water

[iwing]

Do you guys drink water from alpine lakes without filtering or treating it? I have been and havent had any problems yet but just curious what others do. I have tried the purification tablets and they make me puke.

Thanks

[CSG]

I hear you on the tablets tasting like sh*t. i often drink it straight from alpine lakes and streams but I also always carry a filter. I use a MSR sweet water filter, filters out up to something minuscule like 2 microns and then you add a couple drops of sweet water solution. Protects against everything and it tastes great.

[pnbrock]

Not worth the risk in my opinion. Filter it and be safe

[Kudu]

Get a life straw - inexpensive and it does what it's says on packet!

http://eartheasy.com/lifestraw

[bcmulie]

Definitely filter. I use the Sweetwater as well. Great filter. I only use the tablets in an emergency. You can remove a fair bit of the taste if you use the neutralizer tablets after the purification tablets.

[HarryToolips]

I got a bug from drinkin it once..not a harmful one but I was tested and had it - drank from alpine sources most of my life I guess it was bound to happen. The best sources are natural springs or where you can see the water coming through rock or dirt then it's been naturally filtered..

[patbrennan]

Picked up Giarddia (sp?) in the east kootenays one year, that was fun! Still don't pack a filter, but am much more careful on what I drink and from where. (typically boil it)

[weatherby_man]

Get a life straw - inexpensive and it does what it's says on packet!

http://eartheasy.com/lifestraw

X2, I always have this in my pack.

[xcaribooer]

I am in the market for a filter, I was planning on getting a katadyn anyhow but I think the lifestraw looks perfect for a quick drink from a lake or creek. Does anybody sell the lifestraw locally?

[Mikey Rafiki]

Never used a filter, but I really like this life straw idea, especially if you are in a less than ideal area.

I only drink from the fast moving streams, and not downstream from lake or other standing body of water that tends to allow bacteria to grow.

[longstonec]

Growing up we just had a kitchen scrubby pad over the end of the waterline intake to keep the frogs and larger bugs out, that worked fairly well. and never did catch anything weird *twitch twitch*.
Not saying thats recommended though...

[Sofa King]

I wouldn't drink from lakes, fish shit in there.
and even streams, I always picture a dead deer or something laying in the water farther up.
I always pack a water bottle or wear my camelback.

[hare_assassin]

I am in the market for a filter, I was planning on getting a katadyn anyhow but I think the lifestraw looks perfect for a quick drink from a lake or creek. Does anybody sell the lifestraw locally?

Wholesale Sports.

[squamishhunter]

MSR all the way, super easy to field clean/maintain. I only have a couple places ill drink straight from.

[Kudu]

I am in the market for a filter, I was planning on getting a katadyn anyhow but I think the lifestraw looks perfect for a quick drink from a lake or creek. Does anybody sell the lifestraw locally?




Wholesale sport Langley - $ 20.00

[CR CRUISER]

Many years ago my niece and her boyfriend were hiking way up high in the northern California mountains. They were drinking water straight from the source of different streams. It seamed to be just ice cold crystal clear water. They got a bug. My niece spent almost a year in and out of hospital, a couple of times in critical condition. I don't recall the name of the bug but it was throughout her bloodstream and in her internal organs. The doctors finally eradicted the bug by poisoning her bloodstream and then giving her an antidote just before it became fatal. Twenty years later she still is physically affected by the episode.

After learning about her ordeal, I will not drink anything that has not been purified to eliminate any bacteria, viruses or parasites.

[604redneck]

I wouldn't drink from lakes, fish shit in there.
and even streams, I always picture a dead deer or something laying in the water farther up.
I always pack a water bottle or wear my camelback.so u go buy a bottle of water or fill ur camel back and it lasts u a few days hunting?

[Drillbit]

^Yikes! That's terrible (CR's post)

I use an MSR pump. Not sure of the model, but it's got a handle.

[Sofa King]

so u go buy a bottle of water or fill ur camel back and it lasts u a few days hunting?

the op simply asked "if we'd drink from a lake or stream".
he said nothing about a multiple day hunt.

and if i'm on a multiple day hunt, yes, I have plenty of water with me.
I have my camp, and have water there.
and my camelback, with an extra bottle or so has always done me fine.
water is more important then food.

[Sofa King]

^than^^^^^^^

[Glassman]

I drank form a stream once and crapped for days. I had ice from tap water in the Dominican Republic and crapped for days(actually thought I was going to die)(thought the rum would kill any bugs). Now I filter it all. With a filter I can pull water out of a cow pattie and not crap. I don't take the chance anymore. Pooping your brains out while trying to hunt is not fun. Don't take a chance and think you'll get away with it. But hey, I'm smarter than your average guy and only had to learn that lesson 4 or 5 times.

[gcreek]

In my 20's, I used to get beaver fever 5 or 6 times a week.

Doesn't happen as often anymore.........

Had Giardia once, wasn't fun. I drink out of a lot of sources when I'm real thirsty but never a creek where I know there are beaver.

