Knowing how to find natural water sources is the most important wilderness survival skills. Imagine you are in a multiple-dayhike trip, while hiking you missed a trail marker or turning point and unluckily, you got lost. You are then forced to e-camp in the backcountry for an overnight and by the time you wake up you have already consumed all of the water you brought with you and you become thirsty. Now you are physically and mentally drained all throughout the day.
How long can a person survive without H2O? The “rule of 3s” suggests that a person can survive 3days without water. However there are many people who died due to dehydration in a dayhike or any physical activity done in less than 24hours. Therefore one can simply suggest the rules of 3s isnt really a solid rule but rather you may consider it as an awareness or simply a “rule of thumb”.
In short, hydration is a very crucial factor in survival. Knowing when you need water is easy, I guess everyone already knows that. But finding it, that is the tricky part.
Here are some water sources to consider which may help you survive in the Wild.
1. GRAVITY – Nothing beats gravity. Finding the lowest level or indentation of a land area may help you find water. After heavy rains and showers, earth’s gravity will pull down most of that water down into mountain valleys, rivers, streams, rain catchments, ponds and puddles.
2. BIRDS & BEES – Wildlife are often very good indicators for nearby water sources especially during dusk or dawn. For birds, focus on the fish, grain, and insect eaters, they frequently fly down and straight towards water sources to drink or catch prey then fly back into tree branches. Meat-eaters and predators often gets moisture from the meat of their prey so they are rarely seen flying down to drink.
3. VEGETATION – Fruits and plants contain lots of water. For example, coconut juice is such a great source for hydration. Tapping on bamboos, water vines, fig trees and other watery tree species are also reliable sources of water you can find out here in the tropical jungle.
4. PLANT TRANSPIRATION & MORNING DEW – In the morning, when most plants are covered with moisture or dew. You can collect them using shemagh or any type of cotton material. When the vegetation is short, you can wrap your shemagh on your leg while walking through the bush. Plant transpiration is a process of wrapping a portion of a tree or plant to contain its water vapor instead of releasing it in the atmosphere. Vapor will turn into moisture then you can simply let it fall into a water container. However you must be extra careful when choosing the type of plants since there are lots of toxic and poisonous plants here in the country.
5. SOLAR STILL OR DISTILLATION PROCESS – If you cant find a watersource you can still get water from the wet soil, cut off plants or green branches, and you can even distill the water from your own urine. You can distill water by boiling it (for instance, sea water) and catching the steam when it boils and wring it in a water container. Another way of doing it by creating a solar still. You first dig up a hole in a wet ground which acts as a hot box. Fill it up with green branches, leaves etc.. then putting a tin can at the center. Cover that hole with a plastic sheet or tarp, held up by heavy rocks on the side and one small rock at the center creating an inverted cone that goes directly into your tin.
There are many ways and skills to help you find a water source in the wild; you just have to know where to look. After finding a water source, knowing how to purify the water you’ve collected is the second most important skill to have. Remember, you’re not the only one looking for water out there. Always boil or treat water when you get the chance! Never drink from an untrusted source — you never know what’s around the bend.
Article by: RP Outdoors & Bushcraft