Warning! Purify any water that you are not positive is drinkable.
Rainwater collected in clean containers is usually safe for drinking. This is the quickest and most effective way to gather potable water.
Lakes, ponds, swamps, springs, streams. Must be purified regardless of how clear and clean it looks. This is especially true if it is anywhere near human settlements.
Underground water: Muddy ground indicates a water supply. You can filter the muddy water or dig down about a foot and gather what collects. It still must be purified.
Snow and ice: Are as pure as the water from which they came, this is particularly true for ice. Do not eat snow or ice without melting first, as doing so will reduce your core body temperature and actually lead to dehydration more than hydration. If you carry a water container in freezing temperatures, remember that it will freeze. Keep your ready source of water inside your coat so remains liquid.
Green bamboo thickets are a source of fresh water. Water from green bamboo is clear and odorless. To get the water, bend a green bamboo stalk, tie it down, and cut off the top. The water will drip freely during the night and collect. Old, cracked bamboo may contain water. Bamboo is a lot more common than you realize. When you did your Area Study, this is something you should have looked for: all the sources of water that you might not have considered before.
Morning dew can provide water. Use an absorbent cloth (this is one case where cotton isn’t rotten) or a handful of long grass and wick up moisture that has condensed. You can also tie rags or tufts of fine grass around your ankles and walk through dew-covered grass before sunrise. As the cloth, rags or grass tufts absorb the dew, wring the water into a container. Repeat the process until you have a supply of water or until the dew is gone. This water is considered potable (unless you collect it off of poison ivy or recently fertilized/sprayed grass, etc.)
Banana/plantain trees: Cut down the tree, leaving a stump about a foot high. Scoop out the center, leaving a bowl shaped hollow. Water from the roots will come and being to fill the hollow. The first several fillings will be bitter, but then it was become more palatable. This can supply water for up to four days. If you are going to re-use, cover it to keep insects and bugs out.
Tropical vines: Cut a notch as high as you can reach. Do not drink if it is sticky, milky or bitter-tasting.
Coconuts: The milk from unripe (green) coconuts. The milk from mature coconuts contains a laxative.
Using animals to locate water:
Since we’re mammals, using other mammals is common sense. Most mammals in nature will seek out water at dawn or dusk. Following game trails can lead you to water.
Melting ice and snow: Both are water in different forms. If you have a choice, melt ice as it produces greater volume than snow. If you are melting snow, keep adding and pressing the snow down or else you will get a cavity at the bottom of your pan or can. Sea ice is the same as sea water and not drinkable.
The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide (same as above, minus the preparation part in order to be smaller in print)
The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also in Kindle Unlimited.
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