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Old 28-05-2009, 08:38   #16
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Dr. Bombard also did himself lasting harm.

"Dr. Alain Bombard claimed (1952) to have survived an ocean crossing in a small raft, using only seawater, and other provisions harvested from the ocean, but the veracity of his story is frequently challenged, and his findings (opinions) often misinterpreted & misquoted."

It has been some time since I read his story in "Seaworthy", but I recall he was worse for the wear. He went much further down the road to killing himself that most would do in the name of science.
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Old 28-05-2009, 12:38   #17
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Sorry Thinwater, I was referring to the other Randy, rtbates’ post #9; assuming (I hope incorrectly) that he was advocating drinking seawater under certain circumstances.

In this case; ignorance would not be bliss but possible death!
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Old 28-05-2009, 15:08   #18
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Don't know how well this thing works, but it's an interesting idea:

Hydration Technologies | SeaPack
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Old 28-05-2009, 15:27   #19
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Drinking seawater is not as bad as most folks think, including the 'experts'.

a man survived 63 days on nothing but what the sea provided, including up to 32oz of seawater a day.
Your own urine can be drunk as well. We're talking survival, right?

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As a, internal medicine physician, let me respectfully disagree:
Basically, your kidney's ability to concentrate dissolved solids in your urine (like sodium) and retain fluid to keep from dehydrating, depends on your drinking liquid that is less salty than your urine. So drinking your urine will not work, and seawater is worse, as it is more salty than your urine. Both will destroy the gradients in your kidney tubules that are necessary to concentrate your urine. Otherwise your sodium levels in your blood rise rapidly (called hypernatremia). This causes your brain to swell (hence the neurologic findings described in all the accounts) and you to die.

To shorten this for those not interested in the science: drinking urine or seawater = go crazy and die. You can avoid this by distilling these liquids (hence leaving the dissolved salt behind).

Adding fresh water to seawater or urine is useless, because you will still ingest all the extra sodium so the only part actually hydrating you is the fresh water.

Either urine or seawater can only keep you hydrated with a solar still or equivalent distillation method.
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Old 28-05-2009, 16:31   #20
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To shorten this for those not interested in the science: drinking urine or seawater = go crazy and die.
Should be a good enough explanation for the less literate too. We take the dog to the shore and the search for dead fish gets him throwing up in the afternoon. By the second day he quits drinking the sea water and does not throw up but still looks for dead fish. Next trip to the shore the same behavior. The quest for dead fish is stronger than the urge to avoid sea water. We may have a bit of that going on here too.

It would be better if the junk science worked.
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Old 29-05-2009, 02:53   #21
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I love this.

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<snip > It would be better if the junk science worked.
This is the best thing I have read for ages - thanks
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Old 19-10-2010, 18:11   #22
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You can get water in little boxes like kids juice boxes from Amazon called Aqua2go. 24 8 oz boxes for $17.07. These are a lot better than the little foil envelopes sold in survival stores. The 24 box case contains about 6 liters of water, enough at 1 1/2 liters per day for 4 days for one person.
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Old 19-10-2010, 18:42   #23
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Boxed water? Wouldn't boxed juices from the supermarket work better, providing some nutrition along with the water content? ("JuicyJuice" etc. in the kids juices section?)
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Old 19-10-2010, 19:07   #24
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I have 2 canteens I keep on an ALICE belt for wildfires. I change the water at the beginning of every brush fire season.... or after I consume it at a fire.... sometimes it is almost a year old when I drink it. Never got sick yet!
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Old 19-10-2010, 19:52   #25
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Has anyone else considered using small plastic bottels of water as an emergency water supply in a ditch bag?? How long is botteled water good for???? I am in the process of putting together a ditch bag and the commercially available water is very expensive.
Why not. Just make sure they arent Full. you need them to float. Also why not toss in some multivitamins. Its a small jar and wont take up much space.

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Old 20-10-2010, 01:58   #26
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20 litre container with a small air gap will float. We always have one ready to cut free on a bluewater.
Great Idea; for some mad reason I was almost thinking of taking my reserve 20L off the boat (considering putting a few smaller containers in the bilge). Now I might just give it a couple of reflective stripes and a shark clip on a lanyard. I would even do something like exchange it for a bright orange container, but I don’t want it to get mixed up with the diesel (maybe all the diesel can go back to black?).

One silly question: has anyone thought of an extra cap with a straw attachment just in case the spare water drum ends up a life raft? It would be nice to be able to get the water out without wasting too much.

A bit of saltwater getting in the mix arguably won't hurt unless the salt content ends up exceeding that of human blood.

To date. I have had no dramas with water I have left in the back of the car going off sometimes for longer than I probably should have. Maybe to be safe pack a few water purifying tablets in the medical kit?
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Old 20-10-2010, 02:30   #27
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Dr Bombard drank liquid squeezed from fish
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Old 20-10-2010, 05:11   #28
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We use one liter plastic bottles of club soda in our ditch bag. The plastic container is much sturdier than regular water, the carbonic acid will keep the water fresh forever, and it tastes refreshing.
I hope we never need it.
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Old 20-10-2010, 05:50   #29
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Club soda, now that's a good idea. Because bottled water has a short shelf life.
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Old 20-10-2010, 06:05   #30
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Everything I have heard or read about survival requires a source of water. Packing as much as practical is good, but for long term survival a method to replenish is crucial. Rainwater as most oceans are prone to rain. To take advantage of this you must have a method setup, (and practiced) to collect it. I've found the cheap plastic disposable ponchos they sell at walmart work great and the headpeice can be used as a funnel. Building a still to purify other sources of water, (salt or waste), is something that also needs to be precticed. You need to setup a method that works, and insure all of the parts needed are in your ditch bag. A portable watermaker is good, but you still need containers for storage, collection, etc... After weeks at sea in a lifeboat you will be too tired to work it much. As the Doctor stated water will only rehydrate if at a less than blood concentration is consumed, (sea water, and urine after the first day), is certanly too salty especially with most peoples high salt diets. Most portable food is also way too high in salt for a low water situation. Any food packed should be low sodium. Primary food sources will be birds and fish. Bring material to make a snare, and practice. There are a number of survival guides written by people that have actually experienced ocean survival. Read them, have a well equiped life raft, and I hope you never need it.
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