allthumbs Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 cracked, you're cracked. i always climb drunk; it's my courage, son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Did you say courage or stupidity? Anyways, what book are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I don't know about you climber dudes but at this time of night I like to peruse the Penthouse Forum. Light, but stimulating reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allison Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Let's not forget about our good friend Cryptosporidium, avoidable with a filter, but uncurable so far. Â I'd elaborate on Crypto, but one of our many scientists could surely do it better. Â Iodine and bleach are both helpless against Crypto, and bleach really hasn't been proven successful against giardia either. Be careful out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Hey Allison, another reason I like the carbon filters is that the water always tastes and looks good. Don't eat the yellow snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I'm going to have to root around and see if I can find the article a friend copied for me. It was a study done on water in the Sierras, testing 40 some sampling sites, and the highest reading for giardia was considerably less than the San Francisco public water supply. Obvious caveats though: only tested for Giardia, only in the Sierra Nevada, but an interesting read none the less. I'll see if I can find the relevant material. It did make me feel better about those times I decide "screw it, I'm thirsty" and drink from whatever is handy. Â One thing in favor of a filter, it has on occasion allowed me to pump from a trickle source you could not fill a bottle from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 (edited) I agree that the water tastes better from the filter and I've used others but so far I've been too cheap to actually go out and buy one. The iodine treated water does taste pretty foul but you get used to it after awhile... Edited January 25, 2003 by ChrisT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allison Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I've seen that study, Off, and it did not make me feel more confident about drinking unfiltered water. Â I HATE carrying a filter, but nothing else has been proven effective to a point that I'm willing to leave the beast at home. It's not just critters that are concerning, also the people walking around carrying giardia and not knowing it. Â Unfortunately, nothing works as well as a water filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 The water in Calif is just plain nasty and most of the people who live there don't even drink it. They're all drinking bottled water and spending lots of $$$ on it. But I believe the water in NorCal to be better than the water in SoCal...with the exception of Silicon Valley... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbcracken Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 Has anyone else wondered what where exactly the Tahoma Bottled water comes from??? Â -Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I never carry a filter and never worry about it except if filling my bottle immediately downstream from an obviously heavily polluted place like a popular camping area. I have never had any trouble except in Asia, where I had the full-on giardia experience and have never been the same since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
To_The_Top Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I have gotten sick before drinking out of streams, not G but something less insidious. I almost never carry a filter, and use iodine tablets. The extra taste tablets in the Aqua two bottles is really nothing more than vitamin C, so I have used vitamin C or Gatorade. I do know of a climber friend that got real sick drinking out of streams and other friends that drink out of questionable sources and never have gotten sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek_the_Greek Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Filters are handy, but when I'm going for light weight I bring the Pristine stuff (chlorine dioxide, sold in Canada at MEC, not yet approved in US). Apparently effective against crypto as well. Used for decades in European community water supplies.  Check it out here  The only pain in the ass is it's a two-part solution that you have to prepare, and then wait 5 minutes before adding to your water (and then wait 15 minutes before drinking). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Let's not forget about our good friend Cryptosporidium, avoidable with a filter, but uncurable so far. I'd elaborate on Crypto, but one of our many scientists could surely do it better.  Iodine and bleach are both helpless against Crypto, and bleach really hasn't been proven successful against giardia either. Be careful out there.  Cryptosporidium, in all but sewage-level concentrations, is only a threat to those with suppressed immune systems, the elderly, and infants. which is good cause it present in most water sources in BC and aside from filtration there is no good way to remove it. But again, for like 99.9% of us it is not a problem to worry about. Although, if you are North Battleford, Saskatchewan, and the town upstreams, sewage system malfunctions, you might see 21 people die from it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Lets do an experiment, have DFA drink a gallon out of the Crooked River at Smith and see what happens!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastsider Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Chlorine dioxide is available south of the border, Mountain Gear sells stuff called Aqua Mira which looks just like the Pristine that you had a link to. I've used it here in the Cascades with no ill effects to date. The water tastes pretty good, too. Â Of course, the water tastes much better after a snort of balvenie... Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Let's not forget about our good friend Cryptosporidium, avoidable with a filter, but uncurable so far. To my knowledge Cryptosporidium is not as widespread in the mountains as Giardia. Though incurable, normal healthy people recover eventually. Â I believe that the 1 micron filters will get Crypto as well as Giardia. The 0.2 micron filters can remove bacteria in addition to the aformentioned bugs, but are much slower to pump. I use the 1 micron myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 like i said above, normal, healthy people do not even get sick from ordinarily encountered levels of cryptosporidium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leejams Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Just curious and wondering if anyone uses those sport bottle looking thingys. Seems like you just scoop and go and there is some sort of filter when you take a drink?? Â I have always used the drop plop fizz fizz routine with iodine. However, that sport bottle filter seems like a good route. Kinda pricey though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minx Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 before i went on a trip this summer, my mom gave me an msr waterworks filter. debated on taking it b/c it was kind of heavy and i'm a wuss. Glad to have taken it and will definitey use it again this year. I'm still thinking about getting one of those little sports bottles for shorter outings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 I use the msr for overnighters, and the extreme purifier bottle for day shiz. The bottle is great, but don't plan on hydrating an army with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregm Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 filters are heavy and mechanically unreliable. use iodine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minx Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 use both if you are uncomfortable w/your filter. A filter can be more effective against some organisms. if you take care of it and use it properly it should be quite reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 filters are heavy and mechanically unreliable. use iodine. Â you dont know it failed till later.... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 fuk it - drink beer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.