probably going to stop
and take a break at every water source
well then something like the gravity
system might work great for you because
you just scoop up the water in the
little pouch hang it on a branch and let
gravity do the work for you but for me
my go-to route like I said has just been
the saw smart water bottle and drink
right through it and I know some people
like to chug their water you don't want
to be restricted by the flow rate of the
Sawyer but if you keep this thing good
and back flushed then it's got a pretty
good flow rate the Sawyer seems to be
the most common tool if you will on the
trail for treating water at least here
in the US and the sawer is just like I
mentioned lightweight it's very quick as
far as you can drink your water
immediately whereas with different
treatments like a chemical treatment for
example you have to wait 30 minutes or
more before your water is safe to drink
but I like my system because I don't
have to take my pack off to get water to
filter it I can just like I said scoop
and go and also because I don't have a
hydration bladder hooked to a hydration
tube as my setup I don't have to wonder
how much water I have on me at any given
time I can just look in my cup holders
and check my water bottles and it's
easily visible and something I can keep
track of and if I want to mix up a drink
mix well that's not a problem I just
squeeze from my dirty bottle through the
filter into my clean bottle and then add
a little drink packet my next tip is
when you are dealing with a shallow
water source you got to get creative
there are a couple of things that you
can do first if you've got like a
trickling stream you can sometimes times
put a leaf in the flow and then set a
rock on the Upstream end of the leaf and
it'll almost create like a little spout
or waterfall mini waterfall and you can
get your bottle up there and collect
what's shooting off of that little leaf
if that doesn't work for you or if you
don't want to fool with that then there
is the option of carrying a scoop and
for me I like having a cup to drink
coffee out of in the morning anyways so
I've got a seed assignment cup so I've
used that as a scoop before another
instance where you might need a scoop is
if you are using the saw your squeeze
method but you're actually going to use
the bladders that it comes with if you
are collecting from a stagnant Source
like the lake that I'm out here by today
it's not super easy to plunge that
bladder into the water source and have
it fill up with water because the
pressure of that water will collapse the
bag now if you blow into it and kind of
poof it up that seems to help
but I've found that having a scoop to
collect the water and then pour into the
bladder is a lot better now you might be
thinking well wait a second you told me
not to mix up my dirty stuff and my
clean stuff and now you're fixing to put
your coffee in this scoop that you've
contaminated well you could use
something else if you wanted to very
lightweight like you could cut out the
bottom of a smart water bottle for
example you know even if it's a scoop
that's that tall it's enough to actually
scoop the water or if you do use
something like a c of summit cup or a a
food pot if you air dry especially in
the sun it's probably going to kill
whatever you might be worried about but
then if you put a little hand Sandy on
it or if you carry some Camp soap and
then rinse it with clean water you
should be safe and good to go next up a
Smart Water Sports cap top works well
for back flushing a sawyer squeeze the
Sawyer squeezes do come with a syringe
that you can use to back flush and if
you'd rather use that that's perfectly
fine but for me I didn't like carrying
something extra especially on something
like a thr hack so having your clean
water bottle with clean water in it
obviously and your Sports cap you can
connect it to the output area of the saw
your squeeze and then let water flow
backwards H back flushing through the
filter and voila and it always helps if
you have something that you can tap the
Sawyer on to kind of break up any Gunk
on the inside I've noticed I can back
flush and nothing really comes out but
then if I tap it on like a root or or
lightly on a rock because it is plastic
you can crack it then it'll uh bust up
some of that Gunk and flush out much
better but if you have been using your
clean water bottle for mixing up drink
mixes make sure it's good rinsed out and
that you're not back flushing drink mix
through your filter next camel up with
caution I know in previous videos I've
mentioned that it's a good idea to camel
up especially when you are on longer
water carries you've got a a long
stretch before your next water source
for those of y'all who are not familiar
with cameling up essentially you get to
a water source you stop take a break
drink a liter of water and then fill up
your bottles and truck on and I still
think that drinking a good bit of water
while you're taking a break is a good
idea for helping you stay hydrated
especially if you are in drier climates
or at higher elevations it's very
important to stay hydrated but I have
certainly heard that the best way to
stay hydrated is to drink consistently
throughout the day not chug at certain
points but with that said obviously
chugging is better than not hydrating at
all and I think some people do camel up
with the intention to not carry as much
water I certainly don't think that
cameling up is a replacement or at least
a smart replacement for carrying water
because you never know the predicament
you're going to be in and and in my
opinion it's a good idea to always have
water maybe you think you're going to
make it to your next water source but
something happens that day you get an
injury or you decide not to push on as
far and now you're stuck with no water
but especially since drinking gradually
is better than chugging I wouldn't
replace carrying water with cameling up
but apparently our kidneys can only
filter out or you know handle
like8 to 1 liter of water per hour and I
also saw this study that was horribly
sad about child abuse situation where a
9-year-old was forced to drink like 3 to
4 lers super quickly and it caused the
child to be in serious state of
confusion and drowsiness because their
electrolytes became seriously unbalanced
and people who are at the highest risk
for drinking too much water and having
their electrolytes become unbalanced are
like endurance athletes and people in
the military that seems to be the group
of folks that it happens to the most so
anyway if you are planning to camel up
and you're chugging water in one sitting
just make sure you don't overdo it and
also having something like electrolytes
in a drink mixture will help to kind of
keep those balanced while you're making
