Melting snow

I thought this survival story might amuse.

man that guy is inventive ! I would never have though of that ! ...and believe it or not i don't like beer. Only issue is that beer is dehydrating and alcoholic. If you would have 30 liter of water in his car it would be beter, although it would take a longer time.

That is hillarious. That gives all new meaning to using whatever is at you disposal in order to get the job done.

amazing .... <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

But was it necessary to drink the beer ?
Emptying the bottles directly out of the window would also have melted the snow, no ? Or was it really necessary to "warm" it up first ??

Frenchy

Buddy . . . If the guy wanted to drink first and then get down to work then let him! Do you have a problem with that?
<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

You know I'm kidding of course.

My best regards.

yes, you're right, of course...
why would he want to loose a good beer ?? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

It's debunked by snopes here.

Yes, I'd have thought so. If the beer was cold enough to need warming up, it'd surely be a dangerous to your core body temperature to drink so much of it.

too bad .....
it was a good one.... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

An HVAC power plant job I once had at a Native American gambling casino required unannounced drug testing at random.

Called down for a test, I was unable to go for over an hour and I started drinking 8 ounce cups of water in order to increase the urge. If you do not deliver within 2 hours, it is considered a refusal and grounds for termination, and at $20.00+ per hour, I was not about to be terminated. I put down about (6) 8 ounce cups of water in about 30 minutes before I could finally urinate.

About 15 minutes later, I was in the toilet with horrible pain in my abdominals, sides, kidneys, back, rectum, urinary tract, neck, with accompanying nausea and dizziness. Those of you with medical backgrounds may be able to tell me why water would do that, but I believe it was the sudden ingestion of water that created the problems. After a lot of gyrating on the toilet seat, moaning, swearing, and sweating, it finally went away.

We had an incident in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin quite a while ago where a mentally ill young man actually drank so much water that he died from it. Not drowning, but the water did something to his blood that caused the death. I still cannot get people to believe it happened, but maybe those of you in the medical arena have a link that references that. It was over 30 years ago in West Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I find it hard to believe based on what I know that the Slovak man could have done what he did and still be alive to tell about it.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

"....the water did something to his blood that caused the death."

I believe it, and I just read something in the paper about this not two days ago. A frat pledge died from ingesting too much water. I'll try to find the details.

Vince

The Leah Betts story is a famous UK case.

It's controverial because it involves the drug Ecstasy. Apparently people who take Ecstasy can and do dance all night, overheat, sweat a lot to cool down, and so become dehydrated. They need to drink a lot to compensate. Leah took the drug, and then felt a bit funny. She must have decided she was dehydrating and needed some water. When that didn't help she drank some more. She still felt funny. Towards the end she must have been forcing herself to drink, believing she would die if she didn't. The water killed her.

Her parents say it was Ecstasy that killed her. Some people say she died of ignorance.

Hyponatremia (roughly translated, low sodium levels) ... I guess they're calling it "water intoxication" now. That story about the frat pledge is here. I think it also happens during marathons & such more frequently than it used to -- everyone's had the danger of dehydration drummed into their heads, but not as many people know about the dangers of overhydration.

It is called hyponatraemic (I missed BachFan's posting) and can be fatal if left untreated. Here are some web sites with references to the effects and warnings:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/327/7407/113

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/319/7224/1554

http://www.doctorndtv.com/news/detailnews.asp?id=645

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/18/1058035184521.html?oneclick=true

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s904374.htm

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_800871.html?menu=

Pete

How much water should a person drink in a day then? I wsa forcing myself to drink almost 100 ounces each day until this morning when a friend told me you can die from drinking too much water. Then I reaad it here, maybe it is a sign from the higher power to stop> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

How much water do you need each day? Boy, that's a loaded question. It depends on so many things, from activity level, to temperature, physical condition, food intake, etc....

I typically carry two 1-liter Nalgeen bottles with me in my pack when I'm hiking, assuming we'll have access to a place to filter water and refill them regularly. If we're not going to be near a place where we can get water, the equations change obviously.

I took a look in the "AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership", and the author, Alex Kosseff, makes that 2 liter minimum per day recommendation, but, also goes on to say: "Two liters a day is a bare minimum - I have led groups where the 5 liters a day (at almost two pounds per liter) we carried was insufficient in the hot and dry desert."

I would note that in cold conditions, dehydration can really sneak up on you. In the desert, you know you're loosing water through sweat. In cold dry conditions, you're loosing a lot of water two, but, you're less conscious of it. You're actually breathing in very dry air and exhaling really moist air.

I think you really have to go at it for drinking water to kill you. Spread over the course of a day, excess water is passed harmlessly. This has led to some faddish diets which advise drinking large amounts when it's not necessary.

I personally drink about a litre a day, none of which is "pure" water but is in the form of coffee, milk etc. I get more water from food and use it in cooking etc - eg rice takes me 300ml to cook of which about 200ml gets inside me. I reckon I could survive indefinitely on 1.5l/day. This is in the UK midlands, with a sedentary, mostly indoor lifestyle.

If your pee is clear, you're fully hydrated. If you're peeing at all you're at least getting the minimum. At least that's what I've heard, and it makes sense.

Reconcowboy:

I recall reading on one of the "military style survivalist" sites that the body can only process a certain amount of water intake per day and even if you continue to drink, you can become dehydrated from loss of water, with the only solution being rest to reduce the amount of water lost since anything the body can not process per day won't help.. They also suggested salt in order to retain the water in the body.

Some of our more knowledge medically oriented forum members may know of this physical limitation and they can better describe the quantities and conditions that arise.

Bountyhunter

Goatrider's hit it on the head: pee clear, you are hydrated. Pee yellow, top off. Can't pee, got a headache, cramps, etc, you're in trouble. Next step is passing out and dying.

The body can process as much water as you feed it. However, with too much water you wash essential electrolytes out of your system; I've had many a demented infantryman come to my aid station because they were made to drink 2 quarts of water an hour in the summer and not given time to eat. Not saying you might not need that much...but you MUST eat. Normal food contains everything you need. Salt by itself is not acceptable.

"Normal" consumption rates for water when active range anywhere from 1/2 liter to 2 liters per hour depending on the temperature, humidity, and wind conditions. I can post more on this if anyone's interested.

Oh ... <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
Is there a typo and do you mean 2 liters per day ?
Or is this under very special conditions (high activity, very high temp, in desert, with 0 hygro....) ???

I would have said 2 liters per day in a "normal" urban environnement.
But I have no medical qualification ...

Sorry, my water estimate of 1/2L to 2L per hour is correct for _outside labor_(pitching big tents, digging holes, carrying a forty kilo rucksack) in an arctic to sub desert climate. 2L per day is a good estimate for working in an office/walking around shopping <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Most of uswould probably feel bloated only drinking one liter per day in a sedentary environment.

I do drink 2L/day. Guess what my environment is ?? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Last summer, during a hot day, I drank 3 and a half liter, while walking 4 to 5 hours.
Adding what I drank after that, in the evening, I must have drunk 4.5 to 5 liters at least that day. That is a record for me !

Check out this thread and post:

http://www.equipped.org/ubbthreads/showt...;sb=&o=

http://www.equipped.org/ubbthreads/showt...o=&vc=1

Pete

Well, according to www.snopes.com, the 2L per day minimum is an urban legend:

http://www.snopes.com/toxins/water.htm

Dr. Barbara Rolls, one of the co-authors of "Thirst (Problems in the Behavioural Sciences)", and Holder of Guthrie Chair in Nutrition and Professor of Biobehavioral Health at U Penn, says she has no idea where the number came from, and most experts agree it's much too high. In fact, some experts maintain (though they advise against it) that most people take in enough water through solid food that they could survive without drinking any liquids at all.

Studies have also shown that drinking coffee, cola, etc. does NOT dehydrate you, so you don't need an extra hit of water to compensate for that double latte.

Snopes traces the "well-known facts" to a self-published book by an Iranian-born doctor living in the USA who did no independent research and sounds like a classic quack/crackpot to me.

Obviously, in hot dry surroundings, or where you're doing a lot of physical work (e.g. hiking with a heavy backpack on a hot summer day) you're going to go through more water than sitting in an air-conditioned office. But for most purposes, 1 litre a day is quite sufficient.

Wow, to think I avoided reading this thread because I thought it was just about melting snow. I've been missing out.

Early on during a day hike I needed to "go," but wanted to wait until I found a decent place. I kept drinking water the entire time, and since the weather was very hot, I sweated alot too. I noticed that the urge to "go" didn't increase at all with all the extra water I was consuming, and I assumed it was because I was sweating it out. That's kind of interesting.