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#115770 - 12/13/07 08:49 AM Don't Pee when in a survival scenario?
Fishmode Offline
Stranger

Registered: 04/25/07
Posts: 15
Loc: Portland, Oregon
I was wondering if this is correct case: lost somewhere in the forest, in winter-time, and having the need to go pee. I know the reason why our bodies have more of a need to urinate when the weather is cold is because the urine is taking up energy needed in order to heat the body.

But, it has been said numerous times, water is more important than energy due to the 333 rule. So, looking at it from that perspective, holding in your pee would be a benefitial thing to do in order to conserve liquids?

What struck me as odd is, if there is the need to (that is, if you can't hold it in any longer), than drinking your pee is better? Then I guess the fluids would cycle through the system again. BUT, if the fluids are needed that badly, wouldn't the body compensate by absorbing as much before urinating?

I remember Bear grills tried, in a safari episode, drinking his own urine. Is there any relevence in that?

-FishMode David
_________________________
Murphy's Law is overwhelming sometimes...

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#115784 - 12/13/07 01:45 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: Fishmode]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


Don't pee too frequently because you do lose a lot of body heat when you pee (both by exposed skin and loss of hot fluids) but forcibly holding it in could cause you problems too...I have nothing to back this up but I've been told that people who do that can get serious urinary tract problems.

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#115791 - 12/13/07 02:40 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: ]
DesertFox Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 01/04/07
Posts: 339
Loc: New York, NY
During Coast Guard training in the 80s, we were taught that in a survival at sea situation not to drink for the first 24 hours. The reasoning was that it takes this long for the body to adjust to the deprivation and start conserving water, rather than passing it though. Once in the bladder, I don't think the body will reabsorb, but I'm not a medical expert.

It is also possible (likely?) that that is now old advice.

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#115798 - 12/13/07 03:28 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: DesertFox]
Dan_McI Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 12/10/07
Posts: 844
Loc: NYC
Originally Posted By: DesertFox
During Coast Guard training in the 80s, we were taught that in a survival at sea situation not to drink for the first 24 hours. The reasoning was that it takes this long for the body to adjust to the deprivation and start conserving water, rather than passing it though. Once in the bladder, I don't think the body will reabsorb, but I'm not a medical expert.

It is also possible (likely?) that that is now old advice.


I have no recall of being taught to not pee in a survival at sea class, and I had a couple. However, I do remember being told not to drink urine (or seawater) because you would become dehydrated more quickly. I was surprised when I saw Bear Grylls peeing into his canteen.

And I also seem to recall that you would reabsorb urine from your bladder. I doubt this would be a big issue for most people in a liferaft or lifeboat, at first. I'd be either too scared to pee or so scared I would be able to stop it.

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#115804 - 12/13/07 04:23 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: Dan_McI]
Chris Kavanaugh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/09/01
Posts: 3824
Inuit pee, end of discussion.

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#115806 - 12/13/07 04:35 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: Chris Kavanaugh]
JCWohlschlag Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/26/06
Posts: 724
Loc: Sterling, Virginia, United Sta...
Originally Posted By: Chris Kavanaugh
Inuit pee, end of discussion.

And that would be because you are going to pee at one point or another whether you want to or not. It is much better to pee under controlled circumstances than to have your wet pants freeze to your… um… you get the point.
_________________________
“Hiking is just walking where it’s okay to pee. Sometimes old people hike by mistake.” — Demitri Martin

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#115822 - 12/13/07 07:47 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: NightHiker]
Stu Offline
I am not a P.P.o.W.
Old Hand

Registered: 05/16/05
Posts: 1058
Loc: Finger Lakes of NY State
Originally Posted By: NightHiker
If you've got to pee then pee. There is some associated heat loss with dumping a full bladder in cold weather but I'd much rather suffer the loss than be distracted by a full bladder.

A full bladder accidently emptied into your clothes in winter, will give a number of unwanted problems. When you need to go, go, IMHO.
_________________________
Our most important survival tool is our brain, and for many, that tool is way underused! SBRaider
Head Cat Herder

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#115826 - 12/13/07 08:34 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: Stu]
Halcon Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 09/02/04
Posts: 61
Actually, in a survival situation and maintaining that 98.6 degree core temp. you should go urinate as well as move your bowls. that will cause much of the needed blood to go back to where it counts most instead of trying to regulate your bladder and such.

Alan

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#115830 - 12/13/07 09:03 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: Halcon]
thechaplain Offline
Corporate Chaplain
Stranger

Registered: 08/25/07
Posts: 14
i say pee in a plastic bag and use the warmth from the heated wee and once cooled then drink it. just kidding. but if my life depended on it i would not drink the wee. i would rather not survive and not have wee breath then to have bad after taste and still end up dying.

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#115834 - 12/13/07 10:11 PM Re: Don't Pee when in a survival scenario? [Re: thechaplain]
Art_in_FL Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
Hmmm...

I do know that NASA studies of the heat economy of the human body noted that waste products combined amounted to about 2% of the total heat loss. I remember this because it is one of those oddball useless factoids.

Heat loss from head and neck amounted to something like 50% of the heat loss. IMHO the lesson is that your better off putting on a hat and winding on a scarf than worrying too much about what your losing when you pee.

Holding your water when water is short has some logic to it but I think the body does this pretty much automatically without having to burden yourself with consciously holding water.

While generally the bladder is viewed as just a holding tank, with little if any absorption ability, I wonder if this is the whole picture. Many times I have climbed into a hot enclosed space, 150F or so (I used to carry a thermometer before it dawned on me that Too Hot wasn't made any better by knowing the actual number.), when I could take a pee. Nothing desperate but a moderately full bladder.

I climb in thinking it will be just a couple of minutes. Half an hour or more later I'm fully cooked. When I come out all I can do is sit down, cool off, sip water and embrace the brain damage. Somewhere along the line I notice that while I could pee before I went in I have no urge to after I get out. I have sweat out something like a liter of water. And now I will drink another liter or two before I feel the need.

Seems to me that the contents of the bladder had to go somewhere. And if the bladder and body can do this on its own there really isn't much need to second guess the system. IMO it amounts to the body knowing what it is doing.

Also It has been said that he brain is your most important survival tool. I don't know about you but I can't much think straight while clenching my loins and hopping from foot to foot like a fool trying to hang onto a few ounces of polluted water.

IMO if your body demands that you empty your bladder your better off saluting and complying instead of second guessing.

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