sure you drink enough water which leads
me to my next tip make sure you use
drink mixes if you're just sick of
drinking water don't stop drinking water
my favorite drink mix I use right now is
elemente I'm sure it's pronounced
element but if you go to search up e l m
n t you're not going to find it Well you
might but it's l m NT what I like about
it doesn't have a bunch of weird and
unpronouncable additives and it
sweetened using Stevia so you're not
drinking a bunch of sugar which is known
to be inflammatory for people I normally
put about honestly half a pack in in a
lader just something to Spruce it up a
little bit so I don't feel like I'm just
drinking water another tip for you
creatine and glycerol can help you with
hydration now both of these things are
something that you'll want to load up on
for a couple of weeks before you start
backpacking but if you're not familiar
with glycerol or creatine glycerol is a
sugar alcohol that is naturally found in
the body and it is added to a lot of
different sports drink mixtures but it's
also something that you can take
individually like separate from the
sports drink creatine kind of helps your
body maintain like a continuous energy
while working out you know pretty hard
and it also carries water to the cells
and apparently combining these two
things can really improve their
effectiveness but on a side know if you
are somebody that knows I'm going to be
chamelin then these can help you get
more out of chamelin up my next tip is
most water filters do not filter out
viruses now if you are only backpacking
or hiking in the US not really a big
deal but if you're going somewhere where
you do need to worry about viruses they
do make filters that will take out
viruses but they're going to cost more
and they're going to weigh more so just
so you know the saw your squeeze does
not take out viruses next tip is always
have a backup water treatment plan for
example these are instances where I've
been glad that I had a plan B on the
Pacific Crush Trail I got to a sistern
that collects rainwater and
unfortunately there was a dead carcass
in it we were saying it's a dead cat I
don't know if it's a dead cat dead
rabbit but something dead was in it and
I really didn't want to run that through
my filter and think well it'll be just
fine so for peace of mind I boiled my
water first for 5 minutes pretty much
kill anything had to let it cool and
then poured it into my dirty water
bottle and filtered it now if you were
in an instance where you're using boil
and water to be your backup source and
you don't have a working filter I had to
do that one time because I camped near
this cow Pond did not expect it to get
freezing temperatures at night but it
did and I did not have my saer squeeze
in a Ziploc bag in my sleeping bag to
keep it warm so it froze therefore I did
not trust its Effectiveness cuz freezing
can burst the little tubular filtered
thing in bobes and so anyway I boiled my
water that time uh until I could get to
town and get some bleach which I will
talk about in a second
but in that instance when you've got
sediment you can run the water through
bandana first so at least you don't have
to drink sediment with bleach one to two
drops per liter is good as long as
you're not at like a super gnarly Source
you know you don't have like really
gross water but if it's really gross
looking then I would say up to four
drops but it's going to smell strongly
of bleach next tip this is one that was
shared by somebody on the book of faces
melt snow if there's an H water and you
need some this might sound like a
no-brainer but my go-to for doing this
would be to put snow in my food pot and
heat it up well that is fuel intensive
now the person who made the suggestion
says that they often pack the Tahoe room
Trail and a lot of times when they get
to Camp there are patches of snow still
left under the trees so they put the
snow in these gallon Ziplocs and put
them on the ground and within a couple
hours they're melted now you'll still
want to filter it to get any contaminant
or particles out but you know it's a
good way to not use a lot of fuel and to
uh be able to utilize the snow around
you next test your filter before you go
I learned this one the hard way actually
when I was heading out to do the trail
that I had started in the Sawtooth
Wilderness I just threw in my saw your
squeeze thinking I wouldn't have any
problems cuz I never had before but it
was not flowing well and that was a
problem for the whole trip it just had a
super slow flow rate so it was painful
to drink out of not literally but just
because of how slow it was filtering now
I've heard if you discover that your
filter is going super slow and you back
flush it and that doesn't seem to solve
it that it may need to be soaked in
water before you head out I've never
personally tried this but there were
multiple people who commented on
Facebook and said that that in fact has
worked for them and my last tip for
those of y'all who I have sold on the
saer squeeze carry an extra saw saw
squeeze gasket with you now these are
the little O-rings that you'll see on
the threading part of the Sawyer squeeze
and if you're not aware the purpose of
this gasket is to make sure the water
doesn't come out at the threads of the
bottle so it keeps the water from
spewing out there these just tend to at
some point kind of draw up or something
and they end up falling out but once it
turns loose and you're having to put it
in every time you take your saw your
squeeze off cuz it falls out you might
end up misplacing it and you know losing
it so carrying an extra one of these on
trail is a good idea for that purpose
now for an on tril fix somebody on
Facebook commented and said that they
have used Tenacious Tape and that they
just did like a single wrap around the
thread of the bottle just one layer they
said two is to thick it seems like they
said go counterclockwise that way when
you're unscrewing your bottle it's not
pulling the tape off and the cleaner
your cut the better it seems to work and
this lasted this person 3 to four days
and then they had to redo it so doesn't
hurt to try and I thought that was a
brilliant idea I'm wondering now like
what all tapes could this work with like
medical tape or duct tape but I guess
you know use what you have and that's
why hikers are awesome because we figure
stuff out on the Fly well anyway that is
all the preaching that I have for y'all
to today and somehow in all my talking
and Doling I have uh about 3 miles to go
and uh only 45 minutes until
sunset I mean it wouldn't be a shocker
if I ended up not hacking anyway thank
y'all so much for watching if you found
this video useful don't forget to share
it with a friend and we will see y'all
next
time
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