BajaNomad - Simple survival seawater still

Simple survival seawater still

Sharksbaja - 5-5-2006 at 12:09 PM

I was watching some rediculous reality show and I guess it was real. It was about two marooned (yes,marooned) sailors somewhere in SOC. They show these idiots eating cardon gouged out with a knife. They showed them sitting in the water to keep cool as their skin blistered. Then they showed them having hallucinations because they were dehydrating. They really wouldn't be alive had not a pangrero come to their rescue on the fourth day.
They made a shelter out of canvas and had fire and sleeping bags. But they were dying of thirst. They had no business on a tiny catamaran so far out without basic survival know how.

So here is a basic survival tool. It would have kept them alive. It should work well in Baja
All that is needed really, is a piece of plastic(clear is best) and a container(or make one from plastic). Canvas and tarp material can work, it needs to be watertight.

Simply dig a hole and stretch the plastic over the holen and place rocks around perimeter to anchor. Place another smooth rock in center and depress downwards towards container allowing a space of a few inches between the two..

Water the trough thoroughly enough to permeate deeply into soil around pit. A tube or reed to suck out water as needed is handy and keeps the basic integrity and humidity intact.

Hot weather preferrred :cool:

[Edited on 5-5-2006 by Sharksbaja]

Sharks------

Barry A. - 5-5-2006 at 02:01 PM

----will that "still" really produce enough fresh water to make it worth the effort to build??

I have always wondered about this, and seen it discussed pro and con in several books, except that I don't think the previous discussions involved Sea water being introduced to the ground around the still.

Interesting idea, and super if it really works.

bajaguy - 5-5-2006 at 02:39 PM

if those guys were really smart, they would have loaded their catamaran with Pacifico

Sharksbaja - 5-5-2006 at 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Barry A.
----will that "still" really produce enough fresh water to make it worth the effort to build??

I have always wondered about this, and seen it discussed pro and con in several books, except that I don't think the previous discussions involved Sea water being introduced to the ground around the still.

Interesting idea, and super if it really works.

I've seen one in action but not in Baja and it did make water. I'm sure that many factors like RH and soil type and temp can bare upon this apparatus. My brother(the expert

) sweared by it and some other ways..

I don't see the big deal in digging a hole 3ft X 2ft deep and stretching plastic over it and lining it w/rocks. :lol:

Well maybe if the soil was rocky or hard.

Maybe a Nomad in Baja on the beach could fashion one and report back....yea right! :lol:

oladulce - 5-5-2006 at 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sharksbaja

I'm sure that many factors like RH and soil type ...

Maybe PH Sharks ?

One's "RH Factor" is the positive or negative attached to your blood type. Those would be some delicate operating conditions

Oso - 5-5-2006 at 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy
if those guys were really smart,

I think the point is that they weren't.

Diver - 5-5-2006 at 06:00 PM

RH = relative humidity

Sharksbaja - 5-5-2006 at 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oladulce

Quote:

Originally posted by Sharksbaja

I'm sure that many factors like RH and soil type ...

Maybe PH Sharks ?

One's "RH Factor" is the positive or negative attached to your blood type. Those would be some delicate operating conditions

ph doesn't matter cause it's just simple condensation. In fact it's claimed you can use polluted water and extract clean water safely with this method.

bajalou - 5-5-2006 at 06:12 PM

What you end up with is "Distilled" water - It leaves all the salts etc. behind.

Sharksbaja - 5-5-2006 at 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalou
What you end up with is "Distilled" water - It leaves all the salts etc. behind.

Probably why it's called a still

rob - 5-6-2006 at 10:50 AM

Back in the days when I was still rolling in cash I bought a PUR handheld desalinator (I think it was about $600 in the West Marine catalog in 2001).

I have used it twice (just to make sure it worked) and it works very well - it would keep a couple of people alive almost indefinitely if your hand didn't get carpal tunnel syndrome . . .

One less thing to worry about while you wait for the coastguard.

ROb

Bob and Susan - 5-6-2006 at 11:09 AM

$200 now....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PUR-SURVIVOR-06-LL-DESALINATO...

bajarich - 5-7-2006 at 07:04 AM

What about those portable solar stills they have on life rafts? They are a round inflatable plastic device. I believe Ed Gillette used one when he paddled his sea kayak to Hawaii back in the '90's, back before GPS. He was out 63 days.

TMW - 5-7-2006 at 10:04 AM

The U.S. Army Survival Manual list three stills and how to build them. The above ground.

TMW - 5-7-2006 at 10:05 AM

The below ground.

TMW - 5-7-2006 at 10:07 AM

And below ground if you have polluted water or salt water like Sharks.

Sharksbaja - 5-7-2006 at 12:20 PM

Hey the army stole my idea! :lol:

wilderone - 5-8-2006 at 08:35 AM

I've been reading a book on biological Baja with a lot of history of the indigenous and their lifestyle. It's reported that light roasting of cardon "leaves" maximizes the water processed out, and that on long hunts or foraging trips away from home (which was always near a water source), they would use this method. Pitahaya fruit or tunas also hold a lot of water, and during pitahaya season, the indians would roam far and wide without concern for water because the fruit contained enough to sustain them.