water

[ffnh243]

on long treks, how much water do you carry, what way are you purifying lake or pond water. Im thinking about a 5-7 day trip next year, all the water round here is swamp water. If i was really in a survival situation, I would chance it but, Im really not interested in getting sick in the name of having fun

[Bull]

I would carry at least a 3 day supply if you plan on using what water is at hand...however, with swamp water, boiling would probably be the best method, maybe even followed by a charcoal finter setup.  There are some really nice small filtering setups that can be had rather cheaply that do clean up the water visually quite well, and that will remove a lot of pathogens at the same time.  Boiling or some type of chemical treatment is best to remove those little squiggly things that make you ill, but filtering is required for those critters that aren't so easily killed that way, like ghiardia and Cryptosporidium.

[Red Badger]

Sounds like the best idea... unless you can arrange for water to be pre-located at certain spots...

[ffnh243]

I would carry at least a 3 day supply if you plan on using what water is at hand...however, with swamp water, boiling would probably be the best method, maybe even followed by a charcoal finter setup.  There are some really nice small filtering setups that can be had rather cheaply that do clean up the water visually quite well, and that will remove a lot of pathogens at the same time.  Boiling or some type of chemical treatment is best to remove those little squiggly things that make you ill, but filtering is required for those critters that aren't so easily killed that way, like ghiardia and Cryptosporidium.

Thanks, I gotta kinda be low key with the fires. In this state your really not allowed to camp on public land. Its not a jailable offence, just a fine of $50.00 per night if they catch ya. Personally I think  the experience is worth the fine

[Bull]

One of those little foldable camp stove might be "hide-able" if yer careful...

Jim has a good idea there getting water stashed in hiding places before hand...

[Red Badger]

comes from personal experience - We stashed 3 5 gal Jerry cans about three days before a scout and gave compass directions to the scouts before they set off each day - if they found the water they had a hot camp - if not they had a cold camp... 2/3 of the teams had cold camps the first night.... only 2 out of 10 teams had a cold camp the second night... (there was a lot of early morning studying going on though that 2nd morning....)
all the scout survived the ordeal - and although the area was in use by other people no one disturbed our water jugs ( we did post a label on them explaining what they were for).  This was 20 years ago but I would hope people who use our public lands are still as kind...

[BO CRETY]

Cachs of water/supplys is period correct,also slipping through hostile territory undetected is also period correct.Sounds like a little extra excitement,wish i could go.

[old salt]

Bo
You and me both.

[Red Badger]

Bo
You and me both.

I'll drive if ya think blue bird would trust you in my care for a while...   

[russ]

I did five days in Lousisiana in March of 09 drinking from bogs, creeks and bayous. We carried iodine tablets that went into our canteens. No one got sick. the taste of the iodine left something to be desired but after about a day I didnt notice it.

http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/water.shtml

http://www.amazon.com/Potable-Aqua-Water-Treatment-Tablets/dp/B000S87RGE

[William]

on long treks, how much water do you carry, what way are you purifying lake or pond water. Im thinking about a 5-7 day trip next year, all the water round here is swamp water. If i was really in a survival situation, I would chance it but, Im really not interested in getting sick in the name of having fun

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Water___Water_Purifiers___Katadyn__Emergency_Drinking_Water_Tablets___8013692?Args=

[Watauga]

I use a Iodine based product called Polar Pure.
It has served me and my Scouts well for about 20 years.
Filters and Chlorine based products work well to!
I usually carry more water than I will need just to be safe.

[voyageur1688]

  I do trips like that up here as well but we dont have as many water problems as most areas do. I do carry a charcoal water filter from time to time but for the most part just boil the water. As for the restricted camping-- we got that as well but not nearly to the extent of some states. As long as it is federal land and not in the BWCA we can camp freely but cant stay in the same place for more than 2 weeks or we hafta move or face a fine. With the BWCA a permit is needed to go into it and we as locals have a hard time getting the limited permits available. Some locals have even started having friends and relatives from outside the area apply for them as they have better odds of getting them than we do because we live here and can experience the BWCA any time we want. How can we experience it when we cant get the permits? So many sneek into it without them and just watch so they dont encounter anybody--especially the feds. We got geardia here and what is even worse isnt from the water but from the soil, and that is a baddy named Blasto. Lotta dogs get it and it can kill em fast if it aint caught in time, but people get it to and hafta be treated with the same meds the vet gives your dog. Blasto is like a spore that is inhaled and it reproduces in the lungs but it is cloaked so it doesnt show up right away. It stays cloaked til it has a large amount in the lungs then it drops its cover and the immune sustem trys to fight it but by then alot of times its to late or close to it.
Voy

[William]

Blastomycosis can present in one of the following ways:

a flu-like illness with fever, chills, myalgia, headache, and a nonproductive cough which resolves within days.
an acute illness resembling bacterial pneumonia, with symptoms of high fever, chills, a productive cough, and pleuritic chest pain.
a chronic illness that mimics tuberculosis or lung cancer, with symptoms of low-grade fever, a productive cough, night sweats, and weight loss.
a fast, progressive, and severe disease that manifests as ARDS, with fever, shortness of breath, tachypnea, hypoxemia, and diffuse pulmonary infiltrates.
skin lesions, usually asymptomatic, appear as ulcerated lesions with small pustules at the margins
bone lytic lesions can cause bone or joint pain.
prostatitis may be asymptomatic or may cause pain on urinating.
laryngeal involvement causes hoarseness.
[edit] Cause
Infection occurs by inhalation of the fungus from its natural soil habitat. Once inhaled in the lungs, they multiply and may disseminate through the blood and lymphatics to other organs, including the skin, bone, genitourinary tract, and brain. The incubation period is 30 to 100 days, although infection can be asymptomatic.

[edit] Diagnosis
Once suspected, the diagnosis of blastomycosis can usually be confirmed by demonstration of the characteristic broad based budding organisms[4] in sputum or tissues by KOH prep, cytology, or histology. Tissue biopsy of skin or other organs may be required in order to diagnose extra-pulmonary disease. Commercially available urine antigen testing appears to be quite sensitive in suggesting the diagnosis in cases where the organism is not readily detected. While culture of the organism remains the definitive diagnostic standard, its slow growing nature can lead to delays in treatment of up to several weeks.

However, sometimes blood and sputum cultures may not detect blastomycosis; lung biopsy is another option, and results will be shown promptly.

[edit] Treatment
Itraconazole given orally is the treatment of choice for most forms of the disease. Ketoconazole may also be used. Cure rates are high, and the treatment over a period of months is usually well tolerated. Amphotericin B is considerably more toxic, and is usually reserved for immunocompromised patients who are critically ill and those with central nervous system disease. Fluconazole has also been tested on patients in Canada.

[edit] Prognosis
Mortality rate in treated cases

0-2% in treated cases among immunocompetent patients
29% in immunocompromised patients
40% in the subgroup of patients with AIDS
68% in patients presenting as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
[edit] Epidemiology
In the United States, blastomycosis is endemic in the Mississippi river and Ohio river basins and around the Great Lakes. The annual incidence is less than 1 case per 100,000 people in Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas. The cases are greater in northern states such as Wisconsin, where from 1986 to 1995 there were 1.4 cases per 100,000 people.[5] It also frequently affects hunting dogs in northern Wisconsin and the upper Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers.[6]

In Canada, most cases of blastomycosis occur in Northwestern Ontario, particularly around the Kenora area. The moist, acidic soil in the surrounding woodland harbors the fungus.

Blastomycosis is distributed internationally; cases are sometimes reported from Africa.[7]

[edit] History
Blastomycosis was first described by Thomas Casper Gilchrist[8] in 1894 and sometimes goes by the eponym Gilchrist's disease.[9] It is also sometimes referred to as Chicago Disease.

[voyageur1688]

  William,
Thank you for the additional info and the promptness in wich you posted it. Learned quite a bit about it. The info I had given was based on what our local doctors had told me when a few friends caught it, and from our local vets who treated my dogs. Just about lost 2 dogs to it, and know of dozens of others that have not been as fortunate. Dont know where they got the rate for how many people get it but thats a might bit lower than what we have locally.  We have several cases locally a year. The info you have given is very helpful as to what more symptoms are and what treatments are. Either way this is a very nasty thing to get and it can be fatal if not treated in time.
Voy