[BearStump]

WOW!! I must be invincible or something. I've been drinking from creeks, streams and lakes for over 30 years and never gotten sick from it. I am always thoughtfull not to drink stagnant water. If it looks like crap, it probably is crap. Guess I've just been lucky after hearing all these horror stories.
But then again, I'll eat a sanwich with moose blood all over my hands, and a smoke in the other. some might say that is unsanitary too.

[xcaribooer]

I would guess mountain streams in the lowermainland would be pretty safe to drink out of with the amount of rain and constant flushing they get.. unless its a salmon spawning stream then I would stay away from drinking without a filter. Growing up in the cariboo I use to drink out of any creek that was moving, I was told that moving water purified itself after 30 feet. I now realize that is probally false and I was just lucky to have never gotten sick.

[OutWest]

I have always carried an MSR water filter with me and used it regularly but the past 2 seasons in the WK I've drank straight from streams and creeks without any problems.

[buckshot]

Always filter. Never know what lies upstream. Heck, I don't, even trust bottles after finding an old piece of lime in a Corona in Tijuana one time! From then on it was cans only!

[Gateholio]

Several decades of drinking water all over BC and never got sick, but my brother did once on a trip when he was about 13 and I was 11. Never happened to either of us again. I'm sure some have higher tolerances for this stuff than others

[EvanG]

mix your water 50:50 with jim beam you ll be fine.

[longstonec]

mix your water 50:50 with jim beam you ll be fine.

Your sure to get sick with that!!! 50:50 Sailor Jerrys and water

[jtred]

I use the Katadyn hiker pro water filter, works great. I don't want the experience of having to hike off a mountain with a stomach bug. Better safe than sorry. Could turn a really great backcountry trip into a really crappy one in a hurry.

[GoatGuy]

Never had a problem drinking without a filter. Always figured by the time giardia kicked in I'd be back at work- least it wouldn't wreck the hunt.

[Coop]

This is the pressurized system we use: http://www.geigerrig.com/ It's awesome.

[MOUNTAIN MICKEY]

Been drinking untreated water wherever I go for 40 plus years with no problems. If a stream is clean looking I just go for it. Us old guys probably have better guts than the younger generations. Mickey

[hunter1947]

I have never filtered my water over the years I drink the small stream water that comes from the Alpine never once have I had a problem..

[Rob]

I do have a filter but last year hiking the Chilkoot trail I used the tablets with no problem. Took water from moving sources when I could, but did use a lake if needed. I will be bringing tablets on my sheep hunt and leaving the filter at home. I can use a bandana to filter some of the bigger particles if needed, but figuring finding moving water wont be a problem.

[Springer]

The iodine tablets are something i used to use until i found out the Iodine tablets strip your stomach of the good bacteria . I use a steri-pen now , zap my water bottle for 60 seconds then its safe to chug it down.

[Westslope]

I use the MSR system as well, it's pretty quick to filter enough water for the day. It works a lot better if you have a water bottle to filter into to vs. just a camel back, I guess it's because you can get more leverage on the handle. I am always tempted to drink straight from those springs coming out of the rocks but, than I look around at all the marmots and see the marmot poo right near the water and pull out the filter. I can imagine those noisy buggers carry some insufferable plagues.

[huntcoop]

With today's technologies why wouldn't you use a filter.

[ufishifish2]

Been working for over 20 years in the forest industry. I have drank out of streams every day and never got sick......well, except for the time I drank from Mabel Lake. Pooped a brown froth for a couple of weeks as did my wife. I have recently started carrying the MSR filter and have been using it a few times a month..... just in case. Can't hurt to use it and it weighs almost nothing.

[iwing]

Thanks guys, I just bought and tested an msr filter out on a weekend hiking trip. Worked great and now im not wondering if i got something growing inside my guts. Saw lots of good scenery but no deer

[HarryToolips]

Thanks guys, I just bought and tested an msr filter out on a weekend hiking trip. Worked great and now im not wondering if i got something growing inside my guts. Saw lots of good scenery but no deer
Ya I had somethin livin in me for years til I found out, thank God it was harmless...I still drink outa good flowing sources if I'm out in my canteen. Where's the best place to grab a msr filter??

[tundra]

you can always use a drop of unscented bleach to disinfect the water. Then the water will taste just like city water if you drink it right away. One cap full of the bleach will treat 25 litres of water and if you let it sit for about 24 hours the bleach will dissipate so you are left with clean safe water. A little cheaper than filters for the same thing.

[iwing]

I went to true outdoors in Vernon. Its price matched with MEC so I think the price was what you gotta pay.

[troutseeker]

I've had a Lifestraw for over a year and use it regularly in streams. It seems to work as I have yet to be sick!

[sparkes3]

i have a lifestraw it flilters well but I find it hard to draw water up through the dam thing.

[sawmill]

I have never had a problem with good clear mountain streams.The whiskey I mix it with how ever has caused me a few sketchy days.I`m thinking less water.

[Moose Guide]

I live in the west Kootenays, and never bother using a filter here but I often use them up north!

[rides bike to work]

is it tru I still have to boil or treat it after filter like msr gravity filter

[sobirch]

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger