Wednesday, February 10, 2010

VTT 4



Over at the FORUMS we value those who DO much more than those who merely TYPE. Some time ago, we started a series of Viking Training Tasks that range from the simple to the mildly difficult but all deal with preparedness in one way or another. Basically the Vikings are given a task to do, conditions under which it must be completed, and an explanation of what success looks like (standards). Participants have two weeks to complete each task.

Our task this time went like this:

Viking Training Task 4: DRINK A GLASS OF WATER

Simple, huh?

Not quite. You may not use water from your tap, toilet, water tank, well, or water storage. You may not use bottled, canned, bagged or dehydrated water.

You must get water some other way.
You should purify it prior to drinking.

The basic idea here is for you to identify alternate sources of water in your area and be proficient at purifying it for consumption.

You have two weeks to complete this task. When you are done, tell us about it.
Some ways to purify water:

o Boil it at full boil for a couple minutes.
o Use water purification tablets per instructions
o Use 16 drops of bleach per gallon
o Use a purifier pump
o Use a solar still (also one means of obtaining it in some areas)




Of course, I participate in these tasks as well. I went out to one of my emergency water sources (an above ground pool) and Lo! It was frozen over! …I knew it would be actually… I just wanted to scoop up some snow that hadn’t been trampled on, urinated on, or otherwise molested by my dogs, goats, chickens, guineas, ducks, rabbits, horse…



I scooped it and packed it lightly into my wife’s newest “camp pot” and brought it to the bedroom “tea service” area. Next, I heated the snow on a hotplate until it melted; brought it to a full boil and kept it there a bit; and then I made a cup of Folgers as is my want.

All that snow barely made one cup of coffee.
It tasted fine – if you can stand instant coffee.

Who Dares Wins
………………………………
PS: Anyone want to hazard a guess as to when we bought the can of Swiss Miss?

Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. – Haggi 1:5 - 6

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If you have any comments I’d love to hear them.
If they really interest me, I may even post them.
You can reach me at Joe

You can also join us to discuss this and other issues at Viking Preparedness Forums

Prepared Americans for a Strong America

3 Comments:

At 28/2/10 21:43, Blogger Michael said...

I almost did this today. Packed my normal quart water bottle for my normal Sunday walk, but I left it empty and threw my water purifier in my back pack with it. But, when I got the stream I was going to fill the water bottle in I realized that I was directly down stream from our local cemetery! Eeeps. I decided to skip it.

 
At 1/3/10 15:43, Blogger Sable said...

Just one thing to add. You only have to bring the water to a boil, you don't have to keep going. By that point it has been hot enough to sanitize it for a while. At which point you are just wasting time, potable water and fuel. Here for substantiation: http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/how-long-do-you-need-to-boil-water/

 
At 2/3/10 04:41, Blogger Joe said...

The reason we carry filters is to filter out stuff we don't want to drink. If you have a good purifier it would have worked in your situation.

On boiling - absolutely true. IF you bring the water to a FULL ROLLING boil. In other words if all of the water is brought up to boiling (212 degrees). Once it is boiling it cannot get any hotter and still remain liquid. The reason when we insruct we say a couple minutes is to make sure students dont' "cheat" or fantasize that those little bubbles on the bottom of their container means the water is safe to drink.

 

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