Brandon Currin
DABBS Back to Basics: Water for Survival
Storing water is vital.Water bottles and water jugs should be your best friends. Whether you’re storing water in your home or bringing it with you in the wilderness, these are your best bets. Water bottles are already purified, making them the easiest to store. Water bricks (like these that we gave away earlier this month -- congrats, Larry!) can store gallons of potable drinking water incase of emergencies.
Always make sure you have enough water.We tend to forget how often we need water. Of course, we all know our bodies require it to drink, but don’t forget about washing supplies and clothes, cooking, and keeping up with hygiene. For survival purposes, we recommended you store enough water for two weeks (for two people, this typically looks like about 28 gallons). Consider all of these things when planning out how much water you’ll need to store and how much you’ll need to find if you’re in the wilderness.
Running water is not always potable.If you have to choose between running water and stagnant water, always choose running. However, there’s still a chance of running into contaminated water. However you choose to obtain your water, always purify and treat it.
You have hidden sources of water in your own home.In the case of a disaster, you can find water throughout your home to add to your stored water. Shut off the main water valve before attempting any of these measures, then source water from your hot water heater, pipes, and even the ice cubes from your icemaker.
You have many options when it comes to purifying water.While boiling water is considered the safest measure, there are plenty of other ways to purify your water. We have plenty of products at our fingertips that can help in quickly purifying water, from survival straws to bladders to chemicals. Additionally, you can use different methods like distillation and transpiration.
Get back to the basics and make sure you know all you need to know about water for survival. For our top picks on water purification, check out the products in our latest box: Mission 19