One story, two links:

Jackson (Tennessee) Sun

CNN (AP)

Points To Note:
1) Stay away from ATVs!!

2) The last line of the Jackson Sun story is telling:

He was just five miles from his home, yet it took a search party of two County Sheriff's departments, the Big Sandy Police Department, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the TBI, volunteer firefighters, about 50 neighbors, friends and relatives, two helicopters and an aeroplane six days to find him! In a survival situation, however innocuous it may seem, be prepared to wait. A long time. So, like this guy seemingly did, stay calm and be patient - basic survival skills like not panicking, assessing your situation regarding supplies/location/injuries.

3) And if you're not going to carry a PSK (also bearing in mind that a serious injury may hamper your ability to use it), at least tell someone where you are going, or leave a note at home/base camp: It was two days before anyone realised this guy was missing.

Here endeth the lesson <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

wvm

Good story! In reading what he did to survive for 6 days:

". . .survived by eating crab apples and drinking rainwater he caught in a pill bottle. . .
----
. . .surviving on berries, crickets and crab apples and had to improvise for water. . ."

set me thinking. He could not have collected a liter of water a day from what he ate and drank(could he?) So, my question to the group is: "what is the absolute minimum amount of water needed to just barely live?" In-other-words, if I drink say two ounces a day, is this enough to prevent me from going unconscious?

-Torus

Depends:

How humid is it? How hot is it? Are you in the shade? What are you wearing? What are you doing? Are you otherwise healthy? Are you bleeding?

If it is between 65 and 70 degrees F with ~70% humidity and you aren't moving and are in the shade then your water consumption may be very little and you would have no ill effects. For example, I sit still in that environment every day of the week and drink large amounts of diuretic coffee and almost no water and seem to be none the worse for it. (A little jittery but that is probably due to the caffeine rather than dehydration).

OTOH if you are walking accross the desert at noon in august with shorts and T-shirt and the temp is 140 F and 0% humidity you should be drinking about a gallon / hour or more and you will need to have some salts on-hand to keep your electrolytes in balance.

There are scenarios for everything else between. The 1-2 liters per day is a rule of thumb for most of the moderate situations where you will be active but not unduely stressed.

The fellow in the story related at the start of this thread was in the shade in temperate environmentals with rain, couldn't move due to injuries so physical activities were low, didn't seem that he was bleeding much, had enough clothes that he didn't become badly hypothermic. His body was probably using what water he had very efficiently and not losing much.

Many good points. Thanks for the explanation.

-Torus

This is a local story - saw the interview on TV last night (he's still in the hospital & recovering - had shoulder surgery). He collected the water in the pill bottle from a poncho or jacket he had spread on his lap/body - pouring into bottle from a tipped corner of the collector. Said the bottle held 1.5 swallows when full.

I got the impression the primary search had wound down and/or ended; he was found by his son & a friend as I recall.