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You can't camp without drinking water...Drinking water is something that is easy to overlook but is of the utmost importance when you're camping. You need it for coffee and cooking food or even just to have water to drink to help keep from coming down with heat stroke. When you and your family are out camping at a park that has washrooms with toilets and showers then you can bet that they have water for you to drink there as well. I'm sure you've seen those clear plastic containers for carrying water when you're camping, just fill one up and you're good to go. They have a tap on them and you can set them up on the edge of a picnic table to easily fill your cup or glass. On the other hand if you're backpacking or canoeing then you need to have another means of obtaining drinking water. Water weighs in the order of 10 pounds/gallon so it's just not reasonable to think you're going to carry enough water to last you three or four or even more days. You need to be able to get water as you go and fortunately there are a few ways to do this. Something that I've never tried but have been told about is using bleach. You fill a pot with water and add a couple of drops of bleach and let it sit for an hour or so. Like I said I've never tried it but I suspect it works OK. Personally I have a bit of a tough time with this one because I would be afraid of the bleach doing more harm than good. I can't stand the smell of the stuff and I'm not sure I want that flavour in my drinking water. Based on all of that I would not recommend it but I do know people that have used bleach and had no complaints. Another method that I actually have tried is to use an iodine tablet in the water. You simply drop a tablet or two in the water and wait for 15 minutes or so and presto! Drinking water.
Other methods and my preferred way of obtaining drinking water is to use a water filter. The water filter that I use is an MSR water filter but there are others like the Katadyn water filter available too. These in my opinion are the best because they not only remove bacteria form the water, but they clean the water too and I can see the difference when I have the water in my Nalgene water bottle. Using tablets alone the water in my bottle will have a yellowish tinge to it, using a filter, the water looks like it just came out of a tap. I feel better about drinking it that way. If you’re hiking then you may be smart to consider a hydration pack to keep you refreshed. Many of them are designed to fit right into your backpack or can be lashed to it. And face it, if you’re hiking or even paddling then you’re going to be working up a thirst. These packs are the most efficient way to quench that thirst. Click on the link to return to the top of the drinking water page or go to the homepage for more information on camping.
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