outdoor338

Hunters:

I am looking for hunters who have used a water purification system in the high country, my questions are the following, are the systems useful in isolated area's? Are they cumbersome to have in your pack? has anyone gotten sick from drinking unfiltered water, how sick did you get? What type of illness did you have? Anyone hospitalized for water borne illnesses. Any information would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much.

Dr. Mike
RMOA-TV

trapper T

I can't remember the name of mine, but it's just a regular sized water bottle with the filtering in the lid. I bought it for a trip last year with my Brother inlaw to Montana. He used them due to a run in with " Beaver Fever" once. Myself I found them a little cumbersome due to the amount of time to strain the water, a quart took about five to ten minutes in mine adn your too thirsty usually to wait that long.I myself have never run into any waterborne illnesses. I only used it for a day, got tired of waiting and just drank from the stream. I would use them defintely if it wasn't a running source of water but I always drink from a fairly fast moving source?

88N

if'n ya don't trust the water boil it for 30 min(rollin boil) then let it cool and drink it or you can throw a handful of coffee in it and that helps curb the bad taste of swamp water

Dirt2

I've been doing hardcore backpacking for about 20 years now. Only recently did I acquire a water purifying system, the Katadyn Micro-something or other. It's not too much to carry, weighs less than a pound. I only got it when my nephew got old enough to start going out on weekend hikes with me, didn't want to bring him home to his momma with giardia.

Before that, I carried iodine, but only used it maybe 10% of the time. I still believe that in the Rockies, if you drink from those little two foot wide streams coming off the cliffs, your odds of getting giardia are awfully low.

I have had giardia once for sure, another time maybe. I didn't go to a doctor either time and the symptoms, while unpleasant, weren't as bad as what I hear and read. The first time, in the Frank Church Wilderness in ID, me and another fellow on a trail crew drank out of a spring with bear crap floating in it. (Yes, bears do indeed crap in the woods. I have proof!) We were really, really thirsty. The diarrehia (?spelling) kicked in about 24 hours later, and gave me some anxious moments for a couple days, then went away. My buddy's symptoms lasted for a couple weeks, and he eventually wound up at the doctor's with a diagnosis of giardia and a prescription. He lost a few pounds.

The other time, I was solo in the Gila Wilderness in NM. I drank out of a spring full of cow pee. (Nobody ever asks, "Does a cow pee in the desert?" Why not?) Two weeks later, by which time I had migrated to the Weminuche Wilderness in CO, I began having intense stomach cramps and gas. This lasted for two or three days, and I believe may have been giardia, though I won't bet the farm on it.

8x8bull

I DIDNT KNOW BEARS CRAP IN THE RIVERS![:-]OR THAT COWS PISS IN RIVERS EITHER.

summit daWg

Never have yet, and we're all still here. Although in recent years we have started bringing water from home,and bottled water- being that we are not normally "wilderness hunters".
How did your ORV thing turn out Dr Mike???

mickeyelk1

I backpack allot. I use a water purifier as often as possible. I do carry, as a backup, iodine tablets just in case something happens to my filtration unit. Mine is a PUR. I never never never drink out of a stream or spring. You never know what has died near the stream or if the BLM leaves cattle running on the land and they make a terrible mess near and around water. I watched 2 guys one year, who had taken a nice buck, dragged it down to the stream to clean it up and themselves. Since I was spotting an area I watched them and they followed the stream down and at one point I saw them drink out of the same stream. Sometime people are not all that bright or really have no knowledge or cares. If you contract the virus and don't take something for it, it could kill you if not treated in time. Think about it, your hunting 7-8 miles up in the high country, you don't use the filtration system or tablets and take a cool drink from a stream figuring the water is safe. Then when you least expect it, expeccialy when your hunting hard everyday and expending allot of energy, you start to feel weak and sick and decide that you may be tired and try and rid the feeling by sleep. At this time you should really be heading out to your vehicle. Always be safe, why trust the water when you can prevent from getting something from it.

trapper T

Well those boys aren't too bright, but I think most bacteria in a stream that's running good are probably moving with the water for the most part so I'd think it'd be a crap shoot to get caught with a bug? I've drank from streams for twenty plus years no problem. I also try and drink where it falls over a rock that isn't mossy if possible. Mother nature does have her own purifiers too.

My two cents...

AjayD

I strongly suggest you look at www.AquapureTravel.com. Its a website which sell a unique, and innovative Portable Water Purifier, ideal for travellers!

HighDesertWolf

Heck a half gallon pot of water with a rolling boil would boil away into steam in a half hour then you would be left with nothing to drink.

After living in a small midwest farm town they would always issue a water boil order after a good rain we would just boil the water to a rolling boil for 15 minutes or so and never had a problem.