> Brangdon, the whole idea is: Slow Them Down, Calm Them Down.

Making a fire and boiling water is going to take a while regardless. As will drinking it when it is hot. I don't think the difference between tea and coffee will matter for this. For a calming effect it will be more important to have whatever it is you normally drink. "Normal" is good. I don't normally drink black filter coffee.

That aside, I wasn't so much commenting on whether quicker was better, but over whether tea was in fact quicker than coffee. I also doubt it is less dehydrating.

Before reading this, remember it comes from someone who loves to drink hot black coffee: Tea quenches your thirst, but coffee does not. Sure caffiene is a diuretic, but normal coffee as a drink is considered to be one too.

PS - If for some reason you don't know what a diuretic is -- it's a substance that removes water from the body by promoting urine formation and the loss of sodium..

A couple of years ago I put two decaff coffee bags in my outdoors PSK. I know that many guys are relying on the jolt of caffeine from regular coffee or even tea. Is it really that important though? I'm thinking that it's the inner warmth that a hot drink provides rather than the caffeine that matters. BTW I also have some boullion cubes in there as well. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Edit: I'm not sure you have them in Britain, but what I call a "coffee bag" is like a teabag, except it has a 50/50 mix of ground coffee and instant coffee. It is packed individually in it's own little baggie. Tastes better than freeze-dried but not as good as fresh brewed.

As I recall, part of the recommended first aid for carbon monoxide exposure, after the fresh air, is a mild stimulant. Such as caffine.

Or has it changed?

Good idea on the aluminum cigar tube. We'll have to dub it the "Infuser Yoduh Tactical." Project Dremel maybe me think.another so.

> Tea quenches your thirst, but coffee does not.

That's not my experience.

>Sure caffiene is a diuretic, but normal coffee as a drink is considered to be one too.

So is water. The diuretic effects of drinking moderate amounts of coffee are no worse than that of water, if you drink it regularly. See, for example http://nordicgroup.us/bikecoff/coffeesexhealth.html for some references. It makes sense if you think about it - some people drink coffee day in and day out, and don't dry up, so it can't be as bad as the urban myth would have you believe.

Must be the weak coffee you drink. Plus you're a Brit and probably have to add things to it. How strong the coffee is brewed makes all the difference. Strong coffee NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER, quenches my thirst. It never has. Take a poll of strong black coffee drinkers and you'll more than likely find the majority will say the same. I sometimes have to have an alternative drink to go along with a meal if coffee is served, depending on whether I'm thirsty. I guess that is where the myth originates if it has indeed proven to be one. Why can I drink strong coffee all day comfortably indoors and still be dehydrated? I drank enough along with water to stay hydrated.

Oh, when it comes to urban myths --- I reside rurally and lots of myths are rural also.

> Must be the weak coffee you drink.

That sounds likely. I normally drink instant, a spoonful of granules in a 160ml cup with sugar and 50% milk. I know other people drink filter, which I think is stronger, and some people drink thick black tar out of a thimble. Which is surely a different proposition.

In the same vein, but not necessarily for the same purpose, MRE's now come with a hot beverage bag for heating up water for the drink mixes that come in MREs (they now have mocha and vanilla cappacino along with the old coffee and hot chocolate). It's just a heavy duty ziploc bag you fill with water and put inside an MRE heater. It might be something worth keeping in your pocket in cold weather: an MRE heater, hot beverage bag, tea bag/hot cocoa/instant coffee, and an aqua blox or foil pouch or just pre-fill the hot beverage bag with water. Then, if you lost your pack and got a soaking you could set off the MRE heater, brew a hot drink and use the heater as a hand/body warmer. That would knock off the immediate effects of hypothermia and allow you to function enough to properly help yourself, and it seems like it might be easier and quicker then lighting a fire. The actions involved are all pretty simple: tear open the MRE heater, pour in water,and add the hot beverage bag. The heat from the heater alone should give you enough dexterity to add the tea bag/cocoa mix/instant coffee. And drinking the hot beverage should make you functional again. The only down side I really see is the possibility of scalding yourself, but you also run that risk anyway you try to warm yourself up.