By Creek Stewart
In a survival situation, gathering water that doesn’t need to be purified is certainly preferred. It saves time, fuel, and energy. Finding fresh drinking water is certainly not a guarantee, but sure is nice.
Keeping in the theme of energy conservation, here’s a list of the most practical methods for gathering water that does not need to be purified, starting with the easiest.
Rain can be collected and consumed without treatment or purification. However, you need to collect it in your own container. As soon as rainwater comes in contact with the earth or another water source (e.g., puddle, pond, stream), it needs to be purified. So what’s the best way to collect the rainwater without having it touch the ground? If you set your container out in the rain and just waited for it fill, it would take a very long time to fill up (if it ever does).
The most effective way to gather rainwater is to build a rain-catch system. If possible, use a tarp, plastic sheet, garbage bag, or rain jacket to capture and funnel rain water into one or more containers. Lining a hole in the ground or depression is an excellent makeshift survival container and can often hold more water than smaller containers.
You can also use natural materials from nonpoisonous trees and plants to collect rainwater. Bark is excellent for funneling and directing water towards larger collection areas. Large leaves can also be used to increase collection surface area and to direct water into containers. Every square inch of surface area is important when you might need every last drop of water to stay alive.
No survival scenario is the same. The only constants that remain the same from situation to situation are the principles behind the skills that work. As long as you understand basic survival principles, you will be able to improvise a working solution. With rain collection, the survival principle you need to understand is increased surface area.
The old survival adage of “Don’t eat snow!” is true. Eating snow can sap valuable energy through your digestive system. In a cold-weather environment, you need to hang on to every last calorie. If possible, melt snow before you consume it and use only snow that is fresh and white. The chances that snow is contaminated increase the longer the snow sits on whatever surface it has landed on.
Four proven ways to effectively melt snow for drinking are:
Melting snow in a metal container over heat (fire) is the fastest way to melt snow for drinking. Many metal containers will work, including baking pans, makeshift tin foil cups, wheel hubcaps, coffee cans, or even soda cans.
Place snow in a cloth bag, bandana, or sock and hang it next to a fire. Position a container so that the melting snow drips into it. The cloth wrap also acts as a crude filter.
Skewer a snowball onto a spiked stick positioned next to a fire. Allow the melting snow to drip into a container.
If no heat source is available, pack a container with snow and place it under your clothes close to your body. Your body heat will slowly melt the snow. This will also suck away your body heat and should be considered a last resort.
At night when temperatures drop, moisture in the air condenses and collects on exposed surfaces. This is what we commonly refer to as dew. Dew accumulates in surprisingly large amounts each morning, even on blistering hot days. The dew that collects on grass and vegetation is considered perfectly fine to drink. The trick is gathering it. Have you ever walked through dew-soaked grass? What happens? Your shoes and pants get soaked, right? Collecting dew is surprisingly simple and incredibly effective. I’ve collected a gallon of dew in less than one hour. The process is simple: Walk through as much dewy grass as possible and ring out the dew into a container. Tie off as many items as you can to your lower legs—bandanas, T-shirts, towels, etc. The more dew you can soak up, the faster you can gather it. Hurry, though; dew evaporates quickly, and then you have to wait another twenty-four hours.
Find more survival water information in The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide by Creek Stewart, available at store.livingreadyonline.com.