In the last post of this building a quality survival kit on a budget series, we added an emergency bivvy to the survival kit. Given that the kit now has items to deal with injuries that maybe immediately life threatening and to mitigate exposure to the elements (life threatening within a few hours), I can now turn my attention to addressing the lack of drinkable water. Remember one can survive without water for up to three days, albeit a very uncomfortable three days.
Remember, from a survival threat perspective we can survive for:
- three minutes without air (or in icy waters),
- three hours without shelter,
- three days without water,
- three weeks without food.
Without water, dehydration becomes a serious threat before too long. Even though one can go without it for three days, that time frame can be reduced quickly depending on environmental conditions and physical exertion. The other thing that can reduce that time is consuming water that is unsafe for drinking.
I do what I can to ensure I have some extra water bottles in my vehicles so in the event of an emergency I don’t start from a deficit without any drinkable water. It’s also not a bad idea to have some cash on hand to purchase drinkable water as that is probably the easiest method to acquire drinkable water. However, unexpected things happen in emergencies where we must look for a water source and make it safe for consumption.
To that end, one of my favorite products to help with this scenario is the Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System. The system is small and works well. The filter can be attached to just about any prepackaged disposable water bottle. The system also includes a drinking pouch (incase a disposable water bottle isn’t available) and straw that can be attached to the filter to drink directly from a water source.
In terms of size, weight, and function, this is the kit I turn to. Best part is that it’s priced right under $25 which works perfectly for the cost constraints of this project.
There are some filters with pumps that could assist in refilling larger or multiple containers easier, but they add bulk, weight, and cost. I do think these compliment the Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System in a survival kit very well, but in my opinion they do not replace